WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.150 --> 00:00:19.169 ProWritingAid: Okay, hey? Welcome in everyone. Welcome. I'm Stacy from providing aid. Thank you for joining us today. If you can see and hear me. Please drop your name and location in the chat. 2 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:22.599 ProWritingAid: Let's see where all of you are coming from. 3 00:00:30.380 --> 00:00:32.840 ProWritingAid: Finland, Santa Cruz. 4 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.450 ProWritingAid: UK. Oh, wow! California. 5 00:00:38.290 --> 00:00:40.060 ProWritingAid: Wisconsin, alright 6 00:00:40.670 --> 00:00:44.470 ProWritingAid: Oregon, Mali Hawaii, awesome. 7 00:00:46.240 --> 00:00:53.789 ProWritingAid: fantastic, alright, and I have a couple of links that I'm going to go ahead and share in our chat here. 8 00:00:54.960 --> 00:01:07.319 ProWritingAid: and if you just joined us. My name is Stacy from providing aid, and I'm really excited about today's session. Alright. So before we get started, let me go ahead and share my screen. 9 00:01:14.300 --> 00:01:18.080 ProWritingAid: Alrighty! So welcome to fantasy writers. Week 10 00:01:18.090 --> 00:01:22.830 ProWritingAid: week. We just have a few housekeeping items for us today. 11 00:01:23.730 --> 00:01:45.869 ProWritingAid: So first, you can access your fantasy week replays by going to the Hub page replays for Monday through Thursday sessions will be available for everyone on the hub as soon as they are done processing by zoom we will also post them in our community page for all members to view by May 12 00:01:47.570 --> 00:02:04.210 ProWritingAid: for our premium day. Remember, Friday is our premium day for premium and premium pro members only. 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If you have a question for our speaker, please use the Q&A box, you can find that button in the center of your zoom screen. 16 00:02:59.530 --> 00:03:09.970 ProWritingAid: and if you'd like to chat with other viewers, please use the chat and be sure to select everyone. Otherwise your messages will just come to the host and the Panelists 17 00:03:11.290 --> 00:03:18.150 ProWritingAid: links to your offers from providing aid, and our speaker will be available on the fantasy hub. 18 00:03:18.440 --> 00:03:24.470 ProWritingAid: So with that being said, I'm going to stop sharing our screen so we can go ahead and get started. 19 00:03:24.900 --> 00:03:29.750 ProWritingAid: Today we are joined by the wonderful Jenna Morsei. 20 00:03:30.260 --> 00:03:31.480 ProWritingAid: It's like. 21 00:03:31.480 --> 00:03:32.940 Jenna Moreci: Hello! Hello! Hello! 22 00:03:33.250 --> 00:03:41.740 ProWritingAid: Jenna is a bestselling dark fantasy, romance, and writing craft author as well as a Youtube sensation 23 00:03:41.820 --> 00:03:44.760 ProWritingAid: with hundreds of thousands of subscribers. 24 00:03:44.850 --> 00:03:55.380 ProWritingAid: Her first installment in the Saber series. The Saber Champion was voted one of the best books of all time by book depository. That is amazing. 25 00:03:56.017 --> 00:03:57.359 ProWritingAid: How about you 26 00:03:57.800 --> 00:04:08.530 ProWritingAid: so born and raised in Silicon Valley, Jenna spends her free time snuggling up with her charming partner and their tiny dog Buttercup. Hello, Buttercup. 27 00:04:08.864 --> 00:04:14.555 Jenna Moreci: She says. Hello! She she is here. She's making her appearance. She's the real star here. 28 00:04:14.890 --> 00:04:19.379 ProWritingAid: I love it alright. Well, let's go ahead and get started, Jenna, how are you. 29 00:04:19.550 --> 00:04:39.580 Jenna Moreci: Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. Hello, everyone! I saw all of your I saw all, all of your comments. I need to not pay attention, because I'm going to get so distracted. But thank you so much for having me here. Today we're talking all about the art of mastering romantic. Let me go ahead and share my screen. 30 00:04:39.650 --> 00:04:55.486 Jenna Moreci: Let's see if you hear any licking noises. That's Buttercup, I promise she is. She joins me for a lot of interviews and whatnot because if she does it, she cries at the door, so she likes to be involved. But any who? 31 00:04:56.190 --> 00:05:12.130 Jenna Moreci: as you know, the intra said, I am a bestselling writing craft as well as romantic author. So I am here to break down everything that I've learned through my career, and teach you how to master the art of writing romanticcy. So here we go. I'm super excited. 32 00:05:12.510 --> 00:05:26.770 Jenna Moreci: first and foremost. What is romantic romanticie is a multi genre genre. So it's 2 genres combined into one big old chunk. And in order to really understand romantic, we need to understand its individual parts. 33 00:05:26.770 --> 00:05:50.639 Jenna Moreci: So let's start with romance. Specifically, a romance novel. There's a lot of people get confused of what a romance novel is because the definition of a romance novel isn't necessarily the same definition as just romance in general romance in the real world. So a romance novel is when 2 or more people fall in love, something, some outside force, or maybe some inside force within the relationship threatens to end 34 00:05:50.640 --> 00:06:13.619 Jenna Moreci: and their love. But ultimately they're able to overcome it, and they end up having a happily, ever after or happy. For now the key point here is the happily ever after, or happy. For now, by the end of the book or the series, the characters need to be in love and together. So that's what separates a romance novel from maybe a love story or a drama, or something like that. 35 00:06:13.740 --> 00:06:38.649 Jenna Moreci: Now a fantasy novel is a book that contains one of 2 elements, or both of these elements the first element is elements of magic or magical creatures. The second element is a fictional or fantastical world. Now a fantasy novel that is set in a fictional, fantastical world, is still a fantasy novel, even if it doesn't have magic. A book that is set in our modern world but has magic 36 00:06:38.650 --> 00:06:53.260 Jenna Moreci: and magical creatures, is still considered a fantasy novel, and of course a novel that takes place in a fictional, fantastical world, and has magic is obviously considered fantasy. But the idea is, you need to have one of these 2 points. 37 00:06:53.260 --> 00:07:15.819 Jenna Moreci: So now we look at Romanticie. Romantic is just smushing these concepts together like I said, it's a multi genre of book. And it's essentially a romance story that takes place in a fantasy world and includes fantasy elements. And the key takeaway. Here is you need both the romance and the fantasy to make a bulk. Make up a bulk of the primary plot of the novel. 38 00:07:16.099 --> 00:07:35.629 Jenna Moreci: And we will elaborate on that later. And how to tell if that's what you're doing. If you've been hearing a lot about romantic lately, you'll know it's very on trend right now. It's the the popular genre. It's what everyone is reading and writing. So if you are interested in writing romantic, now is the perfect time to do it, because that's what readers are gobbling up right now. 39 00:07:36.910 --> 00:07:38.010 Jenna Moreci: All right. 40 00:07:38.030 --> 00:07:57.350 Jenna Moreci: So if you've been to any of my talks in the past. You know that I've covered the fact that romantic and fantasy with romantic subplot are not the same thing. And the reason I cover this so often is. It's because it's the number. One question I get asked. Whenever I talk about romantic literally, every single time someone asks. 41 00:07:57.350 --> 00:08:12.390 Jenna Moreci: Is it fantasy with a romantic subplot, and if not, what's the difference? So to be clear? Fantasy with a romantic subplot is absolutely not romantic. Those are apples and oranges, or, you know, maybe fruits that are a little bit closer related together, but they're still not the same thing. 42 00:08:13.025 --> 00:08:35.104 Jenna Moreci: So a fantasy with a romantic subplot is a story, a fantasy story. Where, along the way 2 characters happen to fall in love? Maybe they end up together by the end. Maybe they don't. It doesn't matter, because this is not a romance novel. It's just a subplot, and their love may affect or enhance the plotted story, but it is not the substance of the plot. 43 00:08:35.419 --> 00:08:58.500 Jenna Moreci: Now, if you're not still not sure if you are writing a fantasy with a romantic subplot, or if you're writing a romanticie, I would encourage you to take a look at that romantic story, and imagine it was completely removed from the novel. Now, say, you've removed that romantic story. Could your plot still exists? Could that story still be told if the story completely implodes and folds in on it on itself? 