Pitch Perfect
A new coaching/evaluation service from Storyfix. I’ve been a little scarce here lately, my apologies. I’ve just returned from a wonderful writing conference in Denver, with the Historical Novel Society. I taught two sessions amounting to an all day experience, and had a blast with 150 new friends and fellow writers who were as […]
The Three Stages of the Novel-Writing Journey
One writer’s journey from dream to publication, with all the lessons and setbacks and turnarounds that dot the broken road we travel. A guest post by Jennifer Blanchard Let me guess, you dream of publishing a novel; of your book reaching bestseller status and having raving fans. You dream of being able to […]
Let’s Talk About Dialogue
A guest post by Art Holcomb. Here is a truth about human beings . . . Before there was writing, there was talking. Dialogue is the most trusted and most human aspect of story. Sure, we love the action and the conflict, but what we seek in a story in order to make it […]
You Can Master Classic Story Structure… A Guest Post by Jerry B. Jenkins
Yes, THAT Jerry B. Jenkins. Author of 21 NY Times bestsellers. Over 70 million copies sold. Co-Author of the iconic Left Behind series. This is as high on the A-list as it gets. When a guy like Jerry B. Jenkins talks, we should sit up straight and listen. Take notes. Memorize. This post was written […]
Confessions of a Learning Curve Climber
A guest post by Stephanie Raffelock… about a “steaming mass of poop.” Larry Brooks made me cry. An ego bruising, embarrassing cry. He did it by asking a simple question: What is the dramatic goal of your hero? I answered every question he put forth in that scary, unflinching Questionnaire he uses in his […]
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 […]
A Case Study in Near-Perfect Concept-Premise Integration
Plus, some Storyfix.com updates on coaching and a few new ebooks. Submitting your work for evaluation and coaching can feel like a daunting experience. Sometimes things don’t work as well as you thought, or hoped, and the feedback feels more like backpeddling than the forward-energizing catalyst that it really is. And then there are […]
“The Situation” – True Dramatic Arc vs. Static Situational Narrative
A Case Study in One Dimensional Storytelling There is a saboteur lurking in your writing dream, wearing a mask of perfect acceptability. This killer is seductive, because at a glance he fits right in with your other writing guests, commiserating and kibitzing about the “nature of story” in a way that seems so… normal […]
Empowering the CORE of Your Story
Introducing a new level of affordable Story Coaching… and why you should take a look. You don’t have to spend a couple grand to get your story professionally evaluated and coached. There’s another way to get there, and it’s every bit as thorough and effective at the story level as a full manuscript review… for […]
Case Study: When Your Premise is as Vague as a Campaign Promise
When you think about it, the story concepts and premises we pitch – and just as often, the story concepts and premises we write from – are nothing other than promises. We pitch a story concept and an ensuing premise to an agent with hope that they’ll want to read more. By implication, by virtue […]