A Free Reading Guide to Use with ‘Story Engineering’
A guest post by Jennifer Blanchard (Quick pre-read note from Larry — Jennifer Blanchard represents the best possible outcome for me as a writing teacher, blogger and author. She’s someone who had looked for clarity for many years relative to how to write a novel – really write a novel – and when she found […]
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 […]
Art Holcomb on… The Nature of Talent
A guest post by Art Holcomb Let me tell you a story . . . I had my first public success as a writer when I was 13. I wrote a play as part of a six grade class competition that — against all conceivable odds — went on to be professionally produced at a […]
Part 7… of a 101-level Series on the Basics of Story
How to “Pinch” Your Story for Greater Dramatic Effectiveness Register now for a FREE tele-seminar on March 16, on Story Structure.\ Details await at the end of today’s post on Pinch Points. (As an introductory tutorial, go HERE to read my guest post on Writetodone.com on basic story engineering. But please come back to learn […]
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 […]
“Eating Bull” – An Interview with Author Carrie Rubin
This interview came in waves. First, I love the title of Carrie Rubin’s latest novel, “Eating Bull.” Titles do a lot of the lifting in terms of attracting readers, and this one really drew me in. Then I met the writer online after another Storyfix reader alerted me to a post on Carrie’s website, in which […]
Writers… Ever Been on the Verge of Quitting?
If so – and you aren’t alone – read this guest post from story coach Jennifer Blanchard. The first time I sent my Story Coach, Larry Brooks, a story plan for him to analyze, I thought I’d nailed it. I was waiting to receive his email saying I had a great story and my genre would […]
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, […]