Your hero gets a chance to do the brave thing in the early chapters, and they don't take it. They dig in, double down, and choose the safe path. And your reader loves them for it. In episode 15, I'm breaking down why that refusal is one of the most important scenes in your entire manuscript and how it sets up (or ruins) every emotional payoff that comes after.

You'll learn:

• The difference between a trope promise and a character promise, and why your story needs both on the page
• What promises your story is making to your reader in the early story (and why it matters more than your trope setup)
• Why your big emotional scenes can hit every beat and still feel hollow (because you skipped this one moment)
• What Penelope from Bridgerton Season 3 can teach you about the promise your own manuscript is making (that you can't afford to break)

This 27-minute episode is for romance writers whose readers finish the book and say "that was pretty good" instead of staying up past midnight to read just one more page.

And at the end, I give you a gut-check exercise you can try on your own manuscript today to test whether your hero is inviting the reader into their most vulnerable spaces, rather than simply telling about themself.

Resources from this episode:

• Workshop: Cake, Not Chaos: The Moment To Moment Method (replay inside E2E) → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• The Character Core Values (CCVs): Read this free article on the must-have traits for your heroes → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/ccvs
• The Root Fear (CCV): Read this free article on the hero trait that anchors your entire story → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/root-fear
• The Lie (CCV): Read this free article about the psychological protection that shapes your hero’s journey → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/the-lie
• The Plot Milestones (Opp + TP): Read this free article on the two-step framework for setting up a story arc → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/plot-milestones
• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Plot Milestones: The Opportunity & Turning Point
• The Lie (CCV)
• The Character Core Values (CCVs) - Free article: The Character Core Values that define who your hero is at their core, the good and the bad → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/ccvs
• The Root Fear explained (CCV) - Free article: The hero trait that anchors your entire story → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/root-fear
• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

You read back through your big ending and it's... disappointing. Technically, it hits all the right beats, but it feels kinda meh. So you make it bigger. You add more dialogue, more stakes, more feelings. And somehow it gets worse. In episode 14, I'm walking you through why the scene that actually earns your hero's big moment isn't near the finale at all, and why you might have already cut it for "not moving the plot forward".

You'll learn:

• Why making your ending bigger (more dialogue, more stakes, more feelings) only makes it feel more forced
• What the "porch scene" is and why your reader will feel it even when your hero never acknowledges what's happening
• How a hero uses their Augmentation to show (not tell) you they're actually changing
• The one question to run on your mid-story scenes this week to tell whether your hero is really growing or just wearing a different emotional outfit

This 30-minute episode is for romance writers who can tell your ending isn't hitting the way the way you intended, and you've been trying to fix it by adding more. By the end, you'll know why that instinct backfires and where in your draft the real character-growth work needs to happen instead.

Resources from this episode:

• Related article: Why some heroes wreck you (and others are forgettable) → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/heroes-that-wreck-you
• Related article: The four stages of a Turning Point moment → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/turning-point
• Related article: The 5 stages of your hero's growth arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• Related article: The 4 types of Augmentations (hero self-protections) → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/armor
• Learn the timeline dot method: Cake, Not Chaos: The Moment To Moment Method workshop replay (live inside E2E) → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/expert
• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/expert
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Why Some Heroes Wreck You (& Others Are Unforgettable)
• The 4 stages of the Turning Point moment
• Hero “Armor” (Augmentations CCV) - Free article: The 4 types of hero defenses that affect your story’s scenes → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/armor
• Liar, Liar, Plot on Fire - Learn about my workshop course and the 5 questions to diagnose plot problems → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/liar-liar
• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• The 5 Growth Phases - Free article: The 5 stages of every character arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

Your hero walks into a room and owns it. They're charming or tough or impossibly warm. And you wrote it that way on purpose. But if that personality feels more like a performance than a person, the problem may be deeper than surface level. When there's no wound driving the behavior, even "big" personalities can feel empty.

In episode 13, I'm walking you through the four types of protective behavior your romance characters use, how to spot which one your hero defaults to, and why knowing the difference between a personality trait and a coping mechanism is what makes your hero feel real.

