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Romance Plotting Resources

The image is the book cover of Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes. In the centre of the cover is a black linework cartoon of a woman sitting at a desk, typing at a typewriting that is exploding with punctuation and paper. The book's title and subtitle, "Story Structure for Romance Novels" are in red font above the cartoon, and the subtitle is set against a mint green background. Below the cartoon is the author's name in red ink, and below that is the phrase "How to Write Kissing books" in capitalized black font.

No matter where you are in your romance journey, this book will improve your understanding of the genre and plot structure. It isn't prescriptive, and in the years since it was written, expectations for and the importance of the third act break-up have changed, but it's still the best book to read if you're starting your romance writing journey. 

The image is the book cover of "7 Figure Fiction" by T. Taylor. The cover is a mix of yellow and gold, with the title in white font, and the subtitle, "How to use universal fantasy to sell your books to anyone" is just below it. Below the subtitle is a black linework cartoon of a dish of butter, labelled "butter." Below this is the author's name in capitalized black font.

Readers love, and choose books based on, tropes. But just including a trope in your book isn't enough to draw them in on its own. To really hook readers and keep them coming back for more of your books, you have to dial into the fantasies we all want to see played out on the pages. Theodora Taylor does an exceptional job of explaining exactly how to do this, and her companion book, The Universal Fantasy List, goes even deeper into the concept and gives you a list of fantasies to incorporate into your next romance novel. 

The image is the book cover of "On Writing and Worldbuilding, Volume I" by Timothy Hickson. The cover s an image of a purple mountain shrouded in orange mist, surrounded by an ice blue landscape. The title is written in capitalized white font above the mountain, and at the bottom left of the cover are the words "Volume I, Timothy Hickson" in white font.

Fantasy romance is having a moment, and if you want to jump on the bandwagon, there's never been a better time. But the sub-genre requires world-building, a skill that's hard to learn . . . unless you have this book series, of which On World Building: Volume I is the first, in your arsenal. It teaches you how to build every aspect of your fantasy world, leaving no element out, so by the end of the series, you'll have built a complex, intricate world readers will want to return to again and again. 

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