Marilyn Brant

Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery/suspense. Her debut novel, According to Jane, won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart® Award, and she was named the 2013 Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She's a lifelong Jane Austen fan, has a passion for spies and secret codes, loves travel, music, chocolate, and analyzing novels for Save the Cat! Her latest release is the romantic spy comedy The Secret Life of Maggie Blake (May 2022). Marilyn lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with her family, daydreaming new plot ideas for her next novel. For more about her writing, please visit her website.

An illustration from an 1897 edition of Jane Austen's Persuasion

Beat Sheets, Buddy Love, Novel Writing

Persuasion by Jane Austen
Novel Beat Sheet

See how Jane Austen’s revered novel Persuasion hits Blake Snyder’s 15 story beats.

Marilyn Brant, September 3, 2020 17 min read

The cover of the novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Beat Sheets, Dude With A Problem, Golden Fleece, Novel Writing

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Novel Beat Sheet

See the story beats of the novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Marilyn Brant, April 30, 2020 11 min read

Wilde

Beat Sheets, Fool Triumphant

The Importance of Being Earnest Beat Sheet

See how Wilde’s “Trivial Comedy for Serious People” hits Blake Snyder’s story beats.

Marilyn Brant, November 14, 2019 0 10 min read

The Novel that introduced stephanie plum

Beat Sheets, Novel Writing, Whydunit

One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) Novel Beat Sheet

See how the first “Stephanie Plum” novel’s beats are on the money.

Marilyn Brant, October 24, 2019 0 10 min read

save the cat

Beat Sheets, Novel Writing, Rites of Passage

Anne of Green Gables Novel Beat Sheet

A classic for the young and the young at heart

Marilyn Brant, August 22, 2019 4 12 min read

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 12 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 5 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 2 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 10 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 17 10 min read

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