Comments on: Writing the Romance Novel: Beats 6 & 7

By: Georgiana Daniels

Georgiana Daniels — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:29:05 +0000

I try to put my black moment in the 2nd to last chapter and leave the last chapter for resolution. It doesn’t always work so tightly, but I position it as close to the end as possible. There’s nothing that bugs me more than reading a black moment, finding out how it resolves, then the story drags on for another 10-15 pages. I think most authors these days are pretty good at ending the story before it drags.

By: Kaye Dacus

Kaye Dacus — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:23:44 +0000

In Stand-In Groom, steps 6 and 7 happen in the final two chapters. This goes back to the technique of not drawing out the ending ad nauseam.

By: Eileen Astels

Eileen Astels — Mon, 05 May 2008 19:20:26 +0000

Great series, Kaye. I’m still trying to take it all in. There’s lots of good stuff in here and it’s making me wonder if my stories aren’t focused enough to be defined in this seven-beat process.

In my first novel, I kind of have a duo dark moment, I think, going by what you’re saying here.

The first is when the heroine has to overcome her greatest fear to accept the hero’s proposal and the second is when a third party causes conflict between the hero-heroine’s plan to marry. This all happens in the last two chapters of my book. Is this allowed?

By: Erica Vetsch

Erica Vetsch — Mon, 05 May 2008 02:07:05 +0000

I find this series so interesting. I usually can’t tell until after the fact where the turning points in my story are. I’ve come a long ways from the first days of my fiction writing where I just wanted to coddle my characters. I admire writers who are so fearless in throwing their characters into conflicts.