Have You Written Yourself Into a Corner?
Let’s have a little fun today. Maybe at your expense, too. Or maybe at mine if this pisses you off, which it might. There’s a little exercise for you at the end of this post. But first, a little context. Sometimes an idea seems so good at first. We bolt upright at night with it, […]
Infusing your Fiction With Heart and Soul: An Exercise
In the realm of art, including the writing of stories that reach into people’s hearts and minds to leave an indelible mark – or, depending on your genre, perhaps a scar – we are very much alone with our muse. And too often that muse doesn’t know any more about how to pull it off […]
A Guest Post From Deb Caletti: What I Wish I Knew About Getting Published Before It Happened To Me
Deb Caletti is a bestselling Young Adult novelist and National Book Award finalist for her 2004 novel, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart. Her current book, The Secret Life of Prince Charming, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, one of several her work has received. If you’d like to learn more about Deb (there’s much to learn, […]
The Most Powerful Two Hours You’ll Ever Spend as a Storyteller
I’m about to introduce you to the most exhilarating and useful hands-on writing exercise I’ve ever experienced. So effective, in fact, that it’s more a tool than it is a way to limber up the ol’ creative muscles. So which is it? An exercise or a tool? Doesn’t matter. Either way, I urge you – […]
The Author as Hero
So many analogies, so little time. Here on Storyfix I liberally offer analogies about the writing process in an attempt to clarify the critical and often-misunderstood relationships between certain mind-sets and the writing of publishable novels and marketable screenplays. Misunderstood, as in… gee, I’ve read a lot of novels in my day, seen a lot […]
Previews of Coming Storyfix Attractions
Yesterday I ran a post on how to recognize story structure in movie trailers. You can also see it shine through in book jacket copy and, if the reviewer is any good, reviews. I offer that because today’s title might confuse you, at least if you spent any time with yesterday’s post. Because today isn’t […]
How to Learn Story Structure in Two Minutes or Less
Went to a movie yesterday. The new Clooney flick about staring at goats. Not bad, a few grins, but in my view a little over-the-top silly at the end. But that’s not my point today. What happened before the movie is. Because I saw a bunch of previews for upcoming films. And in doing so, […]
Special Offer to Writing/Critique Groups
You may think us blogging/guru types wake up every morning wondering how we can sell more stuff to you. I hope not — that’s pretty cynical — because it’s not true. If we’re doing this right, we wake up every morning wondering how we might deliver something of value. There are theories about that, unique […]
Why Structure ISN’T the First Thing You Should Think About When Planning Your Story
All this talk about story structure… it’s easy to get the wrong idea. Because in the sequence of revelations and midnight ah-hahs and pure flashes of genius that come with the territory of writing a novel or screenplay, structure doesn’t come first. It doesn’t even come second. But eventually it must come. Or the campaign […]
“How to Write a Great Novel” – Why the Wall Street Journal Got it Wrong
I gotta admit, this pisses me off. And if you buy into the first half of that headline, it should piss you off, too. Because somebody’s gonna read last Fridays’ Wall Street Journal article entitled, “How to Write A Great Novel,” and they’ll to go back to their stories and emulate the supposed strategies of the […]