Have you ever written a book that wouldn’t die? This was that book for me! I even said as much in the author’s note at the end. But that aside, it IS done and it’s releasing into the wilds TODAY!

Why should you improve your side characters? Side characters are pillars and literary tools that can help you:

• Reveal information  
• Provide alternative representations of the theme
• Set the tone for a scene and help to worldbuild 
• Create conflict and drive the plot and pace by pushing or pulling the protagonist in different directions 
• Narrate 
• Help the author avoid exposition 

In the book, I show you exactly how you can use your side characters to do all of those things. I answer questions like:

• How to stop your side characters taking over
• What side characters need character arcs and how to create them
• How to handle a big cast of characters
• When and how you should kill a side character for maximum impact
• How to imbue your side characters with your book’s theme
• How to create characters with the illusion of depth

If you’ve missed the series of mini tips videos I’ve been releasing each day this week, you can find all the links below:

What Are Side Characters?

Side Characters and the “Three Whys”

How to Stop Your Side Characters from Taking Over

How to Kill Your Side Characters 

How to Use Humour with Side Characters 

The Three Types of Side Character 

What You Need to Know About Side Character Arcs

If you haven’t purchased your copy yet, what are you waiting for?

You can order your copy of 8 Steps to Side Characters using the links below:

Preorder the textbook here:

https://books2read.com/sidecharacters 

Preorder the workbook here:

https://books2read.com/sideworkbook

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters or digital copies direct from me, then use this link:

https://sachablack.co.uk/store

JOIN ME FOR LIVE CELEBRATIONS

To help celebrate the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters, I’m running a series of events.

The first is in my Facebook Group: Rebel Authors 

I’ll be hosting a live Q&A on all things side characters, writing craft, marketing, business and publishing TONIGHT. Don’t have those questions? Then ask me about unicorns, book tropes, gin or my coffee habits! Join me for fun and games, a little drinky poos there will be prizes.

When 29th July

Time 8pm BST (5am AEST, 12pm PDT, 3pm EDT)

Got a question for me about side characters, writing, marketing or publishing? Drop me an email and I’ll be sure to answer it.

Those 8 Steps to Side Characters links one more time:

Preorder the textbook here:

https://books2read.com/sidecharacters 

Preorder the workbook here:

https://books2read.com/sideworkbook

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters or digital copies direct from me, then use this link:

https://sachablack.co.uk/store

The post 8 Steps to Side Characters is LIVE! appeared first on Sacha Black.

Welcome to the first in a series of mini tips videos and blogs all about side characters. There are just seven days left until the launch of

I love analogies to help clarify and explain concepts. One of my favorites for defining side characters is the comparison of story to body. If your book is a body, then your protagonist is the heart, the theme is the soul and your side characters are the arteries feeding your protagonist-heart. 

Side characters are the arteries in a protagonist-heart, they are new perspectives and viewpoints, conflict generators, and subplot fulfillers. When you get to the sticky innards of a story and its characters, all characters are the embodiment of the idea behind your story. In other words, your theme.

They manage this by drawing theme into reality through engaging in conversation, action, and obstacles all based on that theme. Characters are a metaphor that make the idea and concept of theme real to us. It is through the detail of character actions, emotions, and interactions that we come to understand what theme really means. 

Look at it like this—if your book and theme were a math equation, the protagonist would be the solution. The antagonist would be the wrong answer and your side characters would be the workings out or alternative solutions you discarded along the way.

If you want to learn more about what side characters are and how to embody your book’s theme in your side characters, then pre-order your copy of 8 Steps to Side Characters today. There’s only 7 days to go until launch…Pre-order today and if you submit your proof, you can get a sneak peek of the first 25 pages of the book before anyone else. AND you’ll also be in with a chance to win a bundle of paperback books and goodies.

Preorder the textbook here:

https://books2read.com/sidecharacters 

Preorder the workbook here:

books2read.com/sideworkbook

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters, then use this link:

https://sachablack.co.uk/store 

Submit your preorder proof here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1IYhFhlu9vBSwell2J2tSwtIdxXMEYp-MVF-cvzixeNu22Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

The post What Are Side Characters? appeared first on Sacha Black.

N.B. If you’re a listener to the podcast, and want to hear the usual intro and updates, please listen to the audio version beneath the video. If you want to watch the meat of the show (i.e. just the tips) you can watch the YouTube episode below.

N.B. The episode show notes are at the bottom of the post.

Get your copy of The Anatomy of Prose

Get your copy of The Anatomy of Prose Workbook

Tips to Improve Your Prose 1: Don’t filter

Filtering is one of the most common mistakes I see in manuscripts when I edit. You want your reader to look directly through your protagonist’s eyes. Like the reader’s wearing hero tinted spectacles. But when you filter, you, the author, add in unnecessary narration.

This causes the reader to be removed one step from the character. So instead of watching through the protagonist’s eyes, the reader is standing to the side watching the hero do things.

Filter words include things like:

• I heard
• she saw
• he felt
• I thought

Here’s an example:

With Filtering:

I heard an owl hooting in the trees and a moment later I saw the canopy leaves rustle as if replying.

Readers don’t need to read the word “heard” or “saw” because the action of hearing and seeing is implied in the description of the sound.

So what does it look like without filtering?

Without Filtering:

An owl hooted in the trees and a moment later the canopy leaves rustled as if replying.

Of course, there are no rules. You don’t have to remove every instance of filtering. That’s especially if removing it will impact the meaning of your sentence. 

Tips to Improve Your Prose 2: Repetition 

Repetition is an insidious little bitch. Everyone thinks repetition comes in the form of crutch words. But NO, my darlings. It’s so much more than that.

Let’s start with crutch words. Crutch words are words or phrases you unintentionally repeat in your manuscript. For example, just, but, so, that, look, hand, eye, glance, walk. 

But what about the other, more subtle forms of repetition?

Different Words, Same Meaning 

Writers will often unintentionally use different words to describe the same thing. For example, describing cold temperatures multiple times with words like: chill, icy, cool etc.

Describe it once, describe it well. Move the fuck on.

Same Words, Different Meaning 

The flip side of that repetition is using the same word in a different context. For example, the hum of a bee or the hum of a car’s engine.

Guys. We’re writers, the thesaurus is your best friend. Use it.

Duplicated Archetypes 

During one of your edits, make sure you check for duplicated character types. For example, do you have two mentors? Are there an unnecessary number of allies? Of course, sometimes these duplications are needed. But more often than not, you can condense the duplicated characters into one more effective and efficient character that readers can get to know better.

Better to have one supercharged steroid injected mentor than three pitiful ones because they don’t get enough page time to have any depth.

Duplicated Personality Traits

Likewise, look for repetition in personality type. Have you got two sarcastic divas? Or two brooding gentlemen? Two mother’s of villains? NO, NO YOU DO NOT. I am the only mother of villains.

The point is, do you really need two of this personality trait? Or would it be more effective to have one?

Name, Name, Name 

We all have biases. Which is why you should always check your character names. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up with two characters with similar sounding names or names all beginning with the same letter. 

If you have Natalie and Nancy or Tony and Tom, your readers are going to get confused.

Opening and Closing of Scenes 

Check the opening (and closing) lines of your scenes. If you have four scenes back to back all opening with a location description, or all starting with dialogue, or all starting with inner monologue, you need to edit out the repetition.

Tips to Improve Your Prose 3: Don’t forget the Impact

Whenever a writer describes something, be it a new character, the atmosphere or a new location your character has walked into, most writers describe the obvious — what their protagonist sees. While the ‘what’ of what a protagonist interacts with is important for creating imagery, it doesn’t create the connection that hooks a reader through the rest of your story. 

