Theme is an important element of any story, yet strangely it’s one many writers overlook. Perhaps those writers consider theme to be an unimportant story element, or maybe they believe it’s one that will evolve naturally as they write (which may well be what eventuates).… Read More »Universal themes: the secret to writing a story readers will love
The way you talk about romances needing to have heart and soul, a deeper meaning . . . I totally love that, get it, agree wholeheartedly! RACHEL – Aspiring romance author There’s a good chance you’re reading this blog post because you want to learn… Read More »Find the heart of your story in 5 easy steps
Dear Romance Book Coach, I started a new job a month ago, and even though it’s part-time, I’ve been struggling to plan my new story. It’s just so hard to focus with the new job hanging over my head. Plus, my role is pretty demanding,… Read More »How to find peace when you can’t write
We’ve explored the importance of genre, learned about the different heat levels in romance, and touched on the common romance subgenres. Now let’s talk romance tropes! What is a trope? Some say there isn’t a story that hasn’t been written. But what does that mean?… Read More »Hook your reader with 5 popular romance tropes
So, you’re writing a romance. Fabulous! It’s important to know what genre you’re writing in. To find out why, read 3 reasons genre is important. In romance, the critical promises you’re making to the reader are: 1) that you’ll focus on the central romance, and… Read More »5 romance subgenres: Learn how to define your story
Romance writers and readers often refer to stories’ heat levels? But what does that mean? And how do you determine the heat level in your own manuscript? What are heat levels? In the romance genre, stories are often described according to their “heat levels”. A… Read More »Heat levels: how does your romance novel compare?
What is genre? In literary terms, genre is the label we give a story to categorise it with others of similar composition, tone, content or length. But why is it so essential that we focus on identifying our story’s genre and labelling it in this… Read More »3 reasons genre is important
