Story Structure As a Critical Foundation of Your Novel – A Video Mini-Workshop
I was working on the second of the five video training workshops that will comprise the launch of my new Story Virtual Classroom venue (this one entitled “Ten Surefire Ways to Screw Up Your Novel“), and after recording and integrating this I decided to publish it here as a sort of sneak peek at the […]
A Free 3-Minute Video Workshop… On Turning Your Story “Idea” into a Viable Story “Premise
I just found this on Youtube. Didn’t know it was there. It was shot by my friend Mindy Halleck at the 2013 Willamette Writers Conference. (Check out her award-winning novel, Return to Sender, here.) I offer it today for three reasons. First… this is Storyfix, the entire mission here being to deliver tools and wisdom […]
Writing In A Corset
To be clear, I never said or did that – the corset thing – nor would I. But I would quote it – am doing that now – from an unhappy review for my book, “Story Engineering.” I’m not in the habit of quoting bad reviews, but this one tees up today’s rant, which focuses […]
Art Holcomb on Writer’s Block
A quick overview from your Storyfix host, and then, an opportunity to listen in via teleseminar as Art delivers an effective and perspective and an empowering solution to writer’s block. Art’s teleseminars are career-changing events, by the way. Life changing, even. This will his fifth so far, all of them worth every cent and every minute […]
Help Reinvent Storyfix 3.0
Let’s work together… help me help you make your stories great. Many of you reading Storyfix have been with me here for years. I’ve gotten to know some of you personally, which is one of the best things about doing this work. Hopefully, those of you who are new have discovered the depth and nature […]
Learn One of the Most Important Aspects of Storytelling Craft… from Movie Trailers
As some of you know, I contribute (every other Monday) to the well-known writing blog The Kill Zone. In doing so, I find myself having to differentiate what I write there, versus here. It breaks down like this: because I’ve written nearly 1000 posts here at Storyfix (and in my three writing books) that focus […]
Engineered for Success
A guest post from Bryan Wiggins How Larry Brooks Helped Lead Me to My Path to Publication I don’t remember what classroom I sat in, or which teacher was my guide, but one day as I scratched away in my composition notebook at my tiny wooden desk in Green Tree Elementary School, I picked up […]
Conquering the “Wisdom Gap”
Knowledge is understanding that a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable. Wisdom is knowing not to put a tomato in a fruit salad. Maybe you’ve been at this a while. You’ve read all the books and blogs, you know… … the difference between a concept and a premise… … you know that good […]
Art Holcomb Wants to Talk To You
A personal message… and a massive Storyfix-only discount on one of the best learning opportunities I’ve ever seen. You know Art. He’s a regular contributor here, and one of the most respected storytelling mentors in the business. (Use the search function to the right, just put in his name and you’ll get a list of […]
In Defense of Slow, Thoughtful Writing
A guest post by Stephanie Raffelock The other day I saw something on my Facebook feed that read, “Write Your Book Faster With Half the Effort.” In a world than demands instant gratification and a “winning” strategy, I understand the marketing behind the promise. But that doesn’t make it a good idea. Writing faster doesn’t […]