What makes a reader connect is the emotion in the story. But how can you convey emotion when the protagonist is describing a building, meeting a new character, or buying a coffee? The quickest way to create emotion even in these interactions is to describe the impact the interaction has on your protagonist.

Does the smell of coffee throw your protagonist back to a childhood memory? Does the smell make them feel sick?

WHY PEOPLE, WHY???? THE READER NEEDS TO KNOW.

Is that smell or memory painful or comforting? What about the way shadows fall over the building your protagonist’s about to walk in? Do they make her stomach churn or does she feel like she’s coming home? Rather than describing the colour or shape of a building, give the reader insights into the emotional impact it has on your characters.

This goes for describing characters too.

How does the new character make your protagonist feel? The impact says a thousand times more than the colour of the character’s eyes.

Tips to Improve Your Prose 4: Don’t Forget the Senses

While sight is the basis for description in most stories, too often, we writers forget to include the other senses. Or, when we do use them, they’re used in isolation or used in their expected form, i.e. the scent of toast wafts through the door.

I like to compare using the senses to creating a painting. A pencil sketch outline of your painting is a normal sentence without the senses. Nothing wrong with that shit, I adore pencil pictures. 

But when you pour the senses into your prose, it’s like turning a pencil drawing into a mixed-media full color piece of art. It breathes life into your masterpiece.

BUT HOW DO YOU USE THEM?

With the senses, think outside the box rather than using them in their most obvious guise. For example, touch includes temperature and vibrations as well as texture. Consider describing things like buildings, the weather and air, the ground, skin, weapons, clothes, nature and even emotions. You might not think of emotions as having a texture, but they do! Think about the hot, throb of rage, or the cold, prickle of fear.

Likewise with taste, how often have you tasted rage or perhaps the tang of jealousy? Or what about tasting the weather? I’m sure you can all imagine the cold crisp breath of wintery air. 

Tips to Improve Your Prose 4: Drop the Standard Character Descriptions

When introducing characters to your story, most writers describe their brown hair or blue eyes. But think about it. When you finish a book do you remember the colour of a character’s hair? Or do you remember what they stood for? Their strange quirks and how they made you feel?

I thought so.

There’s a few tricks you can use to ensure your characters stand out to your reader and describing their eye colour ain’t one of them.

While, YES, you do need to describe their physical appearance, what makes a character more memorable are their quirky features. Take Sherlock Holmes, does anyone even know what colour his eyes are? Didn’t think so.

And if you’re the smart arse shouting they’re brown at the screen, shut the fuck up, and get back in your box.

What we remember about sherlock is that he’s a pipe smoking genius. Or maybe his suspicious fashion choices, Deerstalker hat anyone? 

For each of your characters, create your normal physical description, but make sure you add one or two quirks. In Sherlock’s example, he has: a pipe, Deerstalker hats, tweed, and a magnifying glass. 

Instead of focusing on the normal details, mention those in passing and have your protagonist notice the unusual quirks your new character has. It makes them much more memorable.

Tips to Improve Your Prose 6: Anchor that Shit

A lack of scene anchoring is one of the fastest ways to disengage a reader.

But what is it?

Scene anchoring is the process of grounding a reader in time, space and point of view.

Every time you open a new scene or new chapter, your reader needs to know three things in order to not feel like they’ve been thrown around a washing machine having consumed a socially unacceptable amount of gin.

Number 1: WHO is telling the story. If you write stories from multiple POVs thats even more important. If you write in first person, give yourself a pat on the back, you get to feel like a smug bastard.

Number 2: WHERE are they? Are they in space? Are they amoebas stuck on the ass cheek of a cricket? Or are they in a fantasy castle?

This is even more important if your characters have moved between scenes. Your reader might’ve put your book down at the end of the last scene break. If so, they’re gonna need a refresher.

Number 3: WHEN are they? Has time passed since the last scene? Don’t expect your readers to know. They aren’t mind readers.  Be clear. Tell them if time has passed.

Tips to Improve Your Prose 7: Always Strengthen Your Verbs

Here’s the thing. Weak verbs are vague. Vague means your reader doesn’t really know what the fuck you’re trying to say. Don’t do that to your reader. It’s rude. But what’s a weak verb?

Hit. That’s a weak verb.

What the hell is a hit anyway? Is it a gentle tap? Is it a flirtatious nudge in the ribs? Is it a violent clobbering to the head?

TELL ME AUTHORS. WHAT IS IT?

Be specific. 

Is it a nudge? Nudges are softer they don’t hurt. Which means, nudge is a stronger verb. The action of nudging is specific. If it’s a punch, that’s also specific. You can’t punch someone by accident. If you punch someone in the dick, it’s going to fucking hurt.

Use strong verbs.

Tips to Improve Your Prose 8: Unusual Details

One fast way to create deeper characterisation, is to ensure your protagonist notices unusual details. Details no other character would. And these details should be connected to their personality type too. 

If, for example, you have a character who’s super empathetic, then they ought to notice subtle body language changes in other characters. This not only deepens your protagonist’s character. It deepens the character they’re looking out for too.

Got a protagonist with an eye for patterns? Then they should spot patterns throughout the story. AND especially a clue or pattern that leads to the magical sword of destiny that saves the day.

Let your protagonist notice unusual details when describing people, places, events. It’s the nuances in their noticings (that’s probably a word) that reveals their personality.

Where one character notices the sadness in another’s eye. Another protagonist might notice that they’re not carrying a blade they usually do.

DETAILS, PEOPLE. THE DETAILS MATTER.

Tips to Improve Your Prose 9: Differentiate the Dialogue

Ever worried that all your characters sound the same? It’s cause you haven’t differentiated the dialogue. BUT HOW, SACHA? HOW DO YOU DO IT? 

A stack of ways. Here’s some ideas.

Think about your character’s personality type and let that influence the way they speak. Got yourself a stuff professor? Have them use long stuffy words like:

• Furthermore
• In addition
• The definitive conclusion

Got a gang member? Make sure they’re using slang or gang-specific words. Got yourself a diva? Make sure they’re sarcastic and throwing verbal takedowns like it’s candy on halloween. It’s all about your characters personality. When you know what that is, it becomes their voice.

Tips to Improve Your Prose 9: Avoid Exposition

Exposition is a crude tool. Essentially, exposition occurs when you the author explain something to the reader. Ever heard of mansplaining?

This is authorsplaining.

SURE, sometimes we need to tell because otherwise our manuscripts would be 4687 pages long. No matter how good your writing, a reader doesn’t want a book that long.

So when can you “expose”? Stop thinking about breasts. I don’t mean exposing yourselves. Heathens.

How can you tell you’ve exposed your inner story secrets? The two easiest ways are looking for long dense paragraphs of text or finding those paragraphs that take the reader out of the “present action”.

If for example, you’re in a space ship racing towards a fight and suddenly you’re talking about the laws around alien government, then you’re taking the reader out of the present action to talk about something else. You’re authorsplaining. STOP THAT SHIT.

So when is exposition or telling allowed?

• Action scenes
• Where there’s a need for pace
• Shifting scenes
• Younger protagonists
• When it’s in character
• Reader attention 
• Complex worldbuilding 
• Avoiding narrative repetition

THAT’S IT. ten quick tips to help you polish up your prose. If you enjoyed these tips, then make sure you go grab yourself a copy of The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences because there’s a whole lotta other tips in that. You can get it in your favorite book store or you can order a copy through your local library.