44 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:16.930 Jenna Moreci: Then 9, 9 times out of 10. You've written a romantic because the whole point of a romantic is that the romance is the crux of the plot. Now, if the story could still be told with the romance removed. Then you've probably written a romantic subplots because subplots enhance the story, but they are not pivotal to the story. 45 00:09:16.930 --> 00:09:28.840 Jenna Moreci: So great example I like to use is the novel Ashes, by Iona Wayland. If you haven't read it. It's a great book. Highly recommend it. Ashes is a dark fantasy novel with a romantic subplot. 46 00:09:29.155 --> 00:09:53.130 Jenna Moreci: The plot of the story follows a woman named a Angela, whose brother dies very tragically, and she learns that his soul is not at rest and not at peace, and the only way for her to bring his soul to peace is to sprinkle his ashes in the deadly hollow forest, and unfortunately hollow force is filled with crazy monsters and demons and all kinds of wild stuff, and the plot follows her journey to 47 00:09:53.130 --> 00:10:17.520 Jenna Moreci: sprinkle as ashes, while also not dying in the process. And, as you can see, as I'm telling you, that plot, I did not mention any hint of romance. That's because the romance is a subplot. Along the way. In the hall of Forest, Angela eventually obtains a mentor, and Angela and her mentor fall in love. Now, personally, I was obsessed with the subplot. I really loved the relationship between Angela and her mentor. But the truth is. 48 00:10:17.520 --> 00:10:47.040 Jenna Moreci: if you were to remove their romantic relationship from the story. The story could still be told just fine. Angela could still sprinkle her ashes. The mentor could potentially just be a friend or just remain a mentor. The story ultimately could still be told. That's how you know that it's a subplot as opposed to a romantic novel. So again, take a look at your work. See what would happen if you remove that element. Sure, the story would probably be less interesting. But if it's a subplot. You could still probably tell the story. 49 00:10:49.090 --> 00:11:14.380 Jenna Moreci: Okay, now, I'm gonna get to the pedantic stuff. There are 2 camps within romantic 2 sub categories, if you will. There's fantasy, romance, and romantic fantasy which sound pretty much exactly the same, and that's because they are virtually the same thing. But there's a huge debate about this in the community. So it's worth covering. I'm gonna start with fantasy romance, which is technically what I write. 50 00:11:14.380 --> 00:11:23.609 Jenna Moreci: Fantasy. Romance means that the romantic element of the story takes a little bit more of a focus than the fantasy element. 51 00:11:23.610 --> 00:11:46.449 Jenna Moreci: In that case, I like to say, the story is 60% romance and 40% fantasy. In a fantasy romance. There's going to be a greater emphasis on characterization. There are going to be a lot more romantic moments, a lot more steps in building the ship. And the fantasy elements are more complementary. They're just sort of there to enhance the romance and make the romance shine. 52 00:11:48.080 --> 00:12:10.980 Jenna Moreci: Then we look at romantic fantasy. Which is where the fantasy elements take a little bit more of a front seat in this situation the fantasy elements are a bit more of the highlight of the story. So I like to say that the story is 60% fantasy and 40% romance. So compared to fantasy romance, we're going to see a bit more of an emphasis on world building. 53 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:33.979 Jenna Moreci: We're going to see a bit more pages devoted to building the world around them and the magic system. And maybe the relationship develops a little bit later into the story. So, for example, if they're enemies to lovers. Maybe that enemy track is going, you know, more than halfway through the book before they transition into lovers. So that's essentially the difference between fantasy, romance, and romantic fantasy. 54 00:12:35.010 --> 00:12:42.999 Jenna Moreci: Are we splitting hairs here? Absolutely? In my opinion, romantic fantasy and fantasy? Romance are so 55 00:12:43.000 --> 00:13:05.560 Jenna Moreci: so hard to tell the difference between they are virtually the same. So the fact that there are 2 separate labels to me just feels extremely pedantic and unnecessary. Ultimately they. They both tell the story of a romance in a fantasy setting. So I will be referring to both as romantic throughout this presentation, and also understand that all the tips that I'm giving 56 00:13:05.560 --> 00:13:14.159 Jenna Moreci: work for both fantasy, romance, and romantic fantasy, because they are virtually the same thing. The difference is so so minor. 57 00:13:16.260 --> 00:13:17.460 Jenna Moreci: All right. 58 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:32.110 Jenna Moreci: So before you start writing, you have to actually choose the story that you are intending to write. Obviously, and a lot of people have trouble with this step. A lot of people say you should write the book that you want to read. That's the most important step 59 00:13:32.438 --> 00:13:52.799 Jenna Moreci: or a lot of people say you should trend Chase. You should write whatever is popular, and I personally believe, why can't you do both? I don't see why there is any issue with writing the story you want to read while also paying attention to the market. And what's popular and catering your passion toward your target audience's goals and desires. 60 00:13:52.800 --> 00:14:11.889 Jenna Moreci: So in order to do that specifically with romantic, you wanna pay attention to the trends you wanna pay attention to? What your target audience is interested in, and the popular tropes going on, especially the tropes. I know a lot of people say you should avoid tropes in your writing. The people who say that don't know what they're talking about, because tropes are unavoidable. 61 00:14:12.170 --> 00:14:35.129 Jenna Moreci: Cliches are avoidable. Tropes are not that there's millions of tropes out there. If you have a hero in your book, that's a trope. So you're you're not gonna avoid them. You might as well lean into them. So what I like to do is look at the most popular tropes in my genre, and, you know, kind of go through them and see which ones speak to me. So if we're looking at romantic, here are some of the most popular romantic tropes. 62 00:14:35.130 --> 00:14:59.139 Jenna Moreci: the number one most popular one is enemies to lovers. Obviously people are frothing at the mouth for enemies to lovers. People are obsessed with that stuff. There's forbidden romance, which is where 2 people want to be together, but can't do to outside forces. There's secret identity. Maybe someone secretly a princess, someone secretly, you know, an elf, someone secretly a magical being in a world where you're not supposed to possess magic. 63 00:14:59.140 --> 00:15:24.680 Jenna Moreci: People really love that stuff found. Family is very popular and fantasy as a whole. So you can't go wrong with that. There's touch her and die. Or, in other words, who did that to you? People are really into that as well, because we love a protective hero. There's morally gray characters. I will admit that. There is some confusion in the romantic community of what morally gray actually means. So to be clear. 64 00:15:24.680 --> 00:15:33.209 Jenna Moreci: to be morally gray means that you do both good and bad things with both good and bad motivations. 65 00:15:33.210 --> 00:15:53.077 Jenna Moreci: So it's not someone who's fully a hero or fully a villain. There's somewhere in the gray, and even if they do bad things, you may agree with those bad things they're doing. But we can all acknowledge that there's there's still pretty bad. So maybe a good person who also stabs someone. Occasionally they could be seen as morally gray, and then another trop that's very popular is the alpha dish, which 66 00:15:53.350 --> 00:16:17.829 Jenna Moreci: is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It's some kind of alpha dominant male character. Who's kinda do she? But the female character loves it. She's all about it. When you go through these tropes the idea is to see which of them speaks to you? Which of them are the kind of tropes that you like to read? What's a trope that you see done a lot, and you're like, no, I could do it better. I I know that I could add my own voice to that. 67 00:16:18.030 --> 00:16:32.019 Jenna Moreci: and I cannot emphasize this enough, just because it's popular doesn't mean you have to write it. Okay, for example, Alpha dishes are extremely popular right now, and I can't stand them. That is one of my least favorite tropes 68 00:16:32.020 --> 00:16:55.029 Jenna Moreci: of all time. I I genuinely cannot stand alpha dishes. So I'm not gonna write it. I'm not gonna force myself to write something I'm not passionate about. So instead, I look at other popular tropes. Forbidden romance is my favorite. I am obsessed with forbidden romance. So that's usually my go to. That's usually what I write. I also love secret identities. I love, found family. I love, touch her, and die. There are so many options to choose from. 69 00:16:55.030 --> 00:17:05.289 Jenna Moreci: So don't feel like, just because something's on trend. You have to do that exact same thing, because that's that's just not the reality of the situation. You have so many options. 