How our characters speak says a lot about who they are and what kind of romance the book will be. But finding the right voice and making each character’s word flow unique while keeping it believable and interesting is a tangle of intricacy. Come find out how other writers make their dialogue gripping and not a snoozeville of “hey, how are you?” This Sunday 4pm PT / 7pm ET.
Love at first sight is sometimes how it works out, but not always. The meet cute of our lovers’ first encounter makes a big difference in hooking your reader. But coming up with gripping ideas every time isn’t easy. How do you make you meet cute’s stand out and fill them with enough excitement to spark a romance that propels an entire novel? Come share with us Sunday 4pm PT / 7pm ET
This week’s chat on Nov. 26th is all about writing the kind of characters that jump off the page and take on a life of their own. Here are some of Robin Lovett’s thoughts on how to work for that goal.
Great characters who I remember and stay with me long after I’ve read the book vary in a lot of ways. For the most part, they’re books I love as a whole. I love a book primarily for its characters.
But no two people love exactly the same type of characters. Though there are archetypes (a model that some characters are based on, i.e. hero, antagonist, villain, mentor, etc.), the true variety of characters is as limitless as there are people in the world. Though, I think there are a handful of things that most memorable characters have in common. Continue reading
This week on #RWchat, we’re talking about heroes and heroines, and today’s guest post comes to us from LaQuette. We asked her to talk about the thoughtful and meaningful names in her Queens of Kings series. Take it away, LaQuette!
Hello, I’m LaQuette, your friendly erotic romance author, embracing my crazy…one character at a time. Speaking of crazy and characters, I’m here to talk to you about my process of name selection for the crazy folks running around in my head.
I was attending a reader/writer event last year when a reader by the name of Shona asked me a thoughtful question about my characters. She’d read my romantic suspense series, The Queens of Kings, and asked, “You named the Amare family members, Hunter, Law, Free, Justice, True, and Heart. How did you come up with such unusual names, and what if any significance did the selection of those names have?” If I didn’t mention that I have smart and perceptive readers, let me tell you now, my readers are the business.
Graphic by Alexis Daria
Our main characters are tricky to create. What kind of people they are – whether they follow a trope or not – they’re the foundation of the romance. How the plot and the relationship develops is entirely dependent on who they are. Come chat with us about how you make decisions about who your MCs will be.
Next Sunday 4pm PT/ 7pm ET.
~Robin Lovett
Graphic by Alexis Daria
We all come from somewhere, and what happens in our past informs who we are and the decisions we make. Our characters are no different. Creating a rich character backstory is vital to any hero or heroine’s story of the future.
As a fun treat, your four #RWchat hosts will each be posting our “Writing Origin Stories” this week. We’ll be sharing how we got into publishing romance – how our experiences are informing our decisions now.
It’s a bit of a celebration for us, because last week, Alexis Daria announced her publishing deal with SMP Swerve which means…. *drum roll*….
All four of your #RWChat hosts – Kimberly Bell, C.L. Polk, Alexis Daria and me, Robin Lovett – are all officially agented writers with traditional publishing contracts! Huzzah! We want to share our stories (the good and the horrible) with you for how we’ve gotten to where we are.
Keep an eye out for our posts this week!
See you for our Origin Stories chat next week, Sunday 4pm PST / 7pm EST.
~Robin Lovett
The growth and development of a hero or heroine through a novel is as important as the plot itself. There are as many journeys or character arcs as there are people in this world. But there are lots of tropes and patterns that we can build our characters on. What are your favorite character arcs? Which ones have you used and which ones are you looking to explore?
Join us, Sunday 4pm PST / 7pm EST!
~Robin Lovett
Graphic by Alexis Daria
Romance Writers Chat 