Get your copy of The Anatomy of Prose

Get your copy of The Anatomy of Prose Workbook

Rebel Author Podcast Episode 33 Show Notes

This week’s questions is:

What is your favorite literary device?

Book recommendation this week The Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences you can get it in ebook, paperback or hardback now.

Click the link here.

Preorder the Workbook here.

Join the Launch Party tonight, 29^th May 9pm BST, 1pm PST, 4pm EST, 6am Sydney, in my Facebook group here.

Listen to the Next Level Author episode I mentioned here:

Watch onYouTube 

Listen on your Podcatcher 

Listener Rebel of the Week is Russell Phillips

If you’d like to be a Rebel of the week please do send in your story, it can be any kind of rebellion. You can email your rebel story to rebelauthorpodcast@gmail.com or tweet me @rebelauthorpod

Thank you to new patrons this week Katlyn Duncan, Samurai Girl and Daniel Willcocks. If you’d like to support the show, and get access to all the bonus essays, posts and content, you can from as little as $2 a month by visiting: www.patreon.com/sachablack

The post 10 Tips to Improve Your Prose – The Anatomy of Prose Launch appeared first on Sacha Black.

There’s stacks happening to celebrate the launch. First up, I’ll be bringing you a super special launch post all about how to improve your prose later today. So stay tuned for that.

Then, this evening, I’ll be running a LIVE Q&A in my Facebook group Rebel Authors. If you’d like to join the festivities, or ask me anything about writing, publishing, marketing or the universe, hop over to the group. The show starts at 9pm BST, 1pm PST, 4pm EST, 6am Sydney, in my Facebook group here.

Find Out More About the Book

Do your sentences fail to sound the way you want? Are they lackluster, with flat characters and settings? Is your prose full of bad habits and crutches?

In The Anatomy of Prose, you’ll discover: 

• A step-by-step guide to creating descriptions that sing
• The key to crafting character emotions that will hook a reader
• How to harness all five senses to make your stories come alive, deepening your reader’s experience
• Tips and tricks for balancing details at the sentence level
• Methods for strengthening each sentence through strategic word choice, rhythm and flow
• Dozens of literary devices, and how to utilize them to give your prose power
• Tactics for differentiating characters in dialogue as well as making it punchy and unforgettable
• A comprehensive prose-specific self-editing check list
• How to embody your character’s personality at the sentence level
• The most common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid

The Anatomy of Prose is a comprehensive writing guide that will help you create sensational sentences. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned writer, this book will power up your prose, eliminate line-level distractions and help you find the perfect balance of show and tell. By the end of this book, you’ll know how to strengthen your sentences to give your story, prose and characters the extra sparkle they need to capture a reader’s heart.

If you like dark humor, learning through examples and want to create perfect prose, then you’ll love Sacha Black’s guide to crafting sensational sentences. Read The Anatomy of Prose today and start creating kick-ass stories.

Get your copy of The Anatomy of Prose

Get your copy of The Anatomy of Prose Workbook

The post The Anatomy of Prose Launch is HERE! appeared first on Sacha Black.

I am so unbelievably excited to announce that The Anatomy of Prose textbook and workbook are up for preorder!

They both go live on May 29th, 2020.

I’ve created a textbook and workbook to help you put into practice the lessons you learn. The textbook preorder is live in ebook, paperback, and hardback formats. The workbook ebook and paperback is live.

I’ll be releasing the audiobook for The Anatomy of Prose textbook later this year.

Grab your copy of The Anatomy of Prose textbook and workbook by using the links below.

The Anatomy of Prose Textbook

The Anatomy of Prose Workbook

More about the book:

Do your sentences fail to sound the way you want? Are they lackluster, with flat characters and settings? Is your prose full of bad habits and crutches?

In The Anatomy of Prose, you’ll discover: 

• A step-by-step guide to creating descriptions that sing
• The key to crafting character emotions that will hook a reader
• How to harness all five senses to make your stories come alive, deepening your reader’s experience
• Tips and tricks for balancing details at the sentence level
• Methods for strengthening each sentence through strategic word choice, rhythm and flow
• Dozens of literary devices, and how to utilize them to give your prose power
• Tactics for differentiating characters in dialogue as well as making it punchy and unforgettable
• A comprehensive prose-specific self-editing check list
• How to embody your character’s personality at the sentence level
• The most common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid

The Anatomy of Prose is a comprehensive writing guide that will help you create sensational sentences. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned writer, this book will power up your prose, eliminate line-level distractions and help you find the perfect balance of show and tell. By the end of this book, you’ll know how to strengthen your sentences to give your story, prose and characters the extra sparkle they need to capture a reader’s heart.

If you like dark humor, learning through examples and want to create perfect prose, then you’ll love Sacha Black’s guide to crafting sensational sentences. Read The Anatomy of Prose today and start creating kick-ass stories.

The post The Anatomy of Prose appeared first on Sacha Black.

Last week I was talking about diversity and sensitivity readers, Val Neil shared a couple of helpful links for sourcing sensitivity readers which you can find here and here.

Today’s episode question is a slightly selfish one. What do you guys do for a book launch? What do your favorite authors do? I’m starting to turn my thoughts to the launch of The Anatomy of Prose and the types of things I could do, so let me know what you’d like to see me do for the launch.

My book recommendation for you this week is Instructions For Falling In Love Again by Lucy Mitchell which I had the pleasure of reading before it was published.   

You can find the book here:

Amazon UK https://amzn.to/36Hk9Bm 

Amazon USA https://amzn.to/2Ucelx8 

Please note these are affiliate links.

Listener Rebel of the week is M.J. Moores

If you’d like to be a Rebel of the week please do send in your story, it can be any kind of rebellion. You can email your rebel story to rebelauthorpodcast@gmail.com or tweet me @rebelauthorpod

***

Welcome to new patron Katherine Vickers. Thank you so much for joining me and thank you to all my current patrons, who help to ensure that this podcast continues. Katherine and all patrons have access to a sneak peek of The Anatomy of Prose for January’s bonus post. All patrons also have access to the back list of posts, essays, blooper reels and more.

If you’d like to support the show, and get access to all the bonus essays, posts and content, you can support the show by visiting: www.patreon.com/sachablack 

How to Write Romance with Kris Kennedy

Find more about Kris here:

romancewritinglab.com

kriskennedy.net

To watch the Romance Writers Summit, click here: https://www.romancewriterssummit.com/a/17934/LDcwJMX4

Please note, that is an affiliate link and I will earn a small commission if you choose to purchase the conference

How to Write Romance Episode Transcript

Sacha Black
Hello and welcome back to The Rebel Author podcast. Today I am joined by Kris Kennedy. Kris is a USA Today best selling author of romance. She writes historical and contemporary romance teaches classes is a developmental editor and story coach and runs romance Writing Lab. She is also the organizer and founder of The romance writers conference. Did I say that right? romance writing

Kris Kennedy
Summit. Summit, but that’s fine.

Sacha Black
Oh, it’s British. I always call it conference. I’ve been in a couple of other ones that I keep calling conference as well. Romance Writers Summit, which will you be doing another one because obviously by the time this airs, it will have been and gone. Do you think you’ll do another one?

Kris Kennedy
Yeah, I think so. I think people are really loving it. And that’s kind of the vision came together just a bunch of crafts people getting together and talking stories. So I think so.

Sacha Black
So is that is there somewhere that we can direct listeners to where they can find out more or sign up to hear?

Kris Kennedy
Yeah, this one is really easy to remember. It’s romancewriterssummit.com

Sacha Black
Perfect. Okay, let’s let’s get it good. Get him up late here. I haven’t had Gin I have obviously not had enough coffee.