70 00:17:05.290 --> 00:17:20.860 Jenna Moreci: So you know, bottom line is, find a way to marry what you're passionate about, with what your target audience is passionate about, and you will have the perfect story that will both be exciting for you to write and exciting for others to read. 71 00:17:22.510 --> 00:17:42.999 Jenna Moreci: Now, before we get into this point. I also wanted to add a disclaimer. I was supposed to say it earlier, but I forgot. All of these tips and tricks are relevant to all kinds of relationships. So queer relationships. They don't have to be couples. It could be thrust or polyamory. I will be using couples more often as examples, just for the sake of ease. 72 00:17:43.328 --> 00:18:07.929 Jenna Moreci: But just throwing it out there. These tips are relevant to all types of romantic relationships. But anyhow, moving on when you go to start writing or to start crafting the story, a lot of people immediately want to craft the world or craft the characters, and I personally don't recommend starting in this place. It's a great way to create a whole bunch of details for the story, and know me 73 00:18:07.930 --> 00:18:10.300 Jenna Moreci: or content for the actual plot. 74 00:18:10.625 --> 00:18:33.740 Jenna Moreci: So what I recommend is starting with the conflict. And the reason for this is that conflict is the root of storytelling. If you look at any plot of any novel in any genre, N. 9.9 times out of 10, you're going to see that it revolves around a conflict. Even if you look at a genre that is wildly, far removed from Roman romantic like literary fiction. 75 00:18:33.740 --> 00:18:58.720 Jenna Moreci: A literary fiction novel might follow a boy who is trying to, who has no sense of self and doesn't know where he belongs and doesn't know his identity. So the story follows him trying to find himself. That's a conflict. The conflict is. He doesn't know who he is, you know. So pretty much. Every novel revolves around a conflict. Romantic is no different what you need to keep in mind is that the conflict of your romantic novel needs to be reflected 76 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:20.409 Jenna Moreci: of both fantasy and romance. They both need to be driving forces in the conflict, and 9 times out of 10 I'm sure there's an exception. But I've yet to find it. 9 times out of 10 for a romantic story. The conflict is that some type of fantasy element is threatening to destroy the characters love 77 00:19:20.410 --> 00:19:45.370 Jenna Moreci: like I said, I'm sure there's an exception to the rule. I haven't found it. I've read a zillion romantic books and every single one of them, and revolves around. Here's a fantasy element. Here are 2 people in love. Fantasy element is coming in to destroy it. So I'm going to give some examples to drive home the point I'm gonna start with my book, The Savers Champion the Savers champion follows a man named Tobias, who enters a deadly tournament, and the winner of the tournament gets to win the hand 78 00:19:45.370 --> 00:20:00.320 Jenna Moreci: marriage of a magical queen. But, unfortunately for him, he ends up falling in love with her sister instead. So now he has to find a way to survive this deadly tournament and escape with the woman he loves, and have both them not die along the way. 79 00:20:00.320 --> 00:20:12.089 Jenna Moreci: So if we boil this down to its most basic components, the conflict of this story is that a fantasy tournament is threatening to destroy Tobias's love, that's 80 00:20:12.190 --> 00:20:14.709 Jenna Moreci: it's stripped to its most bare bones. 81 00:20:15.040 --> 00:20:35.920 Jenna Moreci: Let's take a look at the bridge Kingdom, which is another popular romantic novel. This is the story of Princess Laura who marries Arn. He's the king of a rival kingdom. But he doesn't know that she's secretly been tasked with taking him down. Unfortunately, throughout the marriage. True feelings start to grow between them, and now she's forced to choose between 82 00:20:35.920 --> 00:20:50.619 Jenna Moreci: love of her husband or her life's purpose of being this deadly spy and again, if we boil it down to its most basic parts. The conflict of this story is strife between 2 fantasy kingdoms is threatening to destroy Laura's love. 83 00:20:50.620 --> 00:21:07.879 Jenna Moreci: So I encourage you to start with a conflict. Think of what fantasy element is threatening to destroy these characters. Love, and then build from there. It'll make it much easier to build the structure of the story, to build the fantasy world, and of course, to build the characters. We will get into that in the next few slides. 84 00:21:09.370 --> 00:21:31.660 Jenna Moreci: So we're moving on to structure. A lot of Newbie writers especially really underestimate how important structure is to a novel. I like to say that plot points and details and things like that are the Bobbles on a Christmas tree, but the structure is the trunk and the branches. If you don't have the trunk in the branches, you're just gonna have a pile of, you know, bobbles and ornaments 85 00:21:31.660 --> 00:21:56.149 Jenna Moreci: and pine needles on the ground. Okay, so we need to have a structure. And every single novel follows the same most basic structure known as Freytag's Pyramid. And that's that there is a beginning, a rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Now, when we break this down by different genres, that's when we get into more specific details, and we're gonna start with a fantasy genre. 86 00:21:56.150 --> 00:22:24.319 Jenna Moreci: Usually the beginning of a fantasy genre introduces a problem as well as an inciting incident. So the inciting incident is when the main character decides to act on that problem. Something's going wrong in their life, and they decide to go out and try and fix it. The rising action is when they are struggling to resolve the problem. They are working really hard toward it. They're gonna have some failures. Some wins along the way. And right before the climax, they're going to experience what's known as the Dark night of the soul. 87 00:22:24.320 --> 00:22:50.380 Jenna Moreci: which is very, very dramatic and ridiculous, in my opinion. But it basically means it's their biggest failure right before the climax. Then the climax hits. And this is when they face their problem head on and they tackle it, and they either win or lose. The following actions, and when all the pieces come together, any remaining questions are asked are are answered, and then the resolution is, the problem is solved. The dust has settled, and we've reached the end of the fantasy journey. 88 00:22:51.300 --> 00:23:01.219 Jenna Moreci: Now we take a look at the romantic structure. The beginning is the meat cute, which is when the characters who are supposed to fall in love meet for the very first time. 89 00:23:01.220 --> 00:23:23.419 Jenna Moreci: The rising action is the romantic tension. It's the will they? Or won't they? Going back and forth, cat and mouse? Eventually they get together and are very happy, but just like with a fantasy story. They have a dark night of the soul, which is when they are separated. They are either separated by outside forces, or they have a big fight and a breakup. Something has to drive these 2 people apart. 90 00:23:23.420 --> 00:23:42.419 Jenna Moreci: The climax is the grand gesture. One of them comes back and is like, I love you. You gotta be with me. I won't take no for an answer. Da da da. All that good stuff. The following action is, when questions are answered, the pieces come together. Maybe they start planning. You know their lives in the future, and the resolution is the happily ever after or the happy. For now. 91 00:23:43.580 --> 00:24:08.460 Jenna Moreci: And as I'm sure you can imagine, romantic combines these things. Typically the beginning introduces a problem for the main character. They have the inciting incident, which is where they go to address that problem. And usually after that is when the meat cue happens. That's when they meet their love interest, and it usually throws a wrench into their problem. The rising action is them struggling to resolve this problem all while experiencing romance. 