I don’t write novels, so it was intriguing for me to read this and see how it would apply to short stories and even narrative paragraphs. I’m a very organic writer, but I have some road maps and navigational systems so deeply rooted, they feel like the kind migrating birds might have.

Warning: ugly sentence coming! I love when writers write about writing. It’s a passion of mine – an obsession, but it’s a world I’m very at home in. I’ve never read anything by Julia Cameron, Natalie Goldberg or a shelf of others except their books on writing. Stephen King scares me so much I can’t read his books, but I did enjoy On Writing. I’m not a Ray Bradbury fan, but loved his Zen writing book. I enjoyed hearing J K Rowling, who lives near me, discussing how she had the ending prepared for her seventh book right from the start and about her architecture for all the storylines and character developments and twists. The woman held whole worlds in her head!

Thanks, Larry. I’ll be back. By the way, you’ve made some very smart guest post moves. I’ll understand if you no longer want to do one for my ‘baby’. Have you thought of approaching Sean and Dave over at The Collective Inkwell with one? They share your dislike of gooey prose, although my pal Sean has a lyrical streak and indulges in the odd spurt of alliterative burping and spitting

I’m a beginner in all of this, but so far although I’m more of a panster, I am discovering that I need some structure also. I will need to keep your 5 plot points in mind. I would hate to crank out a story and discover some major gaping holes in the plot or lack thereof. Great advice.