Kris Kennedy
Well go get some

Sacha Black
I’ll be right back… Only joking. aaah, right.

Tell everyone a little bit about you and your writing journey and how you got to where you are.

Kris Kennedy
Well, I write romance, as you’ve said, but for a long time, I didn’t read it. It wasn’t for me whatever that meant. I think I thought it was above it. I’m even though and I’d forgotten this for many years. I read my grandmother’s old Harlequin romances when I was a kid I would just scoop them up. And, you know, because I was just reading anything, I would read the back of a tissue box. Anything I could get my hands on. So I read all those, you know, the doctor and nurse kind of romances. But as an adult, I didn’t remember and I avoided romances, the covers, and they made me uncomfortable. And I don’t know, I think they seem to be telling me something about myself that I didn’t want. And if I picked them up, like I’d be that person. Um, but one day, I was working my way through my library, I was on a mission to read any and every book that looked even remotely interesting, starting a day and going to Z. And I came across, I came across, obviously a bunch of romances as I went, but I came across this one historical, and it was set in Ireland, and I was like, all right, fine, I’ll do this one. And I finished reading it. I don’t remember in a day or two and the day I finished reading, I was up until three in the morning writing my first romance.

Sacha Black
Oh my goodness.

Kris Kennedy
I know. I know right. Sometimes those things you avoid like the plague like it’s good avoid them. There’s a reason but other times maybe there’s something there that you know, it means something a little more and check it out.

Sacha Black
That is amazing. I love that I am I did that with science fiction and I refuse to read Day of the Triffids for ever. And then I think it’s because and bless my mom, she’s probably listening. Hi mom. She gave me a copy of it. And I think, you know, it’s just the inner rebel in me, you know, anything that I’m told or asked to do, I just have to rebel. And eventually I read it and of course, she was absolutely right. I absolutely fucking loved the book and just totally fell in love with, you know, that kind of dystopian sci fi fantasy, all that kind of stuff. But yeah, that’s, that’s hilarious.

Kris Kennedy
way to go, mom.

Sacha Black
You are an editor as well. So I think we’ll talk a bit about romance and specific tangible craft things. But let’s talk about story structure. There are some things that are very, very universal to all stories. But there are also some quirks and specifics that are very unique to each genre. And I guess you can talk about those as tropes or you know, even the story arc, there are points that are specific in each genre so, talk to an author who is just coming into romance and what key aspects of a romance and a romance structure must they hit.

Kris Kennedy
In a lot of ways, I mean, the structure is the same. What I think is different is what is prompting and promoting change and The tensions and difficulty conflict in the story. But in romance, you’re juggling more than you are in a lot of other genres. I know a lot of fantasy have multiple arcs for multiple characters. But in a lot of fiction, there’s the one main character arc and the plot, you know the storyline. But in romance, you have two or possibly more full character arcs with two characters who are changing, sometimes they’re changing a different amount. So their arc is bigger or smaller, shorter or longer. But there’s two of them. There’s one for each and you have the plot. And you have the romance conflict and the romance arc. And that has to be intertwined with all those but never overtaken the romance always has to be primary.

So I guess in other ways, it’s kind of different from other genres. It’s really more complicated, the romance genre, I think it’s a bad rap and a lot of ways as being very simplistic and formulaic, but it’s a lot to juggle, um, I think related to the the story arc itself, um, some of the key differences or focus that people would want for romances at that 10% point which is like that inciting incident or catalyst moment that’s in in it any fiction when something is tossed into the characters world that they can’t ignore and they have to respond to, it upsets the balance of their life and in a romance. That is or involves the other romantic lead at 10% is when that romance conflict is launched. The romantic leads are forced together usually by some external event, and they don’t like each other or they don’t get along, or they do like each other. But the external forces are working against the romance either actively or just as a function of that external thing, you know the character who’s trying to move a bunch of condos into small town and the other character is you know, opposed to that.

But as for all genres, but kind of, especially for romance conflict is queen. Um, there has to be a really strong reason that the leads can’t just fall in love on page 25. And you’re building that all along, but you want to be establishing it at that and by that 10% Mark, and then you can build on it, but there needs to be the reason they can’t just fall in love. And then at the midpoint, that 50% point, in fiction and film, this is a big moment in the story. Um, it’s almost always some kind of reversal or a change of goal for the character and in a romance. That reversal or change is a pro romance change. In some way, they’re choosing the other lead in some big public way that they wouldn’t have done before. And that is, that’s a key thing. One of the things it can sometimes be, and I can have my cake and eat it to moment for a character, they can be like, well, I can still get my goal, but this person matters too. But they they make some choice and they do some action that is public and declares for the other person or shows their allegiance or alignment with in some way that they haven’t done before. And then you get that 75% that all is lost that moment pit of despair kind of thing. And that’s in all fiction when the character has lost everything. And they’re realizing as a result of that. All the things that they did up till now that weren’t enough and they realize they have to change. They realize what they have to change what they’ve been getting wrong and what they need to do different and in a romance. Obviously, the all is lost in The romance is lost. And then what they do after that is directly related somehow to reuniting with or proving themselves or rescuing the other person, somehow they give everything up for the other person. And again, it’s it’s a big arc a big change from what they would have done at the beginning, what they would have been willing to do at the beginning. And ideally, that act three stuff is some kind of sacrifice. They have to give something up that serves the romance or the other lead in some way. So I think those are the things that from a story structure perspective can help people really nail the romance.

Sacha Black
Yeah, I think that’s amazing. I’m like, in my head, I’m like, Oh, I need to write that down. Thank god this is recorded, I can re listen. I think one of the one of the interesting things that I picked up in there is how And obviously this is important in any genre. But for romance specifically that arc is it, there’s a lot of importance placed on the energetic it, obviously romance is emotional, but for the characters particularly, and the sacrifice is much more likely to be some kind of an inner sacrifice than it is perhaps in I don’t know, a fantasy where they might need a magical sort of villain death or something, you know. And, I think the the thing where they do overlay to the other genres, is that sacrifices always, you know, the the hero sacrificing something is always very important. And obviously, the bigger the sacrifice, the more the readers cling to it. Which leads me on to my next question. So how do you create a romance whether that’s a main plot romance or a subplot that has readers on the edge of their seat? What is it that romance writers do that makes the reader fall in love with that romance? I suppose that relationship

Kris Kennedy
Yeah. Well, um, I mean, in the end, it’s the same as for any other genre, it’s conflict. Um, but like you were saying a moment ago, it’s romance is inherently character driven. And it’s about people changing. And so that is, is super important. And then it only increases the need to have really solid conflict. I talk a lot about building remarkable characters. And I think that’s the key. You know, some stories have an awesome plot like this big plot that’s just so crazy awesome. And that that can suffice for some stories, you know, alien invasions, dinosaurs on the lose Great white shark, um, but in general, the best stories have a protagonist, two arcs. And that’s how you can have a really powerful story with really seemingly small external stakes. And yet it’s still so moving because the journey for the character inside themselves, the transformation they go through is exactly what you said a bit ago.

It’s so big, they’re so different at the end than they were at the beginning. They’ve learned some kind of lesson. And you know, for what it’s worth jaws is my favorite movie ever. And police chief Brody, he definitely has an arc and that makes that story stronger. So I think that what we really want in a romance but in any story, but especially romance is you want someone who’s different at the end than they were at the beginning. And part of that difference is you want the character to feel different about them at the end than they did at the beginning and that’s usually the result of the journey that they went through. But it’s someone who has issues and beliefs and emotions and the story just punches them in the face. And it tests every single one of those beliefs, it makes them face emotions they didn’t want to face. And it, you know, shows up their inadequacies at that kind of personal level as the story progresses. And so that in the end, when they’ve lost everything, there’s nowhere to hide anymore, and they have to face whatever they have to face, and they have to change and then do the thing that must be done, whatever that might be. But it’s the key is that it’s something they never would or could have done at the start.