92 00:24:08.460 --> 00:24:26.799 Jenna Moreci: tension with their love interest, will they? Or won't they? Will they get together? Won't they get together? Maybe the love interest is hindering their ability to resolve the problem. Maybe they're helping their ability to solve the problem. But eventually they get together, only to have that dark night of the soul where they are separated or break up. 93 00:24:26.800 --> 00:24:51.649 Jenna Moreci: The climax is when the problem is faced, head on, and usually the grand gesture occurs either before, during or after the climax. So the characters have this big moment where they get together. Maybe they say I love you for the first time. Maybe they bang for the face first time, but it usually happens before, during or after the climax. The following action is, when the pieces come together, questions are answered, identities are revealed. 94 00:24:51.650 --> 00:25:00.520 Jenna Moreci: and the resolution is the aftermath of the problem being solved or left unresolved, depending on what you're writing and the happily, ever after or happy. For now 95 00:25:00.520 --> 00:25:09.239 Jenna Moreci: now I want to make this clear. This is a general guide, and this especially can vary. If you're writing a series, it's very, very common for 96 00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:33.820 Jenna Moreci: for romantic series. For the first book in a romantic series to end with the couple being a part. Either they're broken up. Maybe one of them betrays the other, or maybe they have to go on separate quests, and they're they're not happy together right now. That's fine. This is just a general guideline. And if you are writing that kind of series where you're in the middle points, and the characters aren't together right now. 97 00:25:33.820 --> 00:25:39.860 Jenna Moreci: You just kind of need to adjust the points on this pyramid in order to fit your particular story. 98 00:25:42.800 --> 00:26:08.689 Jenna Moreci: Okay? Now we get to my favorite part, which is launching the ship. This is basically how you create the perfect power couple. Now, a big mistake that a lot of readers make, or a lot of writers make is when they are creating their characters. Instead of actually thinking about how these characters would fit together, they make them completely separate separately. They build. You know who how they would imagine a hunky man, or something 99 00:26:08.690 --> 00:26:33.590 Jenna Moreci: something like that. Then how they or would imagine you know his boyfriend or not his boyfriend. That's what you should be doing is imagining them together. But they they they they build the character separately, and then when they go to write them, they have no chemistry, and that's because they didn't think about how these 2 characters would fit together. There is a sexual pun there. I'm going to just move right past it. But basically, when you're crafting your main couple, I would encourage. 100 00:26:33.590 --> 00:26:58.550 Jenna Moreci: encourage you to craft them with the intention of them having chemistry and getting together at some point. The first step to this is to make them compliments to be a compliment. Compliment means to come together and bring to completion. So, in other words, I encourage you to make sure that your characters are better when they're together. You want them to be the best versions of the themselves when they're together, and how this should be reflected is they should be the most entertaining to the readers 101 00:26:58.550 --> 00:27:22.649 Jenna Moreci: when they're together. Ways that you can do this while building the characters is, for example, say one character is an introvert, the other's an extrovert. The extrovert brings the introvert out of the shell it that that helps them loosen up and have fun. What? Whereas the introvert helps the extrovert find calm and peace in their life, the introverts, a good listener for the extrovert. These are ways that you can make them compliments for one another. 102 00:27:22.890 --> 00:27:45.990 Jenna Moreci: But the biggest element of this that you need to keep in mind is they need to bring out the best in each other. The reason for this is because you want readers to root for them. You want readers to root for them to get together. You want readers to want them to be on the page together. So you need to build them in such a way that when they are together those are the best scenes. Those are the best scenes, because you're both of those characters are really shining. They're 103 00:27:45.990 --> 00:27:49.250 Jenna Moreci: extra entertaining to read all that good stuff. 104 00:27:49.830 --> 00:28:05.869 Jenna Moreci: The next step is to make them equals. And whenever I mention this, people freak out because they think I'm saying they need to be equally rich, equally hot, equally everything they need to be the same. That is absolutely not what I'm saying you can write completely polar opposite characters. 105 00:28:05.870 --> 00:28:30.250 Jenna Moreci: do you? What I'm saying is, they need to bring an equal number of strengths and equal number of weaknesses to the table. They have to have an equal amount of benefits and an equal amount of baggage. A problem a lot of writers have when crafting romance is, they try to craft one character who is very quote, unquote, relatable. And usually that means extremely flawed. And then their partner is 106 00:28:30.250 --> 00:28:55.209 Jenna Moreci: perfect. They're amazing. They're a dream. And what happens is, readers, read this book. And just think, what does this person see in this loser like? What? Why are they together. This makes no sense. It just reads as a mismatched pairing. So instead, you wanna make sure both people have an equal amount of great traits and an equal amount of flaws. Obviously, if you're writing a romance, you want them to have more positive traits than negative traits. 107 00:28:55.210 --> 00:29:19.839 Jenna Moreci: But at the end of the day. They're not going to be realistic unless they have some flaws unless they've got, you know, some vices. So you guys throw some in there. But you wanna make sure that they are properly balanced. And the reason for this is this, breeds believability. This makes readers actually believe that they would realistically get together. This makes the characters feel real, and if the characters feel real, it's much easier for readers to be transported into the story 108 00:29:20.448 --> 00:29:45.089 Jenna Moreci: the next thing you wanna give the characters is common ground. As I mentioned before, your characters could be complete polar opposites on the surface, but under the surface deep in their core. They need to be the same, the same morals, the same integrity. Maybe they have a shared goal or a similar goal. Maybe both of them really want peace for their kingdoms. That's something that they could bond over. Maybe both of them understand 109 00:29:45.090 --> 00:30:08.050 Jenna Moreci: loss or heartache. Maybe both of them have been through something really traumatic and really, really depressing. And that's something that they could share with one another and bond over. This is important because it establishes vulnerability, it establishes a safe space for each character. One character says, this is really important to me. This is like the core of my values and the other character says, I hear you. 110 00:30:08.050 --> 00:30:12.060 Jenna Moreci: you are safe with me. This establishes a connection which 111 00:30:12.060 --> 00:30:23.529 Jenna Moreci: adds to the believability, and it also gets readers right in the heart flutters, they'll be like, Oh, my gosh! This is so adorable! I can't handle it. All of these elements combined create emotional intimacy. 112 00:30:23.530 --> 00:30:48.400 Jenna Moreci: and I know readers, they love the kissing, and they love the smut and all that. Don't get me wrong. That stuff is good, but without the emotional intimacy. They are not going to get fully invested into the ship. They are not going to feel like that ship is their favorite ship. Emotional intimacy at the end of the day is what really turns a reader into a fan. So that's why it's really important to focus on this. 113 00:30:50.450 --> 00:30:51.580 Jenna Moreci: Okay. 114 00:30:52.300 --> 00:31:04.890 Jenna Moreci: So we're gonna we're gonna scooch on over from emotional intimacy to physical intimacy. Just a disclaimer. I'm gonna be talking about body parts. So first and foremost. 115 00:31:05.320 --> 00:31:29.210 Jenna Moreci: we're talking about physical intimacy. This is romance that we're talking about. So physical intimacy is on the table. You sort of have 2 camps to choose from. There's clean fiction and spicy fiction. Clean fiction means no on page sexual activity. It technically also means no curse words or graphic violence. I'm not gonna touch on that. We're just gonna talk about. You know, the body parts and the genitals and all that stuff. 