Writing A Publishable Novel: What “Finally Getting It” Really Means
Three Things You Must “Get” Before You Really Get It Writing a great story can be so easy to mess up. Take one thing for granted, miss one step or fail to nail one necessary dramatic essence, and the story will likely be stillborn. Sure, it looks easy enough when you sit down with the […]
Is Your Story Worth Saving?
Of course it is. It’s yours. Nobody can nor should they tell you it’s not worth the time to try to save it. But when it isn’t ready to come out into the light, when it doesn’t really have a shot as is