And that’s why it’s so important. And you can sort of reverse engineer this to whatever you’re going to end with and you might not know this till you’re on draft three or 13. But whatever was happening at the end Go back and make sure you’ve built a character at the beginning who could never have done that thing were wouldn’t have. And in a romance in that thing is them connecting to the other person, like we were saying it usually involves some kind of sacrifice and taking some risk to choose the romance a risk emotionally, like they have to face those feelings or those beliefs about themselves. And also in the external world, they might have to give up some goal or in danger or give up on some secondary relationship that used to matter a lot, but now they realize it’s not what they thought it was or they don’t get to be who they need to be in those other relationships. Um, and, and they do that because something else matters more now, and it’s the other lead and sometimes that end part is them, wanting to be with the other person. Sometimes it’s rescuing. that other person, sometimes it’s letting that person go. But at its heart, it’s about them and then the other person comes back in romance. But it’s, you know, the end and I think that is what makes people really stay up late reading on the conflict is big enough to make them doubt it will happen, even though they know they’re reading romance or the reading of sci fi or they’re reading a mystery. They know, you know, the mystery will get solved or they’ll get their happily ever after or you know, the the world will be saved in a thriller. But, you know, the genre gives us the the destination. But we as the storytellers are writing a conflict filled story with a character who at the beginning, we could never imagine them doing what they’re going to have to do at the end. And that’s, I think, what makes people stay up late reading.

Sacha Black
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. I honestly, I genuinely I’m gonna have to go back and re listen to this because I’ve just all of the things I want to write all of them down and I can’t because I’ve been listening to you. And the thing I want to expand on there was the doubt aspect. And I think that is, it’s that tease. So you know, readers of romance know damn well that it’s going to have a HEA at the end, which is happily ever after for people who don’t know what HEA is. And, but despite that, you still have to create enough doubt that they doubt it, even though they’ve read 100 romances before.

And, and, you know, even in other genres, the way that you do that is you toture your protagonist, you know, you make everything an obstacle, everything difficult. Everything goes against their own values and their morals. And yeah, I just I love that and I’m excited about this, tease of a romance story that doesn’t even exist!

Kris Kennedy
I think about it as I sometimes talk about it as calibrating fear and hope or doubt, and hope and fear, it will never happen and hope that it can. And every scene, you’re tipping that balance, you’re making them a little more fearful or a little more hopeful. And just back and forth. Yeah.

Sacha Black
Yeah. I love it. I love it. And I do love love that you say that is? I very, ever write a story without some kind of element? Yeah.

Kris Kennedy
It’s in so many stories like yeah, said even as a subplot or, you know, in save the cat story method was screenwriting, you know, story structure approach, which is really powerful. They talk about that whole idea and it’s, yeah, I mean, I think it’s central to story.

Sacha Black
Absolutely. So let’s get really nitty gritty. Are there any specific craft techniques that listeners should be aware of that helped to fully immerse the reader into the relationship? And by that, I mean, should writers be focusing or trying to think of essential word choices? Is it more about metaphors? Is it about describing the physicalities of touches or creating pictures around emotion? What should a romance writer do at the sentence level?

Kris Kennedy
Mm hmm. I think the writing techniques will definitely vary based on your voice and the tone of your story. So you can have slam BAM in your face, raw senusal tension or you can have a slow build and a graceful dance of passion and desire, and they both work or they both can work. The key I think is whatever you’re going to do to build to it. So if your voice is one that is very lyrical and metaphoric, then do that, if it’s more straight up bare bones then do that. But however you do it, do the build. Generally we think about sexual physical connection building with like, first glance, and then a longer, more direct look. And then physical cues, interest of smiling each other touching the hair or, you know, those kinds of things. It’s sort of you could do it from across the room while you caught someone’s eye. And then there’s the non sexual touches and then there’s the sexual touches and they can move through sort of a progression of you know, mouth and then the upper body, the lower body, clothed, unclothed you know, first base, second base, all that stuff, and you can get a lot of power with that development of how they’re physically close. And it’s great that can be great for intertwining character arcs with romance, because each one of those things will affect them and be pushing them to change a little or trying to resist it. But you can also get serious passion power from skipping a few of those steps along the way or a lot of them um, it really again, it depends on the story and the voice.

But another key in addition to building to it somehow and that’s that longing, peace you know, however you however many of the build up steps you go through there’s, you want to have some longing before you have some satisfaction. Um, and then but another key is to make it forbidden somehow. Somehow being with this person is forbidden. It can be internally in their own mind or heart they can’t or shouldn’t be with this other person. For some reason, or it can be the external kinds of no go zones. You know, it’ll mess up secondary relationships or some external story goal or plot, work that kind of thing. But for whatever reason, they can’t ever do the thing. That means making a choice to be with the other is a risk sexually to be with them is a risk and then they do it anyhow. And then what you need. Another key is to make the sexual however much there’s over active sex or sexuality in your book, to make it have consequences. So every time there is some escalation of the physicality or the romance, something gets tested and changed every time there’s some kind of consequence, every ramp up of their physicality or their inner thoughts and longing about the other person maybe changing their opinion about that person. Everything that drives them closer to the other has some consequence and it can be a personal one like interior stuff. They can, you know, can be emotional or psychological they can feel emotions, they don’t usually feel with the person and and then you ask, well how to how do they respond to that? Does that make them pull back and run away? Or are they like, hey, actually, I love feeling this, this is great, and it helps bring them out. You can play with it any way you want. It just needs to have some consequence. Um, and, you know, it can also be then the external consequences, um, you know, maybe they, they’re loving this so much they get distracted from their external world pursuits, and that will have consequences. Or maybe other things in the external world get more difficult because of the closeness and intimacy that they’re having with the other person. So, and that those consequences, when we talk about consequences, it’s always a bad thing, but it’s, it’s not consequences can be great, um, for a while. Um, so I always I think of it kind of like a movie. When does that happy, upbeat inspirational music start playing? When does you know have an ominous boom Oh, something’s happening. It’s playing in your book too. It’s just quiet. So you want to work with those energies.

Sacha Black
I think I’ve just had about 8000 epiphany number one, you fix something in my current novel, so thank you. That’s awesome. Just the the, the whole escalation and consequence has just made about 8000 Penny drops. So thank you for that. And I wanted to the other major epiphany that I had which is very crass, but I’m gonna say it anyway because it’s my podcast. So basically every romance plotline ever is one big orgasm with a lot of foreplay. That is literally how you write a romance. You do a whole heap of foreplay, and then a big ol’ climax at the end.

