Author: Marilyn Brant

Marilyn Brant

Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery. Her debut novel won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart® Award (2007), and she was named Author of the Year (2013) by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She loves all things Jane Austen, has a passion for Sherlock Holmes, is a travel addict and a music junkie, and lives on chocolate and gelato. For more information, please visit her website.

The Catcher in the Rye

Beat Sheets, Novel Writing, Rites of Passage

The Catcher in the Rye Novel Beat Sheet

See the story beats of this elegy to teenage alienation.

Marilyn Brant, May 31, 2019 10 min read

The Rosie Project

Beat Sheets, Novel Writing

The Rosie Project Novel Beat Sheet

Savor a textbook example of stellar plotting.

Marilyn Brant, April 18, 2019 9 min read

About the Beats, Novel Writing, Tools

Using the Beats for Series Planning and Creating Distinctive Characters

An author needed a structural tool.

Marilyn Brant, September 15, 2017 9 min read

Beating Out a Book Series

Novelist Marilyn Brandt shows how you can use the beats to breakdown an entire series.

Marilyn Brant, July 31, 2015 5 min read

Beat Sheets, Novel Writing

Pride and Prejudice Beat Sheet

See Blake Snyder’s story beats in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Marilyn Brant, January 18, 2013 10 min read

Novel Writing, Success Stories

The BS2 x 4 — Beating Out a Novel in Quadruplicate

I realized that I needed to take my trusted beat sheet… and multiply it by four!

Marilyn Brant, October 29, 2010 10 min read