Writing Romantasy with Tara Loder

Course Summary

Romantasy, the genre publishers are searching for, is the subject of this two-part workshop!

We will discover what ‘makes a romantasy?’ by exploring the key elements of this popular genre and showing you how to incorporate these elements into your own writing. For the second session, you’ll be putting fingers to keyboards and sketch plotting your first three chapters and writing that first or next chapter in your novel.

This course is for writers who haven’t finished their romantasy or other novel.

Course Outline

Session One:

• Discover what romantasy is, whether it is new and what its defining features are.
• Become a world builder. Discover how to populate your world and create magic systems, plus more. Master the tropes and explore how to write an incredible, original world – incorporating the known and unknown.
• The hero and heroine. Determine who is at the heart of your story and how they fit into your romantastic world. We’ll look at some stock archetypes and make them your own.
• The overarching plot – a romantasy is rarely just a one-and-done. You’re going to need an overarching plot that ties together a number of books, while making each book a satisfying read. You’ll learn the Squiggly Line Test, which can be applied before, during and/or after writing.
• The romance and the mission. Discover how to make these two elements the heart of the story; because these are the threads that will keep the reader coming back for more.

Session Two:

• Putting it all together and writing.
•  Sketch plotting explained following which you’ll sketch plot your first/next three chapters.
• Write your  first/next chapter.

We’ll end with time for questions and answers.

Course Outcomes

By the end of the workshops you’ll have a solid understanding of romantasy, three chapters planned and a new chapter of your romantasy novel written.

Having worked as an editor across ‘big five’ publishers such as Little, Brown and Headline, as well as the UK’s fastest growing publisher, Tara Loder knows what it takes to create a bestselling novel. She’s worked on Sunday Times bestsellers, as well as chart topping digital bestsellers, and is experienced in taking a novel from an idea to a published masterpiece.

Booked out? To be added to the waiting list for this course, please email info@irishwriterscentre.ie.