How to Write a Love Story: My Top 4 Tips

How to Write a Love Story: My Top 4 Tips

What makes a great love story? Whether you’re writing romance, mystery, or literary fiction, when you’re incorporating romance into our work, the task is the same—to write a believable, engaging relationship that keeps readers turning the pages. (I write contemporary fiction, for example, but I write contemporary fiction that sometimes has romance in it, and… Read more »

Defining the Romance Genre

Defining the Romance Genre

I’m a huge fan of breaking things apart and taking them back to the basics because the basics provide the building blocks that allow you to go forward. Learn and master the basics and you can start to riff, creating your own spin and style. This goal of achieving creative freedom is why I want… Read more »

Tammy Lough

The Best of Tammy Lough

Hi word nerds! Lori here. Our longtime columnist Tammy Lough is in need of a break, so I am stepping in and serving up a round-up of some of her best columns for DIY MFA.  In case you are not familiar, Tammy Lough is our romance writing columnist, so most of these columns will help… Read more »

Christmas romance tropes

But Since It’s Christmas: Making Christmas Romance Tropes Fresh

It’s coming up to the rom-com season of the year: Christmas. And whether you’re writing a novel or a screenplay, it’s handy to know your Christmas romance tropes and important to make them fresh, original, and most of all, interesting. So let’s talk about what the Christmas romance tropes are: “But since it’s Christmas…”  When… Read more »

writing love scenes

#5onFri: Five Tips for Writing Love Scenes

The thought of writing love scenes sends many authors running for the hills, but love scenes are my favorite scenes to write. It’s a chance for two characters who have spent a good chunk of the story pining for each other and bantering to take things to the next level physically.  Here are five tips… Read more »

write sex that sells

Making Love to the Page: How to Write Sex that Sells!

When I published my first erotica in 2015, I quickly realized there was still a certain level of judgment related to the genre. Sure, we had come far thanks to trailblazers such as Zane, EL James, and Noire (to name a few), but there was an overarching stigma present that the literary community was afraid… Read more »