116 00:31:29.624 --> 00:31:44.859 Jenna Moreci: Sexual activity means anything involving genitals. Okay? So if you know, there's a Dick or a V, you know, it's like that that wouldn't be involved in clean fiction. The only thing that you would see in clean fiction is kissing 117 00:31:45.149 --> 00:32:07.469 Jenna Moreci: maybe a maybe a butt grab. I don't know. I don't even know if you'd see that, but usually it's just kissing, and if there is sex, it's what we call fade to black or closed door, which is where the reader is told they're about to have sex, but they don't get to see it. You don't even have to do that, though. A lot of clean fiction authors just have the characters kiss 118 00:32:07.470 --> 00:32:08.790 Jenna Moreci: that's totally fine. 119 00:32:08.790 --> 00:32:37.134 Jenna Moreci: Spicy fiction is anything that includes genitals. Obviously there is a spice scale. So, for example, if a character, you know, touches a dick over the pants that would technically could be considered spicy, but it would be considered very low spice, like maybe one pepper and then it goes as far as graphic spice, which is where we're getting every single detail. We're getting every single body, part in every single position. So you have a wide range to work with with spicy fiction. 120 00:32:37.510 --> 00:33:02.460 Jenna Moreci: a lot of people struggle with this. They don't know which camp to hop into. And ultimately it's really not that big of a deal. You just gotta go with what you prefer. What do you prefer to read? What are you most comfortable writing? Those are the questions you need to ask yourself, what? What do you prefer to read? What do you prefer to write? And what are you comfortable writing now a lot of people feel like, well, I have to write spicy fiction because it's so popular. You know I have to write it. 121 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:12.350 Jenna Moreci: You don't have to write spicy fiction. Clean fiction is popular, too. I've got tons of clean books on my shelves that are, you know, U.S.A. today. Best sellers. Okay. 122 00:33:12.410 --> 00:33:36.579 Jenna Moreci: you're fine. You can write clean if you want to. And then there are people who are like, I wanna write spicy. But I feel like I have to write clean fiction cause my mom's gonna read it. Well, guess what? You're not writing this book for your mom. You're writing it for yourself, and you're writing it for your audience. So if you wanna write about, you know, genitals, go for it. Okay? So ultimately, you need to make this decision for yourself and what you are most comfortable with. 123 00:33:37.091 --> 00:34:00.869 Jenna Moreci: Now, there is one caveat to this, and this is based on the category of your novel. Now, there are 3 Common age categories for romantic novels that's young, adult, new adult and adult novels. Young adult novels are written for readers ages 12 to 18, and while 18 year. Olds are probably familiar with sex. 12 year olds are still children, even 124 00:34:00.870 --> 00:34:06.970 Jenna Moreci: 13 year olds and 14 year olds. That's really, really young. Okay, so if you are writing a young adult book. 125 00:34:06.970 --> 00:34:31.529 Jenna Moreci: you are pretty much obligated, or more, you know, ethically obligated to keep it pretty clean. If usually young, adult book or young adult romances only include kissing, and if they do include sex, it's fade to black. It's closed door, or it's what I like to refer to as an emotional sex scene, which is where you get a summary of the sex. You're not hearing about any body parts 126 00:34:31.530 --> 00:34:53.179 Jenna Moreci: you never hear about. You know Dicks or vaginas, or anything like that. You just hear that they are exploring each other's bodies. Their hands are roaming each other's bodies, and they are so happy and feeling so amazing together, and they are more connected than ever. It's very much focused on the emotional experience of the sex. So those are your options. If you're going young adult. 127 00:34:53.480 --> 00:35:02.680 Jenna Moreci: if you're going new. Adult new adult novels are written for college-aged students. So we're looking at people ages 18 to 25. These people are adults 128 00:35:02.680 --> 00:35:25.820 Jenna Moreci: have at it. You can write the spiciest spice out there, or you can write clean you. Your options are endless. You can do whatever you want in terms of physical intimacy. And the same goes for adult. Obviously, because you're writing for an adult audience, it's assumed that adults are going to be reading the book so you can go clean. You can go spicy. And I, I wanna emphasize that just because you're writing adult doesn't mean it has to be spicy again. You you have 129 00:35:25.890 --> 00:35:49.860 Jenna Moreci: total options. Okay, it's the world is your oyster. No matter which route you go. The key here is to sell it. No route is better than the other. Clean is not superior to spicy spicy is not superior to clean. What's superior is how it is told. That's how you make it good. So if you decide, the big pinnacle of physical intimacy is going to be a kiss. 130 00:35:49.960 --> 00:36:14.509 Jenna Moreci: you need to sell that kiss. You need to build the suspense. You need to build the anticipation. You need to have them almost kiss and then be pulled away, will they? Or won't they? Same with spice? If the pinnacle of their physical intimacy is going to be this amazing sex scene, you need to build the anticipation. You need to let readers think it's gonna happen and then pull it away. You need to get readers on the edge of the seat going okay, just finally do it. So once they 131 00:36:14.510 --> 00:36:34.269 Jenna Moreci: they have that moment it feels like a pay off. It's it's very exciting. They've been anticipating this moment. And it. It's a big deal for readers. Usually they end up reading the scene again and again, because it finally happened, and they're very, very excited about it, but they don't get excited about it. If you just rush into it with, you know, no anticipation and no suspense. 132 00:36:36.570 --> 00:37:03.829 Jenna Moreci: So it's time to talk about the negative side of romantic, which are pitfalls to avoid when writing romantic. These are some things that have become prevalent in romantic that a lot of readers really don't like for very valid reasons. So just some things to consider that maybe you don't wanna include in your romantic novels. One thing that has unfortunately become popular. That a lot of people are, you know, speaking out against is the romanticization of abuse. 133 00:37:04.381 --> 00:37:12.649 Jenna Moreci: We see this is especially prevalent among heterosexual, romantic where the male character is abusive. 134 00:37:12.933 --> 00:37:37.599 Jenna Moreci: And usually it's with enemies to lovers. He's abusive at the start of the relationship, but eventually she grows to love him. It reads a stock home syndrome. It doesn't really read as romantic. And it, it, you know, abuse is not something that you should just forgive and forget and and move on from. You can absolutely write enemies to lovers. I've read plenty of enemies to lovers where they are from different, you know, kingdoms, and they like battle on the battlefield 135 00:37:37.600 --> 00:37:48.280 Jenna Moreci: field, you know. But there's a huge difference between that and domestic violence. So, yeah, you can absolutely write enemies to lovers without making it seem like an abusive relationship. 136 00:37:48.628 --> 00:38:09.530 Jenna Moreci: Another one is romanticized misogyny. Again, this is usually with a male love interest. And typically the way that it shows up is that the male character is misogynistic to all the women in the land, except for the woman that he likes. He's nice to her, but he's misogynistic to everyone else, and that is not romantic. 137 00:38:09.756 --> 00:38:22.449 Jenna Moreci: If a man is only nice to you because, or only treats you like a person because he wants to sleep with you. He is probably not a good person. So readers don't really like that, because it doesn't make the leading lady look special. It just makes the leading man look like a douche. 138 00:38:22.737 --> 00:38:42.589 Jenna Moreci: Another problem is making a character just a love interest their only role in the story is to be sexy and to titillate and tantalize the main character that is boring. No one will be interested in the love interest because they don't bring any depth or realism to the role. They don't feel real or believable at all. And it's it's just not entertaining to read. 139 00:38:42.940 --> 00:38:51.649 Jenna Moreci: The other issue is tolkien syndrome A lot of writers think, well, I'm writing fantasy. So that means. I gotta describe every leaf on every tree. This is romanticy. 