Session 1: Your Protagonists – We’ll begin exploring the wide range of sub-genres in romance fiction and look at how bestselling authors create compelling, unique and believably flawed heroes and heroines. Try your hand at creating a new hero and heroine, working on how they relate to each other both sexually and emotionally.
Session 2: The First Meeting – How to set up a couple’s first meeting to hook the reader into the story while introducing the dynamic between protagonists. You will write a first meeting scene while considering which of the romance sub-genres you want to write in and how to hone your unique author voice.
Session 3: Plotting a Romance – We’ll explore the relationship between your characters’ internal and external conflicts and the importance of emotional turning points when developing the story arc in a romance. You’ll practise creating a powerful emotional turning point.
Session 4: Crafting Effective Dialogue – How to create believable yet engaging dialogue exchanges between characters, paying particular attention to the subtext revealed by point of view, and physical and emotional cues. You’ll try your hand at writing a dialogue scene that fundamentally changes the dynamic between your characters.
Session 5: Compelling Love Scenes – We’ll look at some of the different heat levels in romance novels and the art of building sexual tension. You’ll explore your own comfort zone as an author, while writing an erotic encounter between your characters.
Session 6: Write Your Own Story –This two-week final session gives you time to work on a longer piece of romantic fiction (between 2,000-3,000 words). Using techniques learned during the course, you can choose to focus on an opening scene, a more in-depth encounter or a complete short story. Your tutor will provide feedback on your work.
