character

Award-winning editor Brenda Chin has worked in the romance industry for more than 32 years. Throughout her many years with Harlequin, she had the opportunity to work with some of the best writers in the business, often buying their first book. Brenda is offering her expertise to help authors go...

Readers are looking for more stories with "mature" characters (30 years old +). Learn how to create characters who have life experience and are perfect for all types of romances (all sub-genres of romance). Determining the age range and what character experiences might be How not to fall into...

Most people are familiar with Joseph Campbell's monomyth but have not heard of Maureen Murdock's Heroine's Journey. Murdock builds on the hero's journey and shows how it's different for the feminine. In this class, we will explore the nine steps as well as their similarities and differences to...

You can get up close and personal with your characters by using deep third person POV. Deep POV can be used to create your character's voice and creates a connection with the reader. How to determine your character's "voice" What Deep POV is compared to other third person POVs Tips and...

Award winning and bestselling author, L. C. Hayden will discuss the various writing pitfalls that stand in the way of becoming a successful writer. Not only will she point them out, she will show you ways to avoid them. Some of the pitfalls she will discuss center around character development...

The LIVE webinar will be presented on ZOOM. For more information on how to access Zoom for your first Zoom meeting, please check out HERE. The webinar will focus on using the 3 D’s: Sensory description Dialogue Depth to create or strengthen fictional characters and places to make your...

Body language is a key ingredient in correctly conveying the emotion you need to add power to your story. This class will teach writers how to use body language to make their characters stronger and more real so they become more than talking heads.

Heroines are an integral part of any romance, and authors sometimes feel like it's difficult to differentiate their heroines from everyone else's. There are techniques you can use to make sure your heroine shines, and you'll learn them in this workshop.

There's an art to creating heroes who will make your readers fall in love at first sight. Different genres and plots call for distinct characteristics, but there are also universal traits all romance heroes should share. In this course you'll learn about various types of heroes and how to...

A strong character arc is the key to getting readers emotionally invested in our stories. In this workshop we'll learn how to craft character arcs that will create a transformative experience not just for our characters, but for readers too.

You know how important it is for a character to have internal integrity – and how difficult that can sometimes be. Here’s a helpful system from classical myths. Warrior, Monk, Scientist, Magician, Lover – find and develop the best ArchePath for your characters, regardless of gender...

We struggle to make our writing significant for readers. We often neglect to take make good use of the negative spaces in our writing. When we take advantage of negative spaces, we invite our readers to share in the worlds we’ve created. They collaborate by filling in their own images and...

How many times have we all heard "Show don't Tell!" We know action driven plots and tension driven character development rely on pacing. Whether your WIP is plot driven, character driven, or both, nothing takes a reader out of the action as fast as a question that's asked and never answered (and...

Do you have one or more ideas for a story but aren’t sure what to do with it? Learn how to develop your idea into a story with author Hank Quense. During his Story Design series of lectures you’ll build your characters, create a plot, design the scenes and more.

Your story surely has a protagonist, the hero of the story, but does it also have a mentor, ally, herald, trickster, shapeshifter, guardian or shadow? Who would Bilbo be without his mentor, Gandolf? Harry Potter without his shadow, Lord Voldemort? Scout without her ally, Jem? And is your hero...

We combine Premise and Story Arc into the first course. The premise forms the foundation and a way to test the story idea which leads to creating a story arc. Here's the description of the course: You have an idea for a novel, but it takes more than a vague idea to have a viable story premise...

Plot a Romance Novel in 2 weeks. Set your book up for success with detailed character outlines that deepen story connection and worldbuilding. You're familiar with some plotting, but still unsure you're taking the right path... learn a structure that's simple to grasp and easy to use for any...

Are your stories sounding kind of similar? Do you find yourself gravitating to the same hunky hero and tough but sweet heroine? We all do it, we find something that works and stick with it. And that can be great, for awhile. Nobody wants to read the same plot or the same characters. Naturally...

There's an art to creating heroes who will make your readers fall in love at first sight. Different genres and plots call for distinct characteristics, but there are also universal traits all romance heroes should share. In this course you'll learn about various types of heroes and how to...