The Cinderella story is a perennial romance favorite. We posted 10 Tips for Writing the Perfect Cinderella Story on Wednesday. But it can be challenging making a traditional tale feel new. Are you up for the challenge? Outline in a few paragraphs your perfect modern Cinderella story: Your Cinderella: She (or he) is a relatable,…
“Consider what makes a person so fascinating. Who captures your interest in a powerful way?” – Senior Editor Patience Bloom, How to Spot Problem Areas in Your Story When we think about the people who fascinate us, it’s their unique qualities that make them alluring. But sometimes we create cliched characters even as we try…
Character clichés. Archetypes. Stock characters. We encounter them in every genre—the mad scientist, the femme fatale, the high school jock, that geek with acne. There are millions of stories out in the world today, so of course we’re going to encounter similar people from time to time. One thing is certain, though: a reader needs…
By Deirdre McCluskey For our last writing challenge we talked about frenemies. Another favourite secondary character in romance is the hero’s best friend. And, no, we don’t mean this kind. The best friend can be a foil for the hero, highlighting his “hero” qualities by showing his somewhat more “regular” friend. Or he can…
by Deirdre McCluskey This week we’ve been talking about secondary characters. One of my favourite character types is the “frenemy”. Sometimes the frenemy is just an enemy that the main character must tolerate politely. But the frenemy role I enjoy is the irritating friend who creates friction in practically every scene. The friction might be…
by Deirdre A while back we asked you to show us your Alpha Hero. You gave us some fabulous scenes and character sketches that truly balanced the hero’s alpha traits with believable flaws. This week, following up on Monday’s post from Kayla King on the Top 5 Reasons to Write a Smart and Savvy Heroine,…