But the other thing, victory, I never going to be able to think of romance in any other way other than that. The other thing I wanted to say goes back to something you mentioned right at the start, which is about however, somebody’s voice is in terms of the sentence level of craft creation. And I think it’s also very genre specific. So as a young adult writer, and I can’t really well, I mean, Sarah J mass has written quite a explicit books. But broadly speaking young adult sexual experiences in fiction are typically focusing more on the emotion and how they feel in that situation. Whereas when you move into an adult, obviously romance bit or bit fantasy or plot, you can obviously then have a lot more description on the physicality of things. But my point here is that you should read your genre to know what’s acceptable, know what the limits are, you know, it might be that the upper end of middle grade you’re allowed to hold hands and maybe a kiss on the cheek but nothing I don’t know. I don’t write middle grade. My point is you do need to check and also it might be different in in the sub genres even of romance. So yeah my words have gone…

Kris Kennedy
I know exactly what you’re saying. And I think it’s a really good point. I mean, the the kiss on the cheek. can be the climax the orgasm. I mean that can be you don’t. Again it’s all that it’s the longing and the forbiddenness and the consequences and the build up to it that can that will make a thing powerful so the smallest act romance or otherwise can be infused with such significance if you build to it properly. I’m to the holding of hands I can’t think right now but I feel like I’ve seen a movie where that like two characters decided to hold hands was just like, like wonderful it was you didn’t need anymore. You didn’t need to see or hear anymore. You knew that that thing happened. And as you were talking to I was thinking one of the things that often happens is that 50% Mark, when we were talking about story structure, that is often when if it’s going to sex happens for the first time in a romance or whatever the most furthest along sexual behavior, so clinical, that often happens at midpoint, because that’s that reversal big change claim the other moment. Now the character hasn’t has not finished their journey. They think they’re done but you know, they still have a long way to go. But um, yeah, because it’s such a powerful thing, but it doesn’t have to be like you’re saying it know your genre. And, and but anything can be the orgasm so to speak. Yeah.

Sacha Black
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. variety in your romance life. This is definitely going to have a have explicit lyrics on it. Okay, what rookie mistakes Do you often see in romance stories?

Kris Kennedy
I would say and it’s not just rookie, um, I would say it’s all related to conflict, um, either, you know, too much or not enough. And when I say too much, I mean, we see all the reasons why these romantic leads can or shouldn’t be together. But we never see what I call the promise of them. You have to show the conflict of them and the promise of them, why they should be together, why we’re rooting for them. And you need to start doing that right after you throw them together. It may be generally you’re doing it in the scene where you put them together to you know, that 10% and then certainly the scenes afterwards, you have to show also why they want to be together why they should be they, you know, there’s some affinity between them. There’s some way they click and they’re right for each other, but then there’s all this other conflict. You can’t just overload on conflict and tied to that is weak conflict. I’m We’ll see this generally happy couple having happy times, and there’s no reason they shouldn’t be together, or a weak reason that they shouldn’t, you know, something that like reasonable people would figure out pretty quickly what they need to do because this person’s great and I want to spend, you know, the rest of my life with them. Or a lot of romances, um, can be just a bunch of arguments and hating on without any real driving motivation for them to be opposed to the to the other person and to being with them, which ties to, you know, these are all intertwined, but a third conflict related. rookie mistake is that recycled conflict, characters keep having the same argument or problem over and over again. You want to build in enough reasons for them to not be with the other person, whether its internal or external, ideally, both. I’m mostly so that you have something to tap on later. And and, you know, basically let their argument about who’s the biggest ass die after the first one, because it should change things a little, even if they don’t admit it. Um, it has consequences, like we were talking about that argument shouldn’t keep happening because it should have had consequences, internal and external, um, they’re changing a little each time, and therefore the next argument should be different.

Sacha Black
Yeah, and I think I think the thing that’s really important here is to remember that fiction is not reality. It is it is merely a representation of reality. We all know we’re all going to have this same argument every evening about what’s for fucking dinner. No reader ever needs to read that. We all have very, very repetitive arguments with our spouses because at the end of the day, we’ve all been together forever there is nothing else to argue about. But that is that is reality and not fiction. And it would be very boring if that was the conflict in the story. But I think that yeah, I think it’s really important. This escalation, each argument or point of conflict is an escalation on the previous one, which means there has to be a consequence in order for it to be escalated.

Kris Kennedy
And push the story forward. Things are different now.

Sacha Black
Yeah. Oh, I’ve got so much editing to do. I’m weeping with both 50% joy and 50% absolute horror right now.

Kris Kennedy
I’ve been there too.

Sacha Black
Okay, so I’m going to flip the order of the questions slightly. Just Because I think it makes sense to do the one I was going to ask last question from a patron now. Does romance always have to have a happily ever after? Can happiness be the result of the protagonist discovering a deeper level of self love and or contentment?

Kris Kennedy
Yes and yes.

There has to be a happily ever after we’re all about that. Although I will give a caveat you could be happily for now, you may see HFN. And that means happily for now that works too. But the key is for romance is that it’s emotionally optimistic in the end, and that the leads choose each other in the end in some way. So certainly you can have a protagonist who discovers a deeper level of self love and contentment and they they should hopefully That’s going to be part of their inner journey is I haven’t been being true to myself in all but before romance, it’s, I haven’t been being true to myself in all these other crappy ass romance relationships in my life, but I am real with this person. So that is where the romance ties in. Yes, you never want someone being untrue to themselves, or desperately craving a relationship. So they don’t have to deal with whatever they really have to deal with. Your protagonist has to deal with whatever they have to deal with at a personal level, but the romance is the best place for them to be and to get that self contentment to be that person who they need to be. So yeah, and you know, I think we need that emotionally optimistic, kind of ending more than ever these days. I mean, honestly, the way I see it, we are saving people here people and not just our characters, but sometimes Our readers to I people are struggling silently with so much. And they need a respite and a recharge and a reason to keep on and they need hope. And romance gives them that. Yeah,

Sacha Black
yeah, definitely. And I think this does come down to knowing your genre as well. Yeah. Happily ever after is basically the, the biggest trope in romance. It’s the it’s the unquestionable, I think. I can think of a couple of examples where I’ve read. So Jane Green, this was corr, probably 15 years ago. Now, Jane green, back then was quite a big romance writer. But the book The couple of examples, I think it was Jemima J and possibly Straight Talking, where the the women would have sort of a love triangle type situation. But actually, the story was really all about the women in finding themselves and being comfortable with themselves. But where that happened It then brings the genre into sort of this halfway between women’s lit and romance. So it’s about knowing where you’re positioning, you could write whatever the bloody hell you like. But just make sure you know how you’re going to market it. Because if it is cross genre, is there a cost of genre market for you? And yes, and if there isn’t, maybe it’s just a story you’re writing for you and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you are going to go against tropes that are so popular in genre, you know, just make sure you that you know that there is an audience out there.

Kris Kennedy
I think that is really great input and you’re right, you can straddle these genres and then it may be difficult to sell it, it just may it might also break out. Um, but yeah, it’s it’s just sort of knowing what you’re doing reading in the genres thinking about how you’re going to market it because if, if the romance isn’t primary, and it doesn’t end on that romance optimistic note, um, romance readers are not going to like it but others might love it. So yeah

Sacha Black
Okay, so let’s let’s change the subject now what is working for marketing romance right now?

Kris Kennedy
I have no idea. Seriously. Honestly, I you know, scammers have overrun Amazon. They’re spending huge amounts of money advertising, you know, five, six figures a month in ads. And I’m just not sure how people can compete. Aside from writing a fabulous insanely romantic book or insanely mysterious book or thriller book with great characters who arc and transform. I mean, the good news is the best advertising that you’ll ever get is to write a great story, and then another, another, you build your backlist and you’ll find your readers. But, um, but it’s hard to do from a marketing standpoint. And that, unfortunately is not my strength at all. Yeah.

Sacha Black
Okay, this is The Rebel Author podcast. So tell me about the time you unleash your inner rebel?