140 00:38:51.930 --> 00:39:16.389 Jenna Moreci: People are here to see characters kiss, people are here to see characters fall in love, and absolutely, there needs to be some level of world building involved. But they don't need to see every leaf on every tree. They don't need a whole history of centuries worth of this kingdom? You know. Keep the world building to what is relevant to the story and to the romance. Because if I have read romantic books, unfortunately, where 141 00:39:16.460 --> 00:39:37.539 Jenna Moreci: you know the first 150 pages we're all world building, and that's disappointing for the reader, because they are here to watch people fall in love. They're not here to learn about imports and exports. Another example is an unhealthy power imbalance. Sometimes people hear this, and they get nervous. It's totally fine. If you write about a royal falling in love with a commoner or a magical being falling in love with a human. 142 00:39:37.540 --> 00:40:02.340 Jenna Moreci: I have done both of those things. It's okay. It's fine. If one character has is more powerful than the other, an unhealthy power. Imbalance is when one character holds power over the other to the point where that other character is in a vulnerable state. They can't speak up for themselves. They can't disagree with that person or leave without 143 00:40:02.380 --> 00:40:15.420 Jenna Moreci: facing very terrible consequences to their life. That's when it becomes an unhealthy power imbalance. And it's just icky to read, because it makes it feel like that one character is trapped in the relationship as opposed to like actually in love with our partner. 144 00:40:16.030 --> 00:40:33.739 Jenna Moreci: Another icky example is love potions. The reason love potions suck is because it eliminates the option of consent. They are not consenting to anything, because the potion forces them to be in love, so we can do without love potions. Another example of that, you know. 145 00:40:33.810 --> 00:40:58.690 Jenna Moreci: removed consent is deceptive shape, shifting. If a character shape shifts into another character, so that they can have sex with someone that is a form of sexual assault, because the character does not know who they are consenting to keep in mind enthusiastic consent is sexy, you know. And that brings us to our next point. Dubious consent is not sexy. There is nothing sexier than a person who wants to have sex with their partner. That's 146 00:40:58.690 --> 00:41:07.819 Jenna Moreci: that's what you should aim for. Make them horny for each other. Okay, that that's fine. That's good. Readers will love it. Dubious consent is just kind of gross. 147 00:41:07.820 --> 00:41:32.609 Jenna Moreci: and makes readers feel uncomfortable. And like they're witnessing a crime. The last point I wanted to cover is slave fiction. It's fine if I guess if you wanted to write 2 slaves falling in love. But when you write a master falling in love with their slave, it goes right back up to unhealthy power imbalances, because what is the slave gonna do? The slave can't say no, that's their master. So it's a really uncomfortable situation. 148 00:41:32.610 --> 00:41:52.690 Jenna Moreci: This is another situation where readers are going to be like Yikes. I feel like I am witnessing a crime. This is gross. So yeah, just something to consider. Maybe avoid that. And all of these things are extremely easy to avoid. And you can still tell an amazing story without any of these tropes. I've read them. They're out there. They're wonderful. 149 00:41:54.430 --> 00:42:08.939 Jenna Moreci: So that's all I got for you. Let me know if you have any questions, and just a sneak peek, I will be releasing a book all about how to write romantic. It should be coming out next year, so stay tuned for that. But yeah, I am. I am ready for questions. 150 00:42:09.580 --> 00:42:11.690 ProWritingAid: That was so awesome. 151 00:42:11.690 --> 00:42:12.480 Jenna Moreci: Thank you. 152 00:42:12.480 --> 00:42:15.489 ProWritingAid: So much, Jenna, my mind is like 153 00:42:16.890 --> 00:42:17.950 ProWritingAid: In the chat 154 00:42:18.200 --> 00:42:20.040 ProWritingAid: was amazing. 155 00:42:20.200 --> 00:42:23.231 Jenna Moreci: Oh, really see, I couldn't do any of it, and I'm like, I hope they like it. 156 00:42:26.130 --> 00:42:31.819 ProWritingAid: So great. Alright, let's go ahead and move on to some questions for you. 157 00:42:32.590 --> 00:42:36.100 ProWritingAid: Okay, so Diana wants to know. 158 00:42:36.380 --> 00:42:41.499 ProWritingAid: how would you apply this structure to a fantasy with the romantic subplot. 159 00:42:42.870 --> 00:43:07.540 Jenna Moreci: With a romance with a romantic subplot, I would follow the fantasy structure and then sprinkle in the subplot wherever it is most relevant. You don't have to follow the romance structure when you're writing a subplot because it's it's just on the side it's on the sidelines. Quite often it usually happens a little bit later in the story than a romance would happen. Cause a romance has gotta begin at the beginning, you know, like the usually when 160 00:43:07.540 --> 00:43:13.710 Jenna Moreci: within the by the third chapter the the 2 love interests have met. But with the subfot 161 00:43:13.710 --> 00:43:34.400 Jenna Moreci: the world is your oyster. You can essentially do whatever you want. So I would follow the fantasy structure and then sprinkle in the romantic subplot wherever you see fit and typically, they they get together a little bit later in the book. I've usually seen it that them get together like closer toward the climax. So but again, you can. You can do what you want, because it's a subplot. 162 00:43:35.280 --> 00:43:44.430 ProWritingAid: Okay, thank you. This is from Joshua. H. How do you handle multiple point of views in a romantic city? 163 00:43:45.579 --> 00:44:12.160 Jenna Moreci: Well, usually. You're following the main character and the love interest, or if there's more than one love interest, you follow all of them. Those are the points of view that you usually want to follow. I like to separate them by chapter. You can also separate them by scene breaks but you make sure you label. The scene breaks in the chapters, so readers know whose head they're in, and just ultimately understanding that the narration needs to fit that character's voice. 164 00:44:12.470 --> 00:44:37.379 Jenna Moreci: So, for example, in the book that I'm working on right now, the Saviors army, it is split between Leila and Tobias's point of view. So Tobias's voice is a little bit different than Leila's voice. You know Leila's Leila has different worries and fears than Tobias Leila has different insecurities, and Tobias leila has a different level of education than Tobias, so their voices are going to be slightly different. You know those are just things to take into consideration. I don't. 165 00:44:37.380 --> 00:45:02.360 Jenna Moreci: I recommend having a bunch of points of view that aren't in the romance. I have read some romantic novels where there's the point of view of, like the uncle, and you know, a random king or something like that. I, personally don't feel that that's necessary. And I don't think it enhances the story because it takes away from the romance I would recommend just sticking to the romantic leads. 166 00:45:03.670 --> 00:45:23.059 ProWritingAid: Okay our next one is from Nikki M. Do you have any tips for folks on the asexual and or a romantic spectrum who don't necessarily feel those types of attractions for inspiration on scenes. When you have difficulty figuring out how to write or describe what you're wanting. 167 00:45:23.220 --> 00:45:48.120 Jenna Moreci: I love this question. I am actually gray, sexual. So I am on the asexual spectrum. You don't have to be in that group to understand it or to you know. Especially like, if you're hold on, someone's calling me. Come on. It's a it's a telemarketer especially like like looking at a group like, you know, people who are ace or a romantic. We are 168 00:45:48.120 --> 00:46:11.310 Jenna Moreci: such a minority, and we are surrounded by the sexualization of society, and we are surrounded by the you know, all these romantic relationships. I myself am not a romantic. I you know I'm in, you know I'm married, and everything but but we are surrounded by the society is obsessed with sex and romance. And so we kind of have a front row seat at observing allosexuals, and, like you know 169 00:46:11.310 --> 00:46:35.619 Jenna Moreci: what they go through and what they experience. So I would say, take advantage of observation. Also, it helps to have beta readers and Creek partners who represent the groups that you're writing. If you really don't feel comfortable, but at I'm just saying as someone who is an award, winning best selling author. And I write sex scenes, and I am gray, sexual. You absolutely don't need to be a part of that group to do. Well, 170 00:46:36.560 --> 00:46:44.480 Jenna Moreci: please don't let that deter you from. If this is what you want to write, you can absolutely do it. Well, just don't be afraid to ask for help. 171 00:46:45.510 --> 00:46:54.999 ProWritingAid: So thanks for that. Alright from Joan Reid. So a slow burn. Romance is an epic fantasy. 