Paula Roe - romance author

Over the many years I've garnered heaps of info, tips and websites that have helped my writing career enormously.

My Articles

Get Organised, Get Writing!

My aim for this workshop is to provide you with ideas and solutions to whatever organisational issue you’re having. Because really, if you can organise your shit then it will clear the way to productive writing. Read more >

Show v's Tell: Engaging Your Readers

During my many years of managing RWA contests, I've seen a broad range of writing styles, from writers at all different skill levels. And apart from grammatical concerns, two of the most common comments from judges were "lots of telling, not enough showing," and 'I didn't feel connected enough with the characters." Whether you realize it or not, these two points are interrelated... Read more >

Character Sheets

Gleaned from various workshops, tutorials and speakers, I use these bunch of questions when I need to get to know my characters... Read more >

Organizing Your Manuscript Using Document Map

I think of my writing in two distinct categories - before Document Map and After Document Map. Before, I hated plotting because I couldn't keep track of it all in my head... Read more >

Contest Feedback: But What Does it Mean?

As an unpublished writer, I spent many years (and dollars!) entering contests. Apart from charging the creative batteries and meeting deadlines, contests gave me feedback... Read more >

No Synopsis? No Problem!

A quick whip-round of my local writers group reveals that crafting a synopsis is one of the most hated writing tasks on the planet. Now, I actually like writing synopses, but then I'm a bit of an anomaly :-) But having placed in many QLS contests... Read more >

Story Soundtracks

As authors we write to evoke a mental response, to have our readers experience the emotion within the story and our characters. A great song, complete with melody and lyrics, is the same... Read more >

The Writing Process

Even though I've written four full books (two suck, so let them be stricken from everyone's memory from now on. One needs major surgery, the other one is Forgotten Marriage), I am still learning my process... Read more >

Gadgets, Gimmicks and Giveaways - Self-promotion for the Writer

So you've had a book (or three or more) accepted for publication. Now is the time to think about the dreaded P word - promotion. For some writers it's the best part of writing, a different creative outlet... Read more >

Journey of a Novel

In an attempt to show you how things really are beyond your control once you jump on that submission merry-go-round, I've timelined the journey of my first sale... Read more >

Perfecting Your Editor Pitch

For the author, an editor pitch means bypassing the dreaded slush pile, elevating their unsolicited query letter and synopsis to a 'requested material' manuscript in 10 minutes... Read more >

Good Answers to Bad Questions

Over the years I've encountered (as I'm sure you all have too!) various reactions to “I write romance” when people ask what I do... Read more >

Getting to Know the Publishers (aka who publishes what)

According to Romance Writers of America, romance fiction generated US$1.368 billion in sales in 2011. With romance fiction taking the largest share of the consumer market... Read more >

The Good Rejection

Sounds like an oxymoron, right? I know, it's hard to see the good side when you get your query letter or full manuscript returned with a polite "thanks but no thanks"... Read more >