Guest Post: New York Times Bestselling Thriller Author Chelsea Cain

“What I Wish I Knew About Getting Published Before it Happened To Me.” by Chelsea Cain Author of the New York Times bestselling thrillers Heartsick, Sweetheart and Evil at Heart. Travel with a corkscrew.  Otherwise you will end up having to buy one every time you want to take a bottle of wine back to […]

Guest Post: Writing Mentor and Character Champion Bill Johnson

Putting the Tense in Narrative Tension by Bill Johnson Narrative tension is the inner tension characters in a novel feel about unresolved and unfulfilled events and needs.  When characters in a story are blocked from gaining what they want, they experience narrative tension.  (Interesting to note, this is also the very essence of conflict in […]

Puzzles, Propositions, Pitches and Other Holiday Stuffing

Yesterday I challenged you to do the impossible.  Oh, did I mention that the puzzle is, in fact, actually not solvable?  And it looked so easy, too.  Just like your killer idea may look like an easy winner at a glance. Well, I’m either a smug bastard or I had a reason for doing that.  […]

Have You Written Yourself Into a Corner?

Let’s have a little fun today.  Maybe at your expense, too.   Or maybe at mine if this pisses you off, which it might.   There’s a little exercise for you at the end of this post.  But first, a little context. Sometimes an idea seems so good at first.  We bolt upright at night with it, […]

Infusing your Fiction With Heart and Soul: An Exercise

In the realm of art, including the writing of stories that reach into people’s hearts and minds to leave an indelible mark – or, depending on your genre, perhaps a scar – we are very much alone with our muse.  And too often that muse doesn’t know any more about how to pull it off […]

A Guest Post From Deb Caletti: What I Wish I Knew About Getting Published Before It Happened To Me

Deb Caletti is a bestselling Young Adult novelist and National Book Award finalist for her 2004 novel, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart.  Her current book, The Secret Life of Prince Charming, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, one of several her work has received.  If you’d like to learn more about Deb (there’s much to learn, […]

The Most Powerful Two Hours You’ll Ever Spend as a Storyteller

I’m about to introduce you to the most exhilarating and useful hands-on writing exercise I’ve ever experienced.  So effective, in fact, that it’s more a tool than it is a way to limber up the ol’ creative muscles. So which is it?  An exercise or a tool? Doesn’t matter.  Either way, I urge you – […]

The Author as Hero

So many analogies, so little time.  Here on Storyfix I liberally offer analogies about the writing process in an attempt to clarify the critical and often-misunderstood relationships between certain mind-sets and the writing of publishable novels and marketable screenplays.  Misunderstood, as in… gee, I’ve read a lot of novels in my day, seen a lot […]

Previews of Coming Storyfix Attractions

Yesterday I ran a post on how to recognize story structure in movie trailers.  You can also see it shine through in book jacket copy and, if the reviewer is any good, reviews. I offer that because today’s title might confuse you, at least if you spent any time with yesterday’s post.  Because today isn’t […]

How to Learn Story Structure in Two Minutes or Less

Went to a movie yesterday.  The new Clooney flick about staring at goats.  Not bad, a few grins, but in my view a little over-the-top silly at the end. But that’s not my point today.  What happened before the movie is. Because I saw a bunch of previews for upcoming films.  And in doing so, […]