When Theme Smothers Premise — A Case Study
Today’s title pretty much sums what I want you to notice–and learn from–in this case study, taken from my Concept/Premise Level Analysis service. I’d lecture here about the risk of too much thematic emphasis, but that’s already in my feedback, for your enlightenment. Read it here: July 16 case study Anxious to see what you think. […]
The Passionate Cry of a Delusional Pantser
Let me be clear on something before launching into this: I’m not anti-pantsing or anti-pansters. It’s not how I develop stories, nor is it something I recommend. But it is something I absolutely understand – with the exception of today’s little rant – and I’m clear on how it can work, when it works. That’s […]
Art Holcomb on: The Character/Plot Connection
(This is an excerpt from my July tele-seminar, “The 10 Steps to Building a Better Story” – more information at the end of the post –Art) I’ll tie this all together at the end, so stay with me . . . I want to begin with a story about growing up with my 10-year old […]
Addressing the Unanswerable Questions About Writing A Novel
Wherein we address the Craft-to-Art Gap (Apologies for my absence. I should have filled the gap with guest posts from my wonderful Storyfix partners, but I fumbled that as I focused on a new non-fiction project, which I am excited to share with you in a couple of weeks. As for today’s post… I return […]