You'll learn:

• Why a big, lovable personality can actually flatten your character arc if you don't know what's fueling it
• The four types of protective behaviors ("Augmentations": Armor, Shield, Mask, and Flair) and how each one shows up differently in your scenes
• How to trace a hero's protective behavior back to the Wound underneath, using an example from a published romance book
• What to ask about your own manuscript this week to find where your hero's protection is doing its heaviest lifting

This 33-minute episode is for romance writers who write heroes that have strong personalities on the page but still feel like something's missing. By the end, you'll understand which type of protection your character is using and how to write scenes that crack through it just enough to hook your reader.

Resources from this episode:

• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• The Flair Augmentation Showdown: How two different “big personality” characters break under pressure → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/flair
• The Character Core Values: Read this free article on the must-have traits for your heroes → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/ccvs
• The 5 growth arc phases: Read this free article to learn your hero's psychological arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• Growth arcs vs Fall arcs: Read this free article to learn the difference and decide which path your character needs to be on right now → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/growth-vs-fall
• Protective Augmentations: The 4 types of hero defenses that affect your story’s scenes → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/armor
• Author Spotlight: Adriana Locke: Visit Adriana Locke’s website and check out her books → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/adrianalocke
• Interview with Brennan Lee Mulligan: Sit back and listen to Brennan Lee Mulligan—one of the greatest storytellers of our generation—talk about how an unpredictable life has shaped a phenomenally interesting and unstoppable career on this interview with Hank Green on the Study Hall YouTube channel: “How DnD Became a Career: Brennan Lee Mulligan’s College Journey”
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Flair comparisons: Star-Lord vs Illium (Augmentation CCV)
• Adriana Locke (author website)
• Growth vs. Fall Arcs
• The Character Core Values (CCVs) - Free article: The Character Core Values that define who your hero is at their core, the good and the bad → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/ccvs
• Hero “Armor” (Augmentations CCV) - Free article: The 4 types of hero defenses that affect your story’s scenes → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/armor
• The Brennan Lee Mulligan interview - Sit back and listen to Brennan Lee Mulligan—one of the greatest storytellers of our generation—talk about how an unpredictable life has shaped a phenomenally interesting and unstoppable career on this interview with Hank Green on the Study Hall YouTube channel: “How DnD Became a Career: Brennan Lee Mulligan’s College Journey” (https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/meetbrennan)
• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• The 5 Growth Phases - Free article: The 5 stages of every character arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

If you've got a scene that should feel gut-wrenching, but it reads more like a shrug, the problem probably isn't your writing. In episode 12, I'm walking you through what happens when a scene looks emotional on the surface but isn't connected to what your hero is really going through underneath.

You'll learn:

• Why a scene can make you cry while you're writing it and still fall flat for readers
• How to tell whether your hero's big moment is doing real character work or just wearing a plot disguise
• What a bestselling romance novel reveals about the difference between caretaking as love language and caretaking as self-protection
• The one question to ask any scene that keeps fighting you, before you touch a single word

This 20-minute episode is for romance writers who keep rewriting scenes that feel almost right but never quite resonate, no matter how many tweaks you make. By the end, you'll know how to spot when a scene is faking emotion so you can stop wrestling with the words and start asking what the scene actually needs to do.

Resources from this episode:

• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• The Character Core Values: Read this free article on the must-have traits for your heroes → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/ccvs
• Spotlight author: CP Rider, urban fantasy romance writer → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/cprider
• Spotlight author: Lauren Blakely, contemporary romance writer → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/laurenblakely
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• The Character Core Values (CCVs) - Free article: The Character Core Values that define who your hero is at their core, the good and the bad → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/ccvs
• Lauren Blakely (author website) - Learn more about Lauren Blakely, the writer I talked about in this episode, on her author website and check out her witty, heartwarming—and also beautifully narrated—stories about the power of love, friendship and sports.
• C.P. Rider (author website) - Learn more about C.P. Rider, the writer I talked about in this episode, on her author website and check out her addicting, immersive, wildly unpredictable urban fantasy series.
• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

If you've been making story decisions from anxiety instead of confidence, this episode is going to feel like a deep breath. Because the confidence you want isn't about doing everything right. It's about knowing why you're making each choice so you can make the best ones. In episode 11, I'm walking you through what that feels like in practice, with real stories from writers learned to trust their storytelling instincts.

