This book will show you everything you need to successfully break into the romance writing market, from planning and plotting your story to editing and selling your manuscript. Whether you’re excited by classic love stories or steamy erotic romances, there’s a market for your love story. Let Vanessa Grant coach you in the process of getting from idea to finished novel.Learn how to -
- Develop characters your readers will care about
- Write sensual and romantic scenes
- Set up a suspenseful story
- Research your plot details
- Use your computer to write efficiently
- Find a publisher and sell your book
WRITING ROMANCE includes contributions from popular romance authors Jo Beverley, Mary Jo Putney, Gail Crease, E.C. Sheedy, and others – each writing about a subgenre of the romance field: historical romances, paranormal romances, romantic suspense, erotic romances, and more.
Being the author of a similar book of writing instruction, I was pleased to get a copy of this one for review and see that it’s been updated since its original publication date of 1997. This one came out in 2007 and a lot of changes have happened in the industry in the last ten years. That said, writing a good romance is still writing a good romance, and Vanessa Grant has written more than a few to know how to do it right.
In the various sections and chapters, she covers the following topics: story ingredients, getting started, character, conflict, setting, planning & plotting & research, pacing, sensuality, voice, emotion, point of view, and telling vs showing. She then gives overviews of the various subgenres, talks about revisions, visits the market and agents, and even covers using the web, setting goals, and word processing software. As I did in my CIG, Vanessa uses examples from her own work to illustrate many of her points, enabling the reader / student to clearly understand her points. The text is conversational and easy to read, and the book is approximately 300 pages long.
I’m going to give away this copy, which also comes with a CD, to someone who comments here by Sunday night, January 18, 2009, 8:00 p.m.ish CST. To be eligible, tell me something about what you’re writing now, and what you most need help with.