172 00:46:55.070 --> 00:46:57.199 ProWritingAid: Is that a romantic. 173 00:46:58.325 --> 00:47:24.624 Jenna Moreci: A slow burn romance and an epic fantasy can be romantic or it can be a romantic subplot. It depends. W. Ultimately it depends on. Is the romance a part of the main plot or not? It doesn't matter if it's slow, burn or instal of. If it's part of the main plot, then it's a romantic. If it's not a part of the main plot, then it's not and also it's so hard to tell with like it's ho! It's so hard to judge. 174 00:47:25.110 --> 00:47:31.869 Jenna Moreci: what Slowburn is these days, because some people feel like Slowburn means the characters don't even start dating 175 00:47:32.090 --> 00:47:54.410 Jenna Moreci: until Book 3, and some people think slow burn means they don't have sex until way late. So some people call my series Slow Burn, because they didn't sleep together in the first book. But other people say, Oh, it's not slow. Burn at all, because they start dating by Chapter 5, you know. So it it really it really? It really depends. You know it. It's you know, it's all relative. 176 00:47:54.830 --> 00:48:14.219 ProWritingAid: I did thank you. And actually, con kind of continuing that point someone. Rebecca Rebecca Dredger, I believe, she asked, what happens if you write a series, and the main romance doesn't amp up until like book 2, for instance, is it still a romantic series? If the percentages swap 177 00:48:14.500 --> 00:48:15.030 ProWritingAid: or flip. 178 00:48:15.525 --> 00:48:17.999 Jenna Moreci: What I would say is. 179 00:48:18.000 --> 00:48:27.760 Jenna Moreci: it's okay. If you're writing a series, it is fine to kind of have your your genres shift slightly mid series. 180 00:48:28.077 --> 00:48:52.170 Jenna Moreci: So, for example, I know people who wrote a, you know, a fantasy novel. And then Book 2 was romantic. Because the romantic subplot turned into part of the main plot. Come, book 2. So that is definitely a possibility. The the times when you wanna do this is if book. One is like a horror. Novel and book 2 is a romance, you know. You don't. Wanna you don't wanna completely flip the script? 181 00:48:52.544 --> 00:49:16.659 Jenna Moreci: So what I would say if I was it. It may. It does make it tricky. I'm not gonna lie. But what I would say is, I would say, it's like. If I was marketing book one, I would say, it's you know, fantasy novel with a slow, burn, romantic subplot. And then I would market book 2 as a romantic to see. Something like that. But yeah, it. It makes it tricky, but it's doable. 182 00:49:17.210 --> 00:49:18.840 ProWritingAid: Got it. Okay. 183 00:49:19.940 --> 00:49:23.199 ProWritingAid: all right. This one is from Janice Kerbel. 184 00:49:23.360 --> 00:49:29.620 ProWritingAid: Can there be a mix between clean and spicy for the novel? 185 00:49:30.104 --> 00:49:54.296 Jenna Moreci: Well, basically spicy is anytime like genitals are involved. I said genitals so many times. But it's like, even if it's like, like, for example, in the Saviors champion all. They get naked and bung spoilers. They get naked in bed together, and she touches his ding dong. But they don't have sex. They like it. They're stopped abruptly. Okay, so 186 00:49:54.710 --> 00:50:11.562 Jenna Moreci: it would technically be considered on the spice scale. I wouldn't be able to market it as clean because there's a dick like we see a dick we see naked boobies, you know, like that. They're there. Okay, there's nudity. But it would be considered low level spice. 187 00:50:12.232 --> 00:50:24.547 Jenna Moreci: clean literally means we're not gonna see boobs. We're not gonna see privates. We're not gonna see any nudity like whatsoever. We're only gonna see kissing. So there's no way to have a little bit of both. 188 00:50:24.880 --> 00:50:49.470 Jenna Moreci: What it sounds like you'd be writing is very low, level spice, which is totally fine and totally valid, especially as someone I've like, I said. I've done it myself. They get naked, but there's no penetration, you know, so it. It's it's it's fine. You there, like the spice scale is a scale it goes from, I think the terms I've seen is, it goes from like smoldering to scorching. Hot and smoldering is is where it's just kinda like. 189 00:50:49.470 --> 00:50:57.860 Jenna Moreci: you know, a little bit of a little bit of private parts, you know, and then scorching hot is like we're going all in. Every orifice is getting filled. So. 190 00:51:01.460 --> 00:51:07.409 ProWritingAid: Yeah, I have to hop over to the chat right quick, because I saw butter pop for chat and butter. Pop 191 00:51:08.370 --> 00:51:09.040 ProWritingAid: everything. 192 00:51:09.690 --> 00:51:13.779 Jenna Moreci: Buttercup, close your close your ears. This is too much for you. 193 00:51:13.780 --> 00:51:15.829 ProWritingAid: The chat is hilarious. Oh, you are. 194 00:51:15.830 --> 00:51:22.404 Jenna Moreci: I was like. I am hearing too much for my tiny, my big ears, my big ears are hearing too much. I'm sorry. 195 00:51:22.700 --> 00:51:26.881 ProWritingAid: I love it. Okay, a couple more questions for us. 196 00:51:27.470 --> 00:51:38.129 ProWritingAid: oh, this one is really interesting. This is from an anonymous attendee. So what about polyamorous relationships? Are there certain things to bear in mind. 197 00:51:40.310 --> 00:52:02.760 Jenna Moreci: man, I wish I I wish I had like a more in depth. Answer. I haven't run a polyamist Amherst relationship myself, so I'm probably not the best person. Ask, however, a lot of my friends and critique partners have written polyamist relationships, and I have critiqued their work for it for them. The only thing I could keep in mind is that I personally like prefer it. When 198 00:52:03.370 --> 00:52:14.010 Jenna Moreci: I've seen some poly around Amara stories where it feels like there's a main ship, and then there's a third wheel. I don't like that, you know. I want everyone to feel important. 199 00:52:14.567 --> 00:52:19.600 Jenna Moreci: Now, it's possible that 2 people get together, and a third joins later. 200 00:52:19.600 --> 00:52:44.529 Jenna Moreci: And that's fine like, that's just the reality of polyamory. Sometimes, you know, there's a starting point, and someone comes along later, and then another person comes along later. So obviously, the third or fourth person, they're not gonna get page time toward the beginning. But my point is is that once they do get page time like make them feel like a really important vital part of the relationship, because they should be. You know they should. They should be important like I said, I'm not speaking from experience. I'm just speaking 201 00:52:44.530 --> 00:53:04.853 Jenna Moreci: speaking from critiques. So this would be a great question to write to, to ask other authors who have more experience on that. But yeah, that's as a reader, and someone who has critiqued that that has been my biggest complaint is, it's kind of like it feels like this person's just the third wheel like, Get them involved. I want to hear more from them, you know. 202 00:53:05.490 --> 00:53:08.320 ProWritingAid: Yeah, yes, yes, yes, okay. 203 00:53:08.800 --> 00:53:14.275 ProWritingAid: We have another one from Emily. Emily. I don't know how to pronounce your last name. Emily E. 204 00:53:14.580 --> 00:53:15.240 Jenna Moreci: Look if you want. 205 00:53:15.240 --> 00:53:22.119 ProWritingAid: No? How do you approach crafting emotional storylines or slash plot points. 206 00:53:23.720 --> 00:53:49.339 Jenna Moreci: Okay, for me, it's all about understanding the characters, background and baggage. And I like. I like to say that family is the thing that screws us up the most. So understanding the characters, family life, and sort of, you know the bad stuff that has happened to them the good stuff that has happened to them, because this is going to affect their emotional reaction to things. 