Fiction Writing 101: Learning to Skate

And like gravity, the principles of writing effective fiction don’t care what you call them, or even if you believe in them. But they will kill or cripple you if you proceed without honoring them – just like gravity – just as they will elevate you to unfathomable heights, like a beautiful bird, once you understand how to harness their power.

On The Industry: Two Must-Read Articles

Regardless of where you stand on the self-publishing vs. traditional publishing issue, there’s no question the landscape is shifting beneath our feet.  There has yet to be a definitive source of wisdom on this, leaving us to sift and hash through the opinions of those engaged in a deep-dive into the swirling morass of op-ed, […]

The Absolute, Non-negotiable Truth About Writing and Selling Your Fiction

Imagine a room somewhere, a hotel conference center perhaps, full of 46 professional types who have flown in to commiserate with their esteemed peers.  They preen and sip coffee as they eyeball each other’s name tags, casually dropping names while waxing eloquent and wistful about the lack of great stories out there. They are literary […]

What’s Your ‘Vision’ For Your Story?

The third question I ask on the Questionnaire given to my story coaching clients, after genre and voice, is just that. Half of the writers presented with that question can’t answer it.  They either email me about it, asking what this means, or they answer this way: “I don’t know what you mean by vision.” […]

Shot Putting and the Art of Story Maintenance

This is a tale of three writers, each with a story they think is good enough to find a publisher.  It is told, analogously, through the story of three athletes who think they are good enough to make an Olympic team.  Even if that’s not your thing, the point at hand should be. The athletes […]

What I’ve Learned About Writing in the Last Six Months

Sometimes, with our head down and our focus impervious to anything short of an earthquake, we forget to look up and see what’s beckoning within arm’s reach. That’s me for the last six months, working on two projects (actually three, but two were particularly world-rocking) that have totally consumed me.  The first is the launch […]

Novelists: The Data on “Normal”… And the Path to Extraordinary

They say that about two out of every 100 novels submitted to publishers actually get a contract.  Of those, a majority were submitted through established literary agencies, which changes the odds dramatically. That’s good news and the bad news.  Because it means you need to get an agent – which you absolutely can – before […]

Are you “Terrified” of Story Structure?

Or maybe just pissed off at it. I’d like to share an exchange I recently had with a Storyfix reader.  I think it speaks for a silent constituency out there, those to fall into either of the categories defined above. But don’t be scared.  Don’t be angry.  Structure loves you.  Structure wants to liberate you […]

When Your Passion Kills Your Plot

 I wanted to call this one, “The Great and Silent Story Killer,” but I chose to put the real two-by-four-between-the-eyes point in the headline instead.  Because passion is an intoxicant.  A promise without a plan.  And its addictive.  It is cheering rather than playing the game.  Good to have, worthless as a story planning asset. […]

The “Box” is Just a Punk — A Guest Post by Art Holcomb

Once again our friend Art Holcomb knocks it out of the park.  ***** Writers learn the same way our characters learn. Consider for a moment some of the great characters of fiction: Jay Gatsby, Yuri Zhivago, Atticus Finch, Scarlett O’Hara, Philip Marlowe, James Bond, Harry Potter . . . and Winnie-the-Pooh. These heroes spend most […]