How to Double the Effectiveness of your Writing/Critique Group… Overnight
I figure I have to earn the right to sell you something. The following post is a blatant effort to do just that. One with a TON of value. When it’s done, there’s a SPECIAL OFFER for writing/critique groups. It’s a group-discount on my ebook, “101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips for Novelists and Screenwriters.” Safe to […]
Story Structure: A Kinder, Gentler First Plot Point
Pop quiz: what’s the most important moment in your story? When we first meet our dashing hero? Nope. That sky-is-falling plot twist in the middle when all hope is lost? Nope. When everything comes together, that visceral oh-my-god resolution just before the credits roll, with tears flowing, hormones raging and adrenalin pumping like beer at […]
How to Improve Your Story: Thou Shalt Foreshadow
This just in – a cool review of “101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips for Novelists and Screenwriters”… … by a UCLA writing instructor and well-known online guru. You can read it HERE. On to today’s post: Foreshadowing is one of those essential little storytelling kinks – I like to think of it as an opportunity – that […]
Random Musings From Under the Publishing Bus
Things have been pretty heavy here on Storyfix lately. A 10-part series on Story Structure that lasted 13 parts. Three ways to do this, five ways to do that. A new ebook. Me learning what HTML means. If you’re new here, don’t be confused or discouraged. This is a serious writing site, big time. It’s […]
Tip #71 — Make your sub-plot about character arc.
Many of you know I’ve recently launched an ebook called “101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips for Novelists and Screenwriters.” In fact, many of you have already bought one. One of the upsides is that I have a repository of 101 killer writing tips I can use here on Storyfix in a pinch. Or, when the day gets away from […]
3 Killer Tips and a Warning
Always liked the way Four Weddings and Funeral sounded as a title. Liked Sex, Lies and Videotape, too. 10 Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead, not so much. Hence, my title today. So let’s get to it. It’s the little things that set your manuscript apart from the sea of hopeful neophytes competing […]
Part 2 — How to Cut Your Manuscript by 20% or More
In Part we learned that our scenes are the primary repositories of fat in our stories, and the first place we should look to do a little literary liposuction. Perhaps, though, I’m putting this little pony ahead of the cart I’m asking it to pull. I’ve heard from some writers that while the concept of […]
How to Cut Your Manuscript by 20%… and Love It.
A prospective agent, someone you pitched at a writing conference, advises you to cut 20% of your manuscript. Non-negotiable. Which frankly scares the hell out of you because you’ve fallen in love with each and every word you’ve written. Here’s how to do it. And by the way… she’s right, you do need to […]
Writing Voice: Unteachable… Essential…. Elusive. And… Paradoxical.
We are writers. We must compose the songs we sing. We must choreograph the dances we perform. We must design what we ultimately seek to build. We are unique in these things. Composers need not carry a tune. Choreographers need not perform. Screenwriters and directors need not be actors or set designers. Architects need not […]
The Single Most Powerful Writing Tool You’ll Ever See That Fits On One Page
Quick note… I have two killer guest posts running today: At www.bloggingtips.com… and http://the-new-author.blogspot.com. Hope you’ll check ’em out! And now for the continuing run of yesterday’s milestone post: A bold claim, that. But I challenge you to read this stuff — which, when printed, really does fit onto one page — and then argue that […]