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Recipe for a Story
mostly Comedy & Romance
a blog
by Stephanie Bourbon @ 2025
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Stephanie Bourbon
Jun 3, 20242 min read
Writing A TV Christmas Movie?
PHOTO- Hallmark, CHRISTMAS IN LOVE Happy June! I'm writing this post because it keeps coming up in writing groups that I am in with...
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Stephanie Bourbon
May 28, 20242 min read
It's Been A Long Time-Writer Confession
Well, what can I say? I took a year of hiatus from this blog and my other blogS- plural, yeah, I have a few blogs- and I took almost a...
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Stephanie Bourbon
May 31, 20235 min read
Hallmark Holiday Movies Aren't Rom-Coms And Here Is Why
It's frustrating to see so many mislabeling Hallmark's (and other channels like it) as romantic comedies when they are straight-up...
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Stephanie Bourbon
May 17, 20235 min read
Review-Love Again, Rom-Com...Here's Why It Works
Critics slammed this film, so we skipped it the weekend it opened, even though the trailers looked amazing because we read all the bad...
331 views0 comments
Stephanie Bourbon
May 10, 20234 min read
How To Write Your 8 Story Beats & Then Add To Them
If you are writing or have written a romantic comedy you will want to know your main story beats. Here are some practical tips for...
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Stephanie Bourbon
May 3, 20234 min read
Romantic Comedies Are A Subgenre of COMEDY
You are writing a romantic comedy, but it's not working. Why? Maybe it's because you are following how to write a romance and not a...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Apr 19, 20233 min read
Is Your Inciting Incident The Same As Your Meet-Cute In Your Romantic Comedy Screenplay or Novel?
The answer isn't yes or no. How annoying, right? Sorry, but that's just the way it is. In my professional opinion, it's better to...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Apr 12, 20233 min read
Writing Rom-Com Tips To Get Started
So, you want to write a romantic comedy but have no idea how or where to start? I will have a couple 8 part series of blogs coming out,...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Apr 10, 20231 min read
Writing Romantic Comedies-New Name
I decided to start a new blog and then I realized that I could just change this one, so from now on this blog is dedicated to all things...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Dec 12, 20222 min read
Happy Monday-Dec 12th
December is HALF over! Wait! What? NO! OMG, so I signed up with some other writers to write a screenplay this month---easy-peasy, right?...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 29, 20222 min read
NaNoWriMo Is Done-Did You Win?
So, yay, my 18th NaNo is complete. Do I have 18 books published? Nope, not even close. I have had three novels published, for those of...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 4, 20222 min read
Day 4 NaNoWriMo! I'll be done....
Looks like I may hit 50K on November 13th--but like a marathon, sometimes when you start fast, you fizzle faster, but I'm hoping that I...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 3, 20222 min read
It's NaNoWriMo!! (Day 3)
I'm super excited to be joining NaNoWriMo for the 19th time--yup, because I've done CampNaNo, this is my 19th time. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Oct 26, 20221 min read
It's Been A While, Like, Seriously!
Hello lovely writers and followers! As many of you know, I've also been consulting writers since about 2008 when I started coaching...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Dec 7, 20213 min read
How to Show & Not Tell--I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmas
Hello, writers!!! So, today, I'm talking about the oh so evil words that no writer and no book coach or developmental editor wants to say...
34 views0 comments
Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 28, 20213 min read
You've Finished Your NaNoWriMo Novel-Now What?
Good morning dear writers! It's almost December 1st and that's why I'm talking about revising your story. You have finished the new novel...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 23, 20213 min read
Why Your First Pages Matter & How To Make Them Stronger
FIRST PAGES When agents ask for your first 5 or 10 pages it's because in those pages they will learn everything they need to know about...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 15, 20212 min read
Social Media For Authors-How Much Time Does It Take?
There are so many different ways to do social media and honestly, there is no right or wrong, but it can be HUGE for your career. If no...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 12, 20214 min read
Do I Need To Copyright My Novel/Work?
The answer is NO. But before I get into it here I just want to invite you to subscribe to my email list where I will send out freebies,...
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Stephanie Bourbon
Nov 8, 20213 min read
Genre Clarity, what is it & why do I need it?
Happy Monday to all the writers out there!! I'm so grateful that you are here. Today I am talking about GENRE CLARITY and why it's so...
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