NaNoWriMo #15: Stuck? Try this and move forward.
At this point in the planning process the room divides into two main categories: those that take to this quickly, easily and with great relief… and those who don’t. Doesn’t mean you’re fighting it off or don’t get it, it just means that you may be used to, or prefer, conducting your “search for story” by […]
NaNoWriMo #14: Surrender to the Process
Got an email this morning from a regular (and wonderful) Storyfix reader. In essence her comment was, “slow down, cowboy…” in reference to my assumption in a recent post that you probably have your concept in place by now, or should. Did I say that? If you do have our concept up and running, you […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #13: Begin to Write It Down
31 Planning Posts in 31 October Days Not to be confused with begin to write a draft. That’s a form of story planning, perhaps, but it’s not one you can afford to try during this planning month. Besides, you can’t really begin writing your draft until November 1st, anyhow, just to be clear. Story planning […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #12: May the ‘Forces’ Be With You
Let me open this one with a couple of very quick analogies. Two singers. Both trained. Both carry a mean tune, and then some. Both great looking. Maybe even friends of Simon Cowell’s. One makes it big, the other never gets past the karaoke bar. Why? Because one sings with power. The other, try as […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #11: Cast Your Story With Familiar Faces
First… New Peer Review Submissions: 1. Brandon’ Pilcher’s fantasy short story, “Fighting For Food“. 2. A new chapter (2) added to Frederick Fuller’s romantic novel, “For the Heart’s Treasure“. Please honor these writers with your feedback. If you’d like to learn how to submit your own work for Peer Review, click HERE. Or HERE to see what […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #10: Specifics on How to Plan Your Story
Allow me to state the obvious: the key to story planning is knowing not only how to plan, but what to plan, and in what order. And the key to the latter is the former. In other words, if you don’t know how to cook, in general, then you may not have success with a […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #9: Take a Hike
I mean, literally, take a hike. Or a walk. Do it alone… or do it with someone to whom you can talk through your story. Story planning is hard. Maybe not at first, but soon you’ll have more elements than you bargained for competing for airtime, and for a while it’ll sound like a small crowd […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #8: Why and How Your First 12 to 15 Scenes are Different
Today’s tip springboard’s from ‘, so if you’ve arrived here in the middle of this series, I highly recommend that you go back one square and study up on tip #7, which is about the all-important First Plot Point. The First Plot Point is the reason your first 12-t0-15 scenes — which come before the […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #7: The Most Important Moment in your Story
There’s a lot of wiggle room in this story structure stuff. The targets for your story milestones are just that — targets — but if you miss by a reasonable amount in either direction (too soon, or a bit late), your story may not tank because of it. But one of those milestones, while still […]
Nail Your NaNoWriMo #6: Filling Out the Big Picture
31 Posts in 31 Days to Help you Kick NaNoWriMo’s Ass All this talk about your idea… let’s expand on that. The overwhelming odds are that your original “idea” — the very first glimmer of a spark for a story, originated as something less than a story element, or it if was a legit story […]