Masterclass: Writing Romantic Fiction (Teach Yourself) PDF
Preview Masterclass: Writing Romantic Fiction (Teach Yourself)
Masterclass: Writing roMantic Fiction Barbara Samuel 600423_Romanti_Fiction_Book.indb 1 11/09/14 10:44 AM This page intentionally left blank Masterclass: Writing romantic Fiction Barbara Samuel 600423_Romanti_Fiction_Book.indb 3 11/09/14 10:44 AM First published in Great Britain in 2014 by John Murray Learning. An Hachette UK company. First published in US in 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. This edition published in 2014 by John Murray Learning Copyright © Barbara Samuel 2014 The right of Barbara Samuel to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Database right Hodder & Stoughton (makers) The Teach Yourself name is a registered trademark of Hachette UK. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographic rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, John Murray Learning, at the address below. You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: on file. Print ISBN 978 1 473 60042 3 eBook ISBN 978 1473 60044 7 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that any website addresses referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher and the author have no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content will remain relevant, decent or appropriate. The publisher has made every effort to mark as such all words which it believes to be trademarks. The publisher should also like to make it clear that the presence of a word in the book, whether marked or unmarked, in no way affects its legal status as a trademark. Every reasonable effort has been made by the publisher to trace the copyright holders of material in this book. Any errors or omissions should be notified in writing to the publisher, who will endeavour to rectify the situation for any reprints and future editions. Typeset by Cenveo® Publisher Services. Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd., Croydon, CR0 4YY. John Murray Learning policy is to use papers that are natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The logging and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. John Murray Learning 338 Euston Road London NW1 3BH www.hodder.co.uk 600423_Romanti_Fiction_Book.indb 4 11/09/14 10:44 AM For neal Barlow, aka christopher robin, who listens to endless variations on plot points over breakfast and comes up with ten more by supper, and doesn’t ever mind when that supper is grilled cheese sandwiches for the seventh night in a row. 600423_Romanti_Fiction_Book.indb 5 11/09/14 10:44 AM acknowledgements To travel well on this writing road, a writer needs teachers and compatriots and someone to pour a little more wine. Those who reached back to give me a hand forward are so numerous I am afraid to miss someone, but they include Leslie Wainger, Shauna Summers, Tara Gavin and Beth de Guzman; Kristin Hannah, Anne Stuart, Susan Wiggs, Roberta Gellis and Jennifer Crusie. I’ve travelled in great company, too, with Christie Ridgway, Liz Bevarly and Barbara Freethy, Susan Kay Law and Justine Davis, Jo Beverly and Connie Brockway. Here we are, still standing after all these years. The wine pourer will fill our glasses and I raise it to you, ladies. May we all write in good health and with great zest for decades more. 600423_Romanti_Fiction_Book.indb 6 11/09/14 10:44 AM contents About the author ix Introduction xi 1 Understanding romantic novels 1 2 The different forms of the romantic novel 15 3 Studying the genre 29 4 Creating believable, powerful characters 41 5 Plot and subplot 57 6 Orchestrating the emotional arc 71 7 Setting and sense of place 87 8 Let’s talk about sex 99 9 The tools of the novelist, part one 109 10 The tools of the novelist, part two 121 11 Finding your unique writing voice 139 12 From rough draft to polished draft 149 13 Publishing 161 14 Tricks to stay motivated 171 References 181 Appendix 1: A list of 100 best romantic novels 183 Appendix 2: Romance Writers of America: RWA hall of fame winners 187 Appendix 3: My own favourite romantic novels 191 Appendix 4: Find out more 193 Index 195 vii 600423_Romanti_Fiction_Book.indb 7 11/09/14 10:44 AM This page intentionally left blank about the author Barbara Samuel, who also writes as Barbara O’Neal, fell in love with food and restaurants at the age of 15, when she landed a job in a Greek café and served baklava for the first time. She sold her first novel in her twenties and has since won many awards, including two Colorado Book Awards and seven prestigious RITAs, including one for The Lost Recipe for Happiness in 2010 and How to Bake a Perfect Life in 2012, which landed her in the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Her novels have been published widely in around the world, and she travels internationally, presenting workshops, hiking hundreds of miles, and, of course, eating. She lives with her partner, a British endurance athlete, and their collection of cats and dogs, in Colorado Springs. Barbara also writes new adult romances as Lark O’Neal. Find her online at http://barbarasamuel.com or on Facebook at https://www. facebook.com/barbarasamueloneal ix 600423_Romanti_Fiction_Book.indb 9 11/09/14 10:44 AM
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