207 00:53:49.915 --> 00:54:13.610 Jenna Moreci: So, for example, like I, I get a lot of people who just wanna blueprint they're like, okay, this character just saw someone die. How should they react? And I'm like, I don't know. You know them better than I do. You crafted that character. How would you expect them to react so because my reaction to death is going to be wildly different from the next person's like not to get like Tmi or anything. But you know I, my grandpa, passed away, and 208 00:54:13.610 --> 00:54:38.509 Jenna Moreci: I was there, you know, in the hospital at the time, and I was the only one not crying. And that's not because I'm cold. I'm just more of an internal emot. I. I don't express my vulnerable emotions as readily. Whereas, you know, someone next to me could be absolutely sobbing. It really depends on that person's backstory on that person's what they feel comfortable, expressing who they're 209 00:54:38.510 --> 00:55:03.500 Jenna Moreci: around. Because some people might, you know, for example, maybe I I wasn't comfortable crying in front of those people, but if I was with other people I might have felt more comfortable crying. You know it. It. It's going to depend on all those outside factors. How that person's going to emotionally react to something. So that's why I really like to do a deep dive of my characters, you know, like, for example, Tobias and the Savers army. I know all about his childhood. 210 00:55:03.500 --> 00:55:28.309 Jenna Moreci: I know that he had a crappy relationship with his dad, even though it's literally never mentioned in the book. But I know this because it helped build the guy that he is today, and it helps me figure out how he's going to react to certain things, why, he's so protective of the women in his life. Well, it's because he had to be the man of the house for a long time, and he's used to having to step up things like that. I hope that makes sense. 211 00:55:29.140 --> 00:55:30.540 ProWritingAid: That was great. Thank you. 212 00:55:30.540 --> 00:55:31.340 Jenna Moreci: Thank you. 213 00:55:31.740 --> 00:55:43.430 ProWritingAid: Huh? Oh, this is a good one from Larissa Anton Antianani Antonani. She wants to know if you could tell us about your favorite tropes in romantic sea. 214 00:55:43.692 --> 00:56:07.077 Jenna Moreci: My favorite trope is forbidden romance. I love because what I love about it is I I really like a healthy romance in the sense that people hear healthy romance, and they think it's boring like it means there's no conflict. And and it's just perfect. Th, there's no such thing as a perfect romance. E, like, I feel like I have a really healthy relationship, my with my husband. But we bicker sometimes like there's there's always gonna be misunderstandings and arguments and things like that. So 215 00:56:07.340 --> 00:56:32.250 Jenna Moreci: healthy romance doesn't mean perfect. But I like that be, you know. I like the enthusiastic consent. I like the the sweet nothings and the witty banter, and the cuddles, and all that stuff. I like to write that stuff, and with forbid a romance. The conflict is outside of the romance. The conflict is something that's keeping them apart. So like in the saviors champion. It's it's the tournament, you know. He's fighting this tournament for another woman. But he's in love with this woman, and that's what's separating. 216 00:56:32.250 --> 00:57:01.410 Jenna Moreci: And if it wasn't for the tournament they would be together, and it would be amazing, you know. So I'm obsessed with forbidden romance. I have so many stories planned, and then they're pretty much all forbidden romance. I also, this is just a general romance trope. But I also really like marriage of convenience and fake dating. Those are super fun. And I definitely plan to write more of those in the future. But yeah, those are those, but those are not limited to romantic. Those can also be in like contemporary romance as well. 217 00:57:02.390 --> 00:57:04.760 ProWritingAid: It. Okay? I think. 218 00:57:05.070 --> 00:57:17.600 ProWritingAid: okay, have a question from another anonymous attendee about contemporary is there a space for contemporary ish fantasy, romance? Or does everyone need corsets and powdered wigs. 219 00:57:18.010 --> 00:57:42.680 Jenna Moreci: Th, I would. Ca, there, there's contemporary fantasy, which basically means it's set in a modern world. But there's, you know, dragons and stuff and magic. You can absolutely do that for romanticy. I've I've seen it done before. There's romantic that's set in like the Victorian era, and things like that. You you don't have to set it in some medieval, you know. Situation my series is set in an ancient Greek 220 00:57:42.680 --> 00:58:06.800 Jenna Moreci: like world. I know a lot of romantic is set in some kind of like medieval style er you know era, or like a fairy realm. There's tons of fairy romanticie out there. You don't have to do that. You can absolutely have it be, you know, cell phones and uber and all that stuff. But then they also happen to have wings, and they're shooting lasers out of their hands and stuff like that. You just so long as there's magic in the story. 221 00:58:08.340 --> 00:58:24.680 ProWritingAid: Hey? And we'll do one more question before we finish up for today. This one is from a Quinton can a romantic end with the main characters parting. Do, do. Does there have to be a happy ending. 222 00:58:24.910 --> 00:58:41.959 Jenna Moreci: Yeah, there has to be a happy ending. That's a that's one of the rules of romance novels. And romantic. There has to be a happy ending. You can absolutely write a story or any book that follows 2 people falling in love, and it doesn't work out. 223 00:58:42.400 --> 00:59:03.049 Jenna Moreci: It just can't be labeled a romance. So, for example, Nicholas Sparks, his books are actually labeled as love stories, because usually someone dies or something like that. So people know what they're getting themselves into. A lot of people use Romeo and Juliet as an example. But Romeo and Juliet was actually a tragedy. It was a romantic tragedy which mean 224 00:59:03.050 --> 00:59:27.380 Jenna Moreci: your tragedy. You know. Someone's gonna die at the end, you know. So basically, you just have to label it correctly. I've read plenty of books that follow romantic relationships, but they are not labeled as romances the idea of a romance is, it's supposed to make the readers feel good, and readers read romantic and romances because they have that comfort of knowing that everything's gonna work out at the end. 225 00:59:27.380 --> 00:59:37.347 Jenna Moreci: So if you take that away from them. And you're like just kidding. They don't get together. You're just gonna get one star bombed because you didn't uphold the rules of the genre 226 00:59:37.670 --> 00:59:45.900 Jenna Moreci: like, I said, you can absolutely write that story. You just cannot label it a romanticie unless you want to get just absolutely dog piled. 227 00:59:46.360 --> 00:59:46.990 Jenna Moreci: No. 228 00:59:46.990 --> 00:59:57.399 ProWritingAid: Okay. Alright. Well, thank you so so much, Jenna. The comments I know you or the chat. I know you can't see it, but you're getting so much love. 229 00:59:57.400 --> 00:59:57.970 Jenna Moreci: Oh! 230 00:59:57.970 --> 01:00:00.379 ProWritingAid: They've really this is great. 231 01:00:01.000 --> 01:00:04.474 ProWritingAid: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Jenna. Thank you so much. 232 01:00:04.790 --> 01:00:06.750 Jenna Moreci: Thank you. This is so much fun. I I had a plan. 233 01:00:06.750 --> 01:00:07.950 ProWritingAid: Really fun. 234 01:00:08.838 --> 01:00:20.339 ProWritingAid: So, as always, everyone, you can find the replay to this session and the other sessions in the fantasy writers. Week, hub and I'll go ahead and add Jenna's links again to our chat. 235 01:00:21.500 --> 01:00:22.710 ProWritingAid: Okay. 236 01:00:22.830 --> 01:00:26.620 ProWritingAid: and, Jenna, if you'd like you, do you want to tell everyone where they can find you? 237 01:00:26.860 --> 01:00:49.259 Jenna Moreci: You can find me on Youtube. My channel is writing with Jenna Maressy. That's MORE. CI. Or you could just do youtube.com slash Jenna, MORE. CI. You can also follow me on my website@jenaresy.com. And my books are available at all, major retailers, and, like I said, I will have a book about writing romantic coming out next year that this is the first time. I've said that publicly. So 238 01:00:49.520 --> 01:00:58.809 Jenna Moreci: you guys are viewing it first. But yeah, so yeah, that's that's where you can find me. Also, I'm on Instagram and Tick Tock at Jennifer Morrissey as well. 239 01:00:58.810 --> 01:01:03.487 Jenna Moreci: And if you want to see more pictures of Buttercup, then Instagram's the place to go. 240 01:01:03.780 --> 01:01:04.740 ProWritingAid: Buttercup. 241 01:01:04.740 --> 01:01:06.788 Jenna Moreci: Yes, she's the Princess. 242 01:01:07.300 --> 01:01:15.400 ProWritingAid: Well, thank you again so much, and thank all of you for joining us. We hope you can join us for our next session, so we'll catch you next time. 243 01:01:15.480 --> 01:01:17.505 ProWritingAid: Bye, bye, Roy 244 01:01:19.250 --> 01:01:20.450 ProWritingAid: also.