Seven months. 128 posts. Well over 100 unaccounted for typos. One joke. 22 guest blogs. One commenter who called me a prick. Over 1200 new friends who allow me into their inbox every morning.
Two ebooks. A major publishing contract with Writers Digest Books for The Six Core Competencies of Successful Storytelling. A new novel that wasn’t the child of this blog, but you’ll see me write about it more when it comes out in March, because it allows me to practice what I preach.
The teacher is transitory, but the student is eternal.
Damn, what a ride. I had no idea what I was getting into.
Thank you for sharing it with me. My goal is to make Storyfix the best fiction writing site on the internet in 2010. My commitment is to do what it takes to make that happen. And that’s a win-win for us all.
The Top Ten Storyfix Posts of 2009
10. Get Published, Part 6 — Avoiding the Common Pitfalls
9. The Most Powerful Two Hours You’ll Ever Spend As a Storyteller
8. The Writing Tip That Changed My Life
7. A Holiday Gift For Writers With A Dream
6. The Twins: An Ode To Dangling Body Parts
This has absolutely nothing to do with writing, but it is one of my favorites. The client decided it wasn’t right for his website, so I decided to put it on mine.
5. And The Nominee For Best Director In a Novel Is…
I reference films and screenwriting a lot here on Storyfix. Here’s why.
4. Story Structure Series #4 — The Most Important Moment In Your Story: The First Plot Point
3. A guest post by James N. Frey, author of How to Write a Damn Good Novel, entited Who You Are and Who You Ain’t
Readers went crazy for this one. It’s too long for a traditional post, so I carried it over onto its own page. Read this, you’ll see why.
2. Introducing the Six Core Competencis of Successful Storytelling
The centerpiece of everything I do. Both as a writing instructor and as a fiction writer.
And the #1 Storyfix post of 2009 is…
1. The Single Most Powerful Writing Tool You’ll Ever See That Fits On One Page
‘Nuff said.
Favorite Guest Posts I’ve Written For Other Sites
Copyblogger.com — Why Content Is No Longer King, and Who Is Taking His Place
Brian and Sonia just named this to their “Best Blogs of 2009” list, so it’s not just me.
Men With Pens — Did You Reach YourNaNoWriMo Goal?
Even though the byline says otherwise (a tech error, corrected in the comments), this baby is mine, one of six guest posts that have appeared on this great site (still waiting on his promised guest post here… right James?). James and I are putting together a co-ventured ebook on the writing mindset, so look for that in Q1 of 2010.
Write To Done — two favs here: The Art vs. Craft Gap – A Writer’s Paradox… and SOLVED: The Outlining vs. Organic Writing Debate
For a good time, read the comment thread on that second one… wherein I am enthusiastically labeled a “prick” by one very organic and confused writer. I have another killer post in the batters box at this site, about which I’ll let you know. And FYI, I am not a prick.
This post is also being run, beginning today (12-31-09), on the Createspace.com website.
Problogger.net — The Storytellers Tale: How A Fiction Mindset Will Empower Your Blog
Hugely successful bloggers like Darren are beseiged with guest pitches. So when mine went unanswered I called him out in another guest blog, and the guy did the class thing — he apologized and invited me to submit a piece. Which he loved, thankfully. Hoping his 134,000 daily readers did, too.
Bloggingtips.com — Better Blogging Through Self-Flagellation
I have a regular Friday gig on this site, and have about 12 posts in their archives. The last one sort of made me giggle, so here it is.
Romance Writers of America — Rewording the Conventional Wisdom About Structuring a Romance Novel
Always fun to find an entirely new audience hungry for fresh information. These folks gobbled up my Six Core Competencies model with all the passion you’d expect from folks who write about, well, passion.
Starting this weekend here on Storyfix we return to finish up the Get Your Bad Self Published Series, with entry #8: Keeping The Bar As High As It Needs To Be.
(Quick legal note: I am an Amazon.com affiliate. See if you can discover the link in this post that requires me to tell you that, lest some suit show up at my door with a grin and a summons.)
7 Responses
larry this is awesome, just need a little time to get my ass in gear. i’ll be there!
Good. Found some more great stuff. Everything just fits together.
Like auto racing — your car has to meet the requirements (structure, etc,. and other core competencies), but it’s the driver drives it to the win.
Now, give us some hint on the release date of Six Core Competencies.
I’ve only been around a short while and man, you just know how to write! Your posts are one of the very few I look forward to seeing in my inbox!
You’ve inspired me to think maybe I can …. Keep up the great work and all the best in the New Year!
Larry, this is the first blog I’ve ever followed with such fervour – pouncing on every “jaw-dropping post”. I’m sure you have a lot more than 1240 followers – does the meter count the RSS feeds as well?
Thank you for doing this in 2009 and congratulations on your other amazing achievements as well. 2010 looks bright for you and for all of us that read you.
Hey Larry,
Just wanted to say Wow – what a year 🙂
Thanks for all you’ve done and continue to do. I know that
my writing has changed for the better as a result of this blog.
Congrats on all you’ve accomplished in 2009 and best wishes for 2010.
I’ve been checking in for just a couple of weeks now, and have loved every.single.post. Thank you for the exceptional insight.
Watching your journey has been a wild ride (and yes, I saw Larry being called a prick real time, priceless!).
Thanks for all you have created here, Larry. I’ve savored every post. Here’s to 2010!