The Critical Essence of “Context” Within Your Story
Today I’m going to send you hopping over to The Kill Zone blog, where I have a dense, long, workshop-like post entitled, “How Is Your Table of Context?” It’s a different batting stance as we swing for the fences in our stories. Hope this helps, and that you enjoy the ride. ***** I’d like to […]
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 […]
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 […]
A Deadly – and Perfectly Normal – Rookie Trap That Can Cost You Years on the Learning Curve
Important post today. With an attached tutorial that just might change who you are as a storyteller. Don’t skim this one. Not ironically, that (skimming) is the very thing that can cost you years (or decades, I kid you not) of development time… when it is the craft itself that you are skimming and short-changing. There’s a […]
The Whole “Story Engineering” Enchilada Overview, via 20 PowerPoint Slides
Trying to teach the full enchilada comprehensive overview of the Story Engineering writing mindset in one hour – 50 minutes, to be more accurate – is like trying to equip a teenager for college, marriage and a corporate career during a quick lunch at Applebees. As if one could actually keep the attention of a […]
The Key to Criteria-Driven Story Development
Two Things You Should Know About Your Story… the Earlier the Better Today’s post could easily break down into three or four meaty posts about writing a novel or screenplay that works. I mean, really works. But none of those points are contextually complete without the others, they reside in the writer’s tool box as […]
The “Why?” Behind the Inevitability of Story Structure
I love a good challenge. Almost as much as I disdain a misunderstood debate, the kind in which one party can’t get outside of themselves long enough to see that they’re already arguing for the opposition. Last year I did a post for the Writers Digest website, explaining why (my opinion) “just write” is […]
The Non-Structural Language of Story
Or… How To Get Your Story Written Efficiently and Effectively, Even If Structure Is Not Your Thing. Or maybe… Stop Worrying and Just String Some Pearls Together. Wherein I borrow cutting edge content from frequent Storyfix contributor Art Holcomb (visit his website, as well as the article linked later in this post). He and I […]
The Irrefutable Algebra of Story
Don’t be scared off by the implication of forthcoming mathematics. I know, writers aren’t known for their affection for numbers, but I promise you this particular story problem will be right up your alley. This post is inspired by a recent story coaching client who answered this question — What is the core dramatic arc of your […]
Seven Secret Weapons That Will Make You a Better Novelist
Stay tuned for a couple of Storyfix announcements, presented following today’s content. ****** Most of the time, who makes it and who doesn’t is no accident. We’re all looking for an edge. Sometimes that search confines itself to the realm of story as a definable essence… a better concept, a stronger premise, a firmer […]