Kris Kennedy
Well, you know, I mean, I would say, it’s the summit that I did, um, you know, the romance writer summit that’s going on now, but by the time this airs, it will be over, although people will still be able to purchase the videos. Um, and that was it was insanely hard for me, not just the technical end of things, but emotionally I had to do so many things that were hard for me personally, that, you know, sort of stepping out of the shadows. I mean, literally, I’m in every video. Oh, and then yeah, then there’s the technical end.

Um, but it’s also been, I think, because it was so difficult. It was also so fabulous, I guess kind of like an arc for a character in our book, to, you know, you do the hard thing. And, you know, sometimes it pays off in real life. My vision was to get a bunch of crafts people together and do nothing but talk about story craft. And that’s what we did. And I today, although again, sorry, guys, it will be nice. You can cut this out if you need to. But we have a video game writer who worked on writing on the Game of Thrones and walking dead video games. And we just talked about storytelling in games. Um, it’s just is just awesome. And then to be able to share all that with a bunch of other writers who are serious about their craft. And that’s just that’s what they’re thinking about. How do I become better, a better storyteller. It just is really incredibly awesome.

Sacha Black
And I think the wonderful thing about that I always think that if you if you aren’t… No… Yes, if you aren’t out of your comfort zone, then you aren’t growing, you aren’t learning or developing. And if you aren’t changing as a person, then then you’re stagnating. So you know, I think it’s so important to to put you know, to push yourself and to can you get with us to continue to learn and and even doing this podcast? There were tears before I started this podcast, I wanted to do it for so so bloody long. And it was it was the technical side I didn’t want to do and I threw it out of the pram and then I pulled up my big girl panties and I sucked it up Princess, you know? You just have to push yourself out of that comfort zone. Because I am so proud and I am so glad because I get to talk to amazing people and learn so many amazing things. Even though I have to editing now.

Kris Kennedy
Really though, what you’re saying is true. It’s like we are our characters, right? I mean, really, because at any moment, we’re all facing tasks or challenges things. We’re avoiding beliefs or emotions that maybe aren’t serving us. And then the question is, and what am I going to do about it? If I want this thing, this story goal, what am I going to do about?

Sacha Black
So for anybody listening, if you’ve been putting off that thing. Go do it. You’ve been told. I know you have a thing. Go do that thing.

Kris Kennedy
Yes.

Sacha Black
Okay, so tell readers where they can find out more about you your books. I will obviously include a link to the summit. Not conference call this summit.

Kris Kennedy
Okay, you can call it a conference.

Sacha Black
Why can everybody find out more about you?

Kris Kennedy
Well, my author website is kriskennedy.net, not calm, it’s a net. And it’s Kris K R I S, and the romancewriterssummit.com. And my writing course website which is still under construction, um, it’s a work in progress, but that is romancewritinglab.com. So but even though the website is honestly, it’s just a placeholder page that I made and guys really design is just not my thing. Um, you can still access the sign up for the newsletter through that and it’s just a free writing tips newsletter that I sent out at extremely random times because I am a terribly organized person, I just, it’s terrible, but I send out writing tips. So sometimes it’s, you know, just like a paragraph of hey, give this a try. And other times I’m, you know, breaking something down in more depth, but it’s all craft. So you can sign up for that. At the romance writing lab website

Sacha Black
Amazing. Thank you so thank you to all of the patrons supporting the show. If you would like to get early access to all of the episodes, you can do so by going to www.patreon.com/SachaBlack and that is Sacha with a C. Thank you very much for listening. Thank you to Kris for your time today and your amazing tips that I have to do so much editing on Sacha Black. You’re listening to Kris Kennedy and this was The Rebel Author Podcast.

The post 014 How to Write Romance with Kris Kennedy appeared first on Sacha Black.

For those of you who aren’t on my mailing list, then I have a treat for you today. I’m super excited to announce 10 Steps To Hero – How To Craft A Kickass Protagonist. My second non-fiction baby is coming into the world in a matter of weeks. Literally. Launch date below. 

I’ve talked about second book syndrome before and it seems that this time, writing my second non-fiction book was just as hard as writing my second fiction book. I’m not sure why, if any of you out there have been through it, I’d love to hear your thoughts. But forget that… I made it through people.

*Grabs megaphone*

*Clears throat*

I MADE IT THROUGH PEOPLE.

And boy am I exited about this book.

Like 13 Steps To Evil, I’ve also created a workbook companion for Heroes. Here’s why:

“Malcom Gladwell is famed for arguing that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice in order to become an expert at something. While I’m not suggesting you need to practice creating villains for 10,000 hours before you create a decent one, I am saying that you need to put the lessons into practice. This is a workbook. There are exercises. Do them. Do them again. Then put what you learn into your manuscripts.” 13 Steps To Evil How To Craft A Superbad Villain Workbook by Sacha Black

AND NOW, LADIES AND GENTLEBLOGGERS, here are both the covers

A bit more about the textbook:

From cardboard cutout to superhero in 10 steps.

Are you fed up of one-dimensional heroes? Frustrated with creating clones? Does your protagonist fail to capture your readers’ heart?

In 10 Steps to Hero, you’ll discover:

+ How to develop a killer character arc

+ A step-by-step guide to creating your hero from initial concept to final page

+ Why the web of story connectivity is essential to crafting a hero that will hook readers

+ The four major pitfalls to avoid as well as the tropes your story needs

Finally, there is a comprehensive writing guide to help you create your perfect protagonist. Whether you’re writing your first story or a professional writer, this book will help supercharge your hero and give them that extra edge.

These lessons will help you master your charming knights, navigate your way to the perfect balance of flaws and traits, as well as strengthening your hero to give your story the conflict and punch it needs.

First, there were villains, now there are heroes. If you like dark humor, learning through examples and want to create the best hero you can, then you’ll love Sacha Black’s guide to crafting heroes.

Read 10 Steps to Hero today and start creating kick-ass heroes.

***

RELEASE DATE: 4th January 2019.

The best bit is, the textbook is up for pre-order right now, click the icon below to go to your regular store. And I’ll be back to give you some sneaky insights into crafting heroes soon. 

If you want awesome writing tips, you can grab a copy of my book 13 Steps To Evil – How to Craft Superbad Villains. Click this link and tap the logo of your reading device or regular bookshop and it will take you to the right page. You can also get a FREE villains cheatsheet by joining my mailing list just click here.

You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Goodreads

The post 10 Steps To Hero – How To Craft A Kickass Protagonist is coming to a bookstore near you appeared first on Sacha Black.

I re-wrote Keepers three times… from scratch. I won’t be doing that again. It breached all acceptable tolerance levels of inefficiency. So much so, I developed a permanent twitch, and I’m pretty sure I herniated the moment I realized I had to start again… for the third time.

Part of the problem was the world building. See, writing in most genres, you use the real world as the world your story is set in. But as a fantasy/sci-fi writer, your world could be populated by angry hooman eating marshmallows. The sky could be on the ground and the ground in the sky. Suffice to say we get to push our sleeves up and play book-god. But playing book-god is hard. There’s a lot of shit to create.

You can’t just pluck a sword made of magical fish fins, that’s about to reign down a plague and cause world ending genocide, out of thin air. There’s got to be a reason, context, and history. Why? Because it has to mean something to the reader. I mean psssht, magical fish fins indeed. How do they even work?

The problem is, unless your George R.R or Tolkien, you only have three hundred or so pages to convey your entire world and all its constructs. Not an easy task.

So how in the glistering fudgemuggins do you do it?

Well, dear reader, I’m glad you asked. Here are my 4 top tips for building a fantasy world.

ONE – More Is Always More – Unless… Less Is More. Then Do Less

You might think you need reams and reams of detail to give the reader a full and painted picture of your world. And if you’re writing epic fantasy then maybe you need more than the average fantasy book. But readers are clever. They fill in the blanks. You don’t need eight hundred pages detailing every farming and food production mechanism or governmental law. 