You'll learn:

• Why every story decision romance writers make feels heavier than it should
• What happened when a writer realized the conflict she kept rewriting wasn't the real conflict at all
• How a D&D interview about childhood bullying shows us how to write romance characters readers believe in
• The revealing exercise you can try on your own manuscript this week

This 24-minute episode is for romance writers who keep going back and forth on story decisions because you're not sure what your story actually needs. By the end, you'll understand where that second-guessing comes from and what it feels like to start making revision (and drafting!) decisions you trust.

Resources from this episode:

• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• Hero growth arcs: The 5 phases every hero needs → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• Hero “Armor”: The 4 types of hero defenses that affect your story’s scenes → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/armor
• Brennan Lee Mulligan: Hear his bullying story yourself → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/meetbrennan
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Hero “Armor” (Augmentations CCV) - Free article: The 4 types of hero defenses that affect your story’s scenes → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/armor
• The Brennan Lee Mulligan interview - Sit back and listen to Brennan Lee Mulligan—one of the greatest storytellers of our generation—talk about how an unpredictable life has shaped a phenomenally interesting and unstoppable career on this interview with Hank Green on the Study Hall YouTube channel: “How DnD Became a Career: Brennan Lee Mulligan’s College Journey” (https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/meetbrennan)
• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• The 5 Growth Phases - Free article: The 5 stages of every character arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

You had two free hours to write, and instead you reorganized your Trello board. You love this story. You chose it. So why won't your brain let you work on it? In episode 10, I'm breaking down why romance writers get stuck, what your block is actually responding to, plus how one writer's story block disappeared when she swapped a single word in her heroine's Root Fear.

You'll learn:

• Why "butt in chair, just write" advice fails most romance writers
• Three completely different types of creative blocks that show up in romance manuscripts, each needing a different fix
• What happened when a writer in my group sessions replaced "fear of failure" with something deeper (and why that depth matters so much in romance books)
• An exercise you can try this week with three questions to help you figure out what your own resistance is about

This 20-minute episode is for romance writers who keep blaming yourself for being lazy or unfocused when the real issue has nothing to do with discipline. By the end, you'll understand why your brain keeps hitting the brakes on your manuscript and have an intuitive way to start working with through resistance instead of against it.

Resources from this episode:

• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• Liar, Liar, Plot on Fire: Take the workshop where Hollie learned the 5 growth arc phases → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/liar-liar
• The 5 growth arc phases: Read this free article to learn your hero's psychological arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• The Root Fear: Read this free article on the Root Fear for your hero → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• Spotlight author: Hollie Smurthwaite: Visit Hollie's website and check out her books → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/holliesmurthwaite

• Hollie Smurthwaite (author website) - Learn more about Hollie Smurthwaite, the writer I talked about in this episode, on her author website and check out her funny, witty romance book style.
• Liar, Liar, Plot on Fire - Learn about my workshop course and the 5 questions to diagnose plot problems → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/liar-liar
• The Root Fear explained (CCV) - Free article: The hero trait that anchors your entire story → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/root-fear
• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• The 5 Growth Phases - Free article: The 5 stages of every character arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

Revision isn't slow because you're a slow writer. It's slow because you're fixing symptoms instead of causes. In episode 9, I'm showing you what that actually costs you in real publishing time, and what one focused week of looking at the right thing can replace.

You'll learn:

• Why each revision pass feels like progress but adds weeks to your timeline without solving anything
• How editing any of the four layers of a romance manuscript creates a compounding ripple effect when you fix one without understanding what it touches
• What a one-week diagnostic read can replace compared to four or five full passes (with actual math)
• The three questions to ask about any problem scene before you rewrite a single word

This 17-minute episode is for romance writers who keep telling yourself "just one more pass" and are several passes in with nothing to show for it. By the end, you'll know exactly what to look at in the scene that won't cooperate, and why that's probably not even the scene that needs fixing.

