Story Sorcery®

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.

More feedback won't solve your manuscript problems. In fact, it usually makes things worse. In episode 5, I'm showing you why conflicting critiques leave you more confused and what actually has to change before any of that feedback you've been collecting is actually usable.

You'll learn:

• Why three readers can give you three completely different diagnoses of the same manuscript
• How feedback dependency trains you to second-guess every storytelling decision you make
• The difference between symptom-level reader reactions vs the actual story problem underneath
• What you're really asking for when you send your manuscript out for critique (Hint: it's probably not feedback)

This 20-minute episode is for romance writers who keep collecting opinions hoping someone will finally tell you what's wrong with your story. By the end, you'll see why no amount of external feedback can replace the one skill that makes all critiques useful, and you'll have a gut-check exercise to start building your confidence.

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're stuck rewriting the same manuscript—or parts of it—over and over, this episode is for you. Because the problem isn't your writing. In episode 4, I'm breaking down why endless rewrites never get you closer to "done" and what skill you're actually missing.

You'll learn:

• Why rewriting without diagnosing is like fixing a car by randomly swapping parts
• The three costs of the rewrite loop that go way beyond lost time
• How surface-level fixes (dialogue tweaks, pacing cuts, added backstory) only treat symptoms instead of causes
• The detective-eye exercise that can start breaking this cycle today

This 18-minute episode is for romance writers who keep rewriting the same manuscript without knowing if it's getting better or just different. By the end, you'll understand why this cycle has nothing to do with your writing ability, and what to do instead of rewriting blind.

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.

Book reviews aren't personal attacks. They're diagnostic data. In episode 3, I'm showing you how to decode what readers really mean when they say "the romance was meh" or "the pacing was off".

You'll learn:

• Why wildly different reactions to the same book reveal story layer misalignment, not just reader preferences
• What "the pacing was off" actually means about your character growth arc and trope beats
• How to use 4-star and 2-star reviews to diagnose which story layers need work
• The reviewer technique that separates what readers SAY from what they actually MEAN

This 20-minute episode is for romance writers who are scared of reading your own reviews or don't know how to spin negative feedback positively.

By the end, you'll have a diagnostic framework for decoding reviews so you can spot fixable patterns instead of taking criticism personally.

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.

Most revision advice tells you what to fix. But what if you're fixing the wrong things?

In episode 2, I'm explaining why writing & revision techniques can't solve character growth problems, and introducing the skill you actually need instead.

You'll learn:

• Why most writing & revision advice can't solve what's fundamentally broken in your manuscript (and what to focus on instead)
• The difference between fixing surface symptoms and diagnosing the root story problem in your romance book
• How stories are built in four layers (and why one in particular has to work before anything else in your story can)
• What it looks like when your romance arc is misaligned with this ultra-important story layer
• Why readers can feel what's wrong in a story (and why even beta readers can't always name it)
• The movie-watching exercise that trains your brain to spot growth moments in any story

This 25-minute episode is for romance writers stuck in endless rewrites without knowing what's actually broken.

By the end, you'll understand why "seeing" the heart of your story matters more than collecting more techniques. And you'll have a practical exercise to start training that diagnostic skill today.

Resources from this episode:

• The 5 growth arc phases: Read this free article to learn your hero's psychological arc → podcast.suebrownmoore.com/5-phases
• 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.
• 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.

Romance writers do more than entertain. They reshape how society views autonomy and love. But why is the genre still dismissed as "formulaic"?

In episode 1, I'm explaining why I only work with romance writers. Not women's fiction with a love story. Not fantasy with a romantic subplot. Full-on Happily Ever After romance.

You'll learn:

• Why the relationship must be the CAUSE of your character's growth (not just a witness to it or a reward for it)
• The one question that reveals if you're writing romance or romantic elements in a different genre
• What's actually broken when readers say they "didn't feel it" but you've written all the right trope beats
• How forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and second chance romance all use the relationship as the engine for change
• Why you can diagnose what's broken in your manuscript without paying big edit fees

This 16-minute episode is for romance writers who are tired of defending their genre.

By the end, you'll understand why romance asks more of you than most writers will ever face. And you'll have a quick way to check if your manuscript is delivering on the reader promise of romantic fiction.

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.