We’ve talked about conflict a number of times here on the blog including Jilly’s post here, my Back to Basics post here,  and Justine’s recent Fiction Fundamentals posts here and here.

“Let’s be clear about one thing: conflict must be in each scene in your book. Every. Single. One.”  ~ Justine

Jenny Crusie also has a great set of posts all about conflict on her Writing/Romance blog, full of details and examples.  With all of these discussions, along with our McDaniel class notes and presentations, I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp on the role conflict plays in building a strong, engaging story.

“Conflict is a specific struggle between two people, the escalating action of which moves the story forward.” ~ Jenny Crusie

But . . .

Happy Easter to all who are celebrating today!

For hundreds, maybe thousands of years the Spring equinox has been a time to salute the coming of light and new life (here’s a link to a Wikipedia article about the goddess Eostre and all kinds of Paschal traditions). Makes sense to me. I’ve always found this time of year to be my most positive, productive and creative. There’s something about the light that makes me feel energized and inspired. I get the feeling everything is new, change is in the air and anything is possible.

I was daydreaming yesterday about how much I’d like that feeling to saturate my current WIP when it struck me that almost all romance writing is about rebirth and reinvention. Maybe that’s why I find it such an effective pick-me-up in the depths of winter or when I’m feeling under the weather.

So far, so good. I’m still engrossed in the discovery stage of my fantasy WIP: growing the world, developing the community, digging away at the characters of my hero and heroine, adding images to my collection and tracks to my playlist – thank you so much for the great suggestions last week – and generally trying to knit together the jumble of impressions, ideas and loose ends into something vaguely coherent. Getting there. I think.

I’ve also been investigating lots of diverse subjects I know nothing about, including how to field dress a broken arm, much ado about horses, how to maintain a shaved head, leather armor, underwear through the ages, the history of soap, and lots more stuff about fighting.

I was talking to a knowledgeable friend about fighting, sketching out the essentials of the story, and I got to a turning point that makes the heroine commit to…

As a romance writer—a female writer whose books put women and their goals in the center of the story—I have to commemorate today, March 8, even though I’m a bit late here! International Women’s Day is celebrated around the world, but less noticeably in the United States. The holiday celebrates women’s achievements, even as women use the day to organize for social and political rights.

The earliest Women’s Day observance was held on February 28, 1909, in New York in remembrance of the 1908 strike of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union. One hundred delegates from 17 countries to the second International Women’s Conference, held in August 1910, agreed to promote equal rights, including suffrage, for women, and by 1911, more than a half-million Europeans marked the day with 300 demonstrations. In Vienna, women carried banners honoring the martyrs of the Paris Commune. Women demanded that women be given the…

Are you a fan of playlists? I find them incredibly helpful as an aid to discovery. This week I started one for my new story, I’ve been listening to it non-stop, and it’s really got my creative wheels turning. I wanted to give myself a flying start, so I used songs we already had in our library and a few that came immediately to mind, but I’d love to build on it and I’m looking for suggestions.

It’s a strong, active story so I’m especially interested in powerful, energetic, punchy songs. When I put the list together I just picked titles that felt right, but below I’ve grouped them into a few themes: Our Girl on a Mission, Our Girl in Trouble, Kick-Ass Fighting, Hunting and Hiding, Preconceptions Challenged, Hard Choices, and The Right True End. I’d love to add songs about a man on a mission, family obligations, classy…

My goal for the next week or so is to get several powerful scenes written. By powerful, I mean scenes with multiple purposes in the story. As we have discussed here many times, every scene is a unit of conflict. I want to write scenes that go beyond a unit of conflict.

A few weeks ago, we took a break from our usual discussions about the craft of writing to talk about social media and the business side of writing. Today, again driven by things that are going on in my day job, I want to continue that discussion and talk a little about author branding.

First off, what exactly is an author brand?

At its simplest level, an author brand is about communication. It is how your readers (existing or potential) know you and it’s what makes you stand out from all of the other writers out there.  You want readers to recognize your name and know what you write so that when you have a book out they’ll read it and then tell their friends, who will read it and tell their friends who will . . .

So I just need to write a good book (and another…

It’s been almost a month since a random discussion with my hairdresser inspired me to have a try at writing fantasy. My initial plan was to give it a couple of weeks and then decide whether to carry on. I’m pleased to report that while the story is still a hot mess of fragments, impressions and loose ends, it’s shaping up well and I’m absolutely loving it.

Last Sunday’s discussion about baddies was super-helpful. It gave me just the nudge I needed to figure out that my story does indeed have a shadowy Big Bad. I haven’t figured out the ‘who’ and the most fundamental ‘why’ of him yet, but I’ve figured out what he does, and it’s not good. It will probably take my hero and heroine more than one book to bring him down. There’s also a good chance he might be a stooge for an even Bigger…