Resources from this episode:

• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

If you draft by instinct but dread the revision process, this episode will show you why. The problem isn't that you're an intuitive writer. In episode 8, I'm showing you why the way you draft and the way you revise need to use two completely different parts of your brain, and how that mode switch actually protects your creative voice instead of threatening it.

You'll learn:

• Why your intuition is brilliant at creation but genuinely can't diagnose what's wrong with your story
• What you're actually protecting when story structure feels like a threat to your creative identity
• The difference between writer mode and editor mode, and why switching between them doesn't require any planning or outlining
• How developing analytical revision skills makes your intuitive first drafts stronger over time

This 16-minute episode is for romance writers who resist story structuring techniques because you're afraid it will silence your muse or sap the joy out of writing. By the end, you'll know how to test any scene from a book you love with a simple one-question exercise, so you can see for yourself how powerful this "mode switch" can be.

Resources from this episode:

• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• Get your ticket - Join Sue for the live workshop, Cake, Not Chaos: The Moment To Moment Method on March 27, 2026
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

If you've been eyeing romantasy or hockey romance or whatever's blowing up on BookTok right now and wondering if you should pivot, this episode will save you months of second-guessing. Because the conflict you're feeling isn't about making more book sales. In episode 7, I'm breaking down why certain trends blow up, what readers are really craving beneath the surface elements, and how to figure out whether a hot niche genuinely fits your writing or if FOMO is calling the shots.

You'll learn:

• Why Fifty Shades of Grey didn't succeed because of BDSM, and what readers were actually hungry for
• The difference between copying a trend's surface elements (legendary heroes, fae politics, hockey rivalries) and understanding the emotional core that makes it work
• How to tell whether you'd be writing for an audience you don't understand, before you spend six months finding out the hard way
• A set of honest questions to evaluate whether any given niche fits your author brand and loyal readers

This 20-minute episode is for romance writers who feel pressured to chase the hottest new trend but aren't sure if a pivot is smart or just fear talking. By the end, you'll understand what actually drives mega-success, and you'll have an exercise to make that "Should I write this?" decision with confidence instead of from FOMO.

Resources from this episode:

• Community: Join Enemies to Experts → suebrownmoore.com/enemies-to-experts
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Enemies To Experts™ - Learn more about the Enemies To Experts™ program with Sue Brown-Moore. Because falling in love with your manuscript starts with understanding it.
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.

If you've checked off every beat in Romancing the Beat or plugged your word count into a spreadsheet formula and your story still doesn't feel right, you're not doing it wrong. The tool just can't show you what's missing. In episode 6, I'm walking you through why those guides give you the what and the when, but not the why behind each storytelling choice, and what that gap that costs your manuscript.

You'll learn:

• Why a romance that hits every beat in the right order can still feel flat and formulaic to readers
• How each beat in phase one of Romancing the Beat actually lives on a different storytelling layer (and why understanding where is ultra-important to understand)
• The difference between a beat that's doing one job and a beat that's pulling double or triple duty across your story layer cake (+ what that looks like in the story structure)
• Why beat sheet spreadsheets built on Hero's Journey structure create a unique set of problems for romance writers

This 24-minute episode is for romance writers who have followed a beat guide or spreadsheet formula and just can't figure out why your story doesn't land emotionally. By the end, you'll understand what those guides were never built to teach you, and you'll have an exercise to start seeing which layers your beats are actually working on.

Resources from this episode:

• Free article: The 5 stages of every character arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/romancingthebeat
• Jami Gold's beat sheets → https://podcast.suebrownmoore.com/jamigold-worksheets
• More Resources: Learn from Sue at your own pace → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

• Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes - Get your copy of the romance-writing craft book Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes on Amazon.
• Jami Gold's worksheets - Learn more about the (many!) worksheets for writers by Jami Gold on her website.
• The 5 Growth Phases - Free article: The 5 stages of every character arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• More resources - Learn from Sue at your own pace at podcast.suebrownmoore.com/learn

Subscribe to the Story Sorcery® podcast with Sue Brown-Moore on your favorite podcast app to never miss an episode.