10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer
I do give tips for this in The Romance Novel Formula, but here are 10 more:
1. Read, read, read
2. Write, write, write (yes, AFTER you’ve ‘read, read, read’)
3. Attend writing workshops, conferences, and courses
4. Network with more experienced authors and pick their brains (most are happy to oblige, myself included)
5. Learn all the writing-related jargon (e.g. do you know what a plotter, pantser, and plantser are? What about a HEA and HFN? A beat?)
6. Get (good and experienced) beta readers in your genre. Have them look over your manuscript before you send it to an editor/agent/publisher.
7. Listen to your editor. They, more often than not, know what’s best. Even though I am a qualified editor, I listen to my editor over my own opinion because I am too close to my own work to be objective. The same applies to you.
8. Follow more experienced authors on social media. Most post their writing tips and tricks regularly or feature Q and A/Ask the Author
sessions. Here’s my handle @akleighauthor (Instagram and Facebook)
9. Learn how to take feedback and criticism. It’s not personal.
10. On point 9, develop a thick skin. To be an author, you need it.
Alicia Leigh
Genre: Non-fiction
Publisher: A.K. Leigh
Date of Publication: 7th December 2021
ISBN: 9781973593553 (Amazon)
ASIN: B09J48ZHJF
Paperback – app. 200 pages
Word Count: 24,000 words
Cover Artist: Sarah Paige (Opium House Creatives)
Tagline: Is there a secret formula for writing a successful romance novel?
Book Description:
Backed by research and professional expertise, The Romance Novel Formula provides everything you need to take you from idea to first draft of your breakout romance novel.
Join best-selling romance author and academic researcher, Alicia Leigh, as you discover:
*How to take your love interests on the “lovers’ journey” – inclusive of ALL types of romantic relationships: ménage, alien, LGBTQI, polyamory, etc.
*A unique five-act structure to make your story easy to write and manage.
*The specific story “beats” exclusive to the romance genre (and which other books on writing typically exclude).
*The story and character arcs necessary to classify your book as romance.
*How to avoid stereotypes by focusing on archetypes.
*Popular romance tropes.
*Essential writing techniques.
*Advice on dialogue.
*The most common writing mistakes . . . and how to avoid them.
*Goal, motivation, and conflict.
*Fear, need, and flaw (what are they, and do you need them?).
*Much more!
Complete with checklists and over 30 writing exercises, The Romance Novel Formula is the new essential romance writing guide for aspiring and experienced writers, plotters and pantsers, and professional researchers.
Excerpt:
“Romance novels are written to a specific formula.” The number of times I’ve heard this insulting and patronizing phrase throughout my career as a romance writer would fill its own book! Yet, regardless of urban legends and popular culture tales, the simple fact is this: There is no romance novel formula.
Let me repeat that with emphasis: There is no romance novel formula.
Now, it might seem like I have contradicted the title of this book by saying that. However, there is more than one way to write a romance novel. This book is intended as a guide to assist you while giving you the freedom to find your own version of a formula.
While there is no set formula per se, there is a structure you can follow that will aid you in writing your breakout romance novel. This structure isn’t used solely by romance writers. Different forms are used by all novelists (see, for instance, books such as Story, Save The Cat! Writes a Novel, The Plot Whisperer, and Story Engineering, which have a variety of formulas, guides and suggestions). In that regard, writing a romance novel is almost the same as writing any other novel. I say almost because the romance genre has necessary inclusions that are applicable to it alone. This applies to every genre. These are called genre conventions.
Whether you are a novice or a seasoned writer, this book can lead you through the quagmire of structure and help you find the unique path for your characters to follow on what I call the lovers’ journey.
Alicia Leigh is a bestselling non-fiction author, international-selling romance author, identical triplet, writing coach, and hot chocolate addict.
She uses her postgraduate degrees in counseling from the Australian College of Applied Psychology and editing from Macquarie University to create believable, three-dimensional characters. Her certificates in forensic science and forensic anthropology from the University of Strathclyde add layers to the realistic crime elements in her stories. She has completed her master’s degree in writing at Swinburne University and is currently embarking upon her PhD in Creative Arts (writing) at Central Queensland University.
When not writing, reading, coaching, studying, or enjoying nature, she can be found having fun with her three gorgeous children (plus one laid-back dog and one hypersensitive guinea pig).
She is active on social media and encourages readers and writers to interact with her there. She writes romantic fiction novels under the pseudonyms A.K. Leigh and Leigh Hatchmann.
Fall in love … with Leigh
Website www.fallinlovewithleigh.com
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/akleighauthor/
Thank you for sharing. 😊
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