Get a Sneak Peek of My New Romance Workshop!
For the past several weeks, I’ve been talking about an amazing free online event I’m part of: the Romance Writers Summit.
I love reading and writing romance. Maybe that’s because I’m a Pollyanna at heart and value happy endings. *smile* But that’s also why I decided to be part of the Summit.
If you missed me talking about it before, the Romance Writers Summit is a 5-day, online writers event going on this week that brought together some of the best storytellers, authors, editors, and screenwriters in the field. We want to give writers everything they need to write page-turning fiction—no matter the genre they write.
Registration for the Summit is free, and then you get free access to expert interviews and presentations. As of the time of this post, there are only two days left, but I’m bringing up the Summit again because my video interview is about to go live. *grin*
Why does that matter (at least it does if you write romance)? Because Kris Kennedy and I turned my interview into a mini-workshop on my popular Romance Beat Sheet.
Between the Sheets Workshop vs. Summit Presentation
Two weeks ago, I announced my long-awaited new workshop: Between the Sheets: Create a Deeper Romance with the Romance Beat Sheet.
This new workshop next week covers about 2+ hours worth of material and includes a mini-ebook handbook. The whole workshop (including chat questions from attendees) will be recorded, and you’ll get lifetime access to that recording to reference as many times as you wish.
Want a sneak peek at my new Romance Beat Sheet workshop? Check out this free presentation! Click To TweetBut if you can’t afford that workshop, or if you want a sneak peek of what I’ll be talking about, check out my free Summit presentation by registering for the Romance Writers Summit. My presentation video goes live on the last day of the Summit, tomorrow, Friday, October 18th.
The discussion Kris and I had for my Summit video is 45 minutes long (compared to my 2-plus hour Between the Sheets workshop) and doesn’t come with a handout. But…free!
There’s a catch, though. My video will be available for free for only 24 hours.
What’s in My Summit Interview?
Want a sneak peek of my free Summit presentation (which is in turn a sneak peek of my Between the Sheets workshop) to see if you might be interested? *grin*
In my video interview with Kris, we discussed:
- how story structure helps me pants
- the real difference between plotting and pantsing (and why one method isn’t better or worse than the other)
- what makes romance story structure more complex than other genres
- a quick overview of beats and beat sheets
- what makes the Romance Beat Sheet different from other beat sheets
- a brief explanation of Michael Hauge’s concept of Identity and Essence
- how the Romance Beat Sheet relates to Identity and Essence
- an introduction into using the Romance Beat Sheet
- highlights of each story act on the Romance Beat Sheet, especially insights we might not think of
- what’s important in our story opening
- what needs to be established by the end of the introduction
- how the Midpoint beat shows the stakes
- an alternate way of approaching the Black Moment in romance
- how a romance includes a “leap of faith”
- how we can make a romance more believable
- the number-one thing we need to understand about romance story structure
- how an understanding of story structure can help us get unstuck
*whew* We covered a lot of material in those 45 minutes. So if you write romance, I hope some of our discussion is helpful to you.
Help! I Missed the 24-Hour Window
As I mentioned, while my Summit presentation-slash-interview can be watched for free, the window when it’s free runs only from midnight tonight (Thursday) to midnight tomorrow (Friday) in the Eastern time zone.
If you miss that window, you can still get the information, but not for free…
- Option #1: Join my full workshop: Between the Sheets: Create a Deeper Romance with the Romance Beat Sheet. You’ll get lifetime access to the 2-plus hour webinar recording and the mini-ebook handout.
- Option #2: Upgrade your Summit registration to the All Access Pass. The All Access Pass provides lifetime access to all the expert videos of the Summit and includes a ton of bonuses.
Which option should you go for? If you don’t write romance, my workshop might not be helpful to you, but the rest of the Summit might be. Either way…
- Check out the other Summit presenters and their topics. If the topics sound interesting and/or helpful, getting the All Access Pass to view all the presentations whenever convenient for you might be worth the upgrade.
- Also check out the Summit Bonuses. If any of the over 30 bonuses would be relevant to your situation or needs, upgrading to the All Access Pass might be worth the extra fee.
Personally, I think many of the bonuses make the All Access Pass very worthwhile. *grin* In fact, one bonus is a coupon discount code for my Between the Sheets workshop. That means you can get Option #1 and Option #2 for just an additional $10 above and beyond the cost of the All Access Pass.
Those of you familiar with my blog and resources know that I’m pathologically helpful. I have over 900 posts here with writing and publishing insights and advice, and despite the many testimonials on the value of my writing tools, I give them away for free.
So that’s a big part of why I’m so glad to be part of the Romance Writers Summit. During this week, we’ve offered over 20 interviews with craft experts—all for free—and I hope you’ve all had a chance to take advantage of some of the tips and advice. *smile*
Have you checked out any of the Romance Writers Summit this week? If so, what was most interesting or helpful to you? Do you have any questions about the Summit’s All Access Pass? Do you have any questions about the difference between my Summit presentation and my Between the Sheets workshop? Do you have any questions about my Romance Beat Sheet that you want me to answer during my workshop next week?
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One thing I missed in the summit that I’d like to see in the workshop is the placing and or pacing if the 12 stages of intimacy. I know that with each story it will be different but can you place the intimacy within the best sheet?
Hi Cristen,
As you noted, the 12 stages of intimacy can happen almost any time in a story, so they can’t be placed somewhere specific on a beat sheet. I’ve seen (non-erotica) romance stories with sex as the Inciting Incident and others with it as the Resolution. 🙂 Instead of thinking in beat sheet terms, the 12 stages might make more sense to think of in rising stakes terms.
In a romance arc, the growing relationship is the stakes — the more a connection forms, the more emotional stakes there are. So where a stage should happen depends solely on the character and what level of emotional vulnerability and connection makes sense for them at each beat. In general, looking at the stages as rising stakes means that there shouldn’t be a move backward (going down a stage or more, such as pulling away) unless there’s a reason in one of the arcs (retreat into Identity due to Fear, an argument, etc.).
On the other hand, when our characters are connecting with some aspect of their Essence, we can show how that brings them closer (which adds the subtext that they’re a good match) by going up a level (or more) on the 12 stages path. It’s basically adding an understanding of the 12 stages to the intimacy/risk idea I talked about here.
That’s a great question and I might need to turn it into a blog post — thanks! 😀
Hi Cristen,
FYI, I did go more into in another post. LOL! Thanks for the idea! 😀