Plot Versus Character

After I finished revising HOW TO MARRY A DUKE, I had one of those ah-hah moments. I realized that every scene in the book was about the premise. In retrospect, it seems obvious that every scene should promote the premise. But the plot of the story is the vehicle. Without character, readers have no reason to care.

Although I consciously chose a high-concept premise at the outset of writing HOW TO MARRY A DUKE, I never thought about plot and character as separate entities. Many authors claim the...