Part 6… of a 10-Part 101-level Review of Writing Your Novel

Part 6: Gaining Dramatic Altitude – Welcome to the Part 2 Second Quartile of Your Story Story structure is all about making your narrative – and thus, the reading experience – more effective. More intense, more emotional and more engaging. These are goals that apply to any and all genres, and thus, it renders the […]

Part 5… of a 10 Part 101 on the Craft of Writing a Novel that Works:

Quick opening comments: Today’s entry in the series covers what, in my experience, is the most commonly misunderstood, fumbled or ignored principle in long-form storytelling. Even proven published professionals get this wrong, even though they may DO it right (or close to right) in their work… because their story instinct pushes them to execute this […]

Part 4… of a 10-Part Series on Story Craft

About the workshop I’ve been promoting here… check at the end of this post for news about a recent MAJOR TUITION REDUCTION Part 4: Your Hook Breaking bad, Good, or Otherwise. This isn’t just for the sake of clarity.  Within each of the four contextual quartiles of a novel – each quartile with its own context, […]

Part 3… of a 10-Part Series on “Story”

Please note: this short intro appears prior to each of these ten installments.  If you’re read it before, skip down to the next subtitle in larger font. Also, to read previous posts in this series, refer to this menu of links (be sure to return to this page to keep reading in sequence; that said, […]

Part 2… of a 10-Part Crash Course on Story

Please note: this short intro appears prior to each of these ten installments.  If you’re read it before, skip down to the next subtitle in larger font. Also, to read previous posts in this series, refer to this menu of links (be sure to return to this page to keep reading in sequence; that said, […]

Part 1… of a 10-Part Crash Course on Story

Welcome to the 101 of writing novels. One of the reasons writing a great novel is so challenging is that there is no obvious starting place.  Is it a character?  A premise?  A theme?  A single sentence that won’t get out of your head? While that argument continues to rage, what remains in less dispute […]