How To Reboot Your Novel
In my last post I gave notice that the next Storyfix entry would be about defining story architecture. So here we are. Sort of. Why? Because a few readers have expressed confusion – not so much with the comparison between architecture and structure, but with how to wrap one’s head around the term architecture in […]
Getting Published: Is Your Story Idea Strong Enough?
The initial idea for a story usually consists of one of two elements: a concept, or a character. Sometimes it’s a theme, but that makes you the exception (and a lucky one, because theme often gets the least developmental treatment). If you try to write your story with one and not the other, and if that one […]
Should You Be Obsessed With Getting Published?
I love talking to writers about writing. Sometimes I get downright evangelistic about it. Yeah, that’s me, delivering a keynote at the recent Portland Creative Conference in front of about 500 or so folks who didn’t expect to see a fiction writer pounding the podium like a starry-eyed politician stumping for votes. I work myself […]
Writing Voice: Unteachable… Essential…. Elusive. And… Paradoxical.
We are writers. We must compose the songs we sing. We must choreograph the dances we perform. We must design what we ultimately seek to build. We are unique in these things. Composers need not carry a tune. Choreographers need not perform. Screenwriters and directors need not be actors or set designers. Architects need not […]
What You Need to Know about Landing An Agent
As a writer who hasn’t had a new novel out in a few years, people tend to ask me what I’ve been up to lately. As if they assume there’s nothing happening here under the bus. I tell them about Storyfix, and they say, “oh, so you’re writing a blog. But are you working on anything?” […]
And the Nominee for Best Director in a Novel is…
Say what? Last night I was watching some tube (my way to chill, wife by my side, ice cream bar in hand… I should be reading, I know) and I caught back-to-back season premieres on TNT, both with similar set-ups (undercover good guys scamming despicable bad guys). One sucked, the other didn’t. It got me […]
45 Questions Your Story Will Always Force You to Answer
But first… Do you Blog? See my guest post today on www.bloggingtips.com And if you’ve just arrived from there… welcome to Storyfix! Inherent to the process of writing a story is answering a certain set of critical questions. Many are intuitive – like, whodunit?… or, will they or won’t they? – but unless you address […]
“101 Tips” Preview: Tip #79 — Five Moments in Your Story You Must Understand Before You Can Write Something Saleable
If you’ve just arrived from MenWithPens, welcome. If not, check out my guest blog on that terrific writing site, run by a guy I really respect. And now for today’s Story Fix … No matter how you go about writing your novel or screenplay, there are a lot of things you’ll need to know about […]
Raise Your Writing Bar. Then Belly Up.
Check out my guest post today on www.WriteToDone.com. And if you’ve come here from there… welcome! Today’s post is from my new ebook, “101 Slightly Unpredictable Tips for Novelists and Screenwriters.” Coming soon. Like, in a week or so. Tip #28: Raise Your Writing Bar. Then Belly Up. Stories can be like love affairs. In the […]
Why You Need to Break the Writing Process Down
Check out my guest post today on www.WriteToDone.com. And if you’ve come here from there… welcome! I think all teachings about writing are good. Wonderful, in fact. Taken as a whole, the body of knowledge kicking around out there is astounding, and because there are so many views on so many of the variables that […]