You need enough to give the flavor. Like wine tasting; you only need a sip to know what the rest of the bottle will taste like.

I can’t tell you exactly what you should and shouldn’t include because it’s story dependent and you might well need a lot of detail about one particular part of your society that another writer might not.

The point is to be aware, err away from flowery prose and minutia. Especially if your word count is busting over the edge of its spine. If your reader can detail a 1000 year genealogy of every character, you’re probably overdoing the detail.

TWO – You Only Need The Detail If It Means Something

That’s great, Sacha. But how in the shizzle do I know what detail to include and when? 

Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the wonder of fantasy is that there are no rules. But you also don’t want your reader falling asleep between your pages and leaving drool in your book spine because you spent three pages intensively detailing the anatomical leg hair of your protagonist’s step-granny. 

What Not To Do:

Detail aunt Ethel’s minute by minute routine including reading the ‘space news’

Tell the reader in excruciating detail about the nuts and bolts and electrical wiring of your spacecraft TZ578.

What To Do:

However, if your spacecraft is going to have an accident and get stranded on a barren planet because a particular bolt that your protagonist thought looked suspicious as she boarded just happens to cause a crash a few minutes later – then include the detail.

Think about whether or not the detail is relevant. Like Checkovs gun. Don’t tell the reader about a random gun unless it’s relevant later in the story.

In Trutinor (the world Keepers is set in) the ocean surrounding the realm is called the Blood Ocean and every so often shimmers blood red… For a reason – red is the symbol of Imbalance (aka evil) and it’s a warning not to cross it unless you want to die… A detail that might not seem relevant now, but sure as shit will be in book 4! I included it because it means something.

THREE – Symbols, Meaning, and Foreshadowing

Whether it’s a flag or religion, even in our ‘real’ society we have symbols. Symbols give meaning to our lives and to your stories. That is a nifty tool that can help you foreshadow significant events later in your series or book. Look at Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets – the diary that was so relevant to book 2, later becomes a Horcrux.

The Hunger Games is another example. The Mockingjay was created because of a mistake the Capitol made, which is why it became a symbol of rebellion from the Capitol. 

But symbols don’t have to be logos, they could be anything from color, to a device or object or an event.

In Trutinor, there are five States – each one has a different ability and a different symbol representing that ability, and each one will be on the cover of one of the books in the series.

FOUR – The ‘What’ Of What To Include

Law or justice system – again, you don’t need stacks of detail – it’s enough to know there’s some kind of punishments – but that also means you need to be clear WHAT’S punishable.

Government system – As above – include what’s relevant to your story. But what or who are the leaders in your world and is there a hierarchy? How do you get power?

Magical system  – Both what it can do and more importantly, what it can’t do. You need to know the limitations of the powers in your society because it allows you to put your hero in sticky situations which helps to create tension and conflict.

Food – We don’t need to know every detail about where it comes from unless that’s relevant. But don’t forget (like I did in draft 2) that your characters need sustenance!

Transport & communications– How do your characters get from one place to another? Are there limits or restrictions to movement? And, how do they communicate over distances? Or perhaps the point is, they can’t?

Boundaries – By this I mean in order to put your character into difficult situations to make him grow and develop over the story arc, there needs to be some kind of restriction on them. Perhaps it’s a societal testing system, maybe they lack food, or transport, or maybe they only control a particular power. Whatever it is, you need a boundary or restriction on your protagonist.

Fashionista – Thanks to Esther my editor for this one – remember your reader needs to know what your characters look like and are wearing. Do they walk around in hotpants and bikinis? Or is it arctic and they have to wear animal furs?

Sense of Place – Give some level of detail about the weather, how time works and what the land and buildings look like

Of course, this is not a complete list, it’s just a flavor… see what I did there! :p

Want to check out my world building skills? You can read Keepers here.

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The post 4 Top Tips To Build A Fantasy World #MondayBlogs #Amwriting appeared first on Sacha Black.

There’s nothing better than an epiphany. It’s all gooey and warm on the inside, and on the outside it smothers my brain in a glass clear sensation of clarity.  

What follows is usually a brief flappy hand dance, a wide stare into the distance as my brain discombobulates and then has an epiphany.

That’s what the Emotion Thesaurus did to me the first time I read it. If you’re a writer and you don’t own a copy, then shame on you… You bloody ought to. To my absolute delight, I was given a copy of the latest installment in the emotion thesaurus series to review: The Emotional Wound Thesaurus.

Once again, I had one of those delightfully sticky and positively crystal clear moments. Each time Ackerman and Puglisi release a new book, it’s like my writing jumps another notch on the development scale.

I own every single book they’ve written and used them all extensively, so I feel safe when I say that this book is so good, it might even rival their original Emotion Thesaurus. In fact, does anyone have a Nobel prize for teaching writing? They need it.

People are bloody hard to understand, that’s why writing good books is so hard. Writers have to be psychologists. But the latest wound book takes all the pain out of it for you. Which brings me onto the epiphany I had…

What part of the book gave me an epiphany this time? Well, one quote about character need and resulting behavior literally blew my mind!

“…unmet needs have the power to direct behavior above all else, meaning, if the urgency is strong enough, needs can push characters to act even if their deepest, most debilitating fears are telling them not to.” P.21 The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, Ackerman and Puglisi.

Wait, whaaaaaaaat?

Can you hear the tiny pieces of my brain fragmenting and splitting as their atoms implode?

That is a hard truth of humanity, a fundamental causation of our behavior and if we, as writers, can understand that, we can understand how to push our protagonists into action in the second half of our books.

That little nugget of psychology should be driving our protagonists into our book’s climax. Whatever your hero wants, it’s still an unmet need. It should be so fundamental to their being they have no choice but to overcome their *fear/barrier the villain put in their way/insert some other fictional obstacle* don’t you seeeeee??????

That right there is a firework of character depth you just threw into your novel and when it explodes, it’s going to smear its juicy depth all over your pages!

That is just one of the golden delights in their book.

This book, in particular, goes deeper than any of their others. With a significant focus on teaching and the psychology of characters, you can find in-depth content on:

• Character Arcs
• Lies characters believe and why
• Needs
• Psychology of villains
• How a character redeems themselves
• How to create a wound
• How a character can redeem themselves
• How to create a wound effectively (as well as a look at what that means for their past)
• Factors that will affect a wound and what that will do to your character’s behavior.
• Big reveals
• Top tips on what classic mistakes to avoid
• A bazillion different types of character wound – and in each one they provide: examples, needs that are compromised, what the characters might fear, possible responses and results, personality traits, triggers, and opportunities to overcome their wound.

So yeah. GO BUY THE DAMN BOOK or karma save your writing soul!

AmazonCOM

AmazonUK

***

My Review:

What sets this apart from other writing craft books is the way it gets to the core of humanity’s psychology. If you want to understand a character, like truly, deeply and fundamentally know what pushes your protagonists to save the world time and time again, this is the book for you. But the magic of it is that it won’t just teach you about characters, it will teach you about people too.

This book is so many things: writing mentor and tutor, an encyclopedia of human psychology, inspiration bucket, reference tool, character development guide and so much more.

It gave me a number of personal epiphanies. Every time I read one of the Ackerman-Puglisi thesauri my writing jumps up a hundred developmental notches.

These thesauri are writing craft cult classics, that’s a fact. It’s also a fact that their latest Wound Thesauri MUST be in every writer’s reference collection.

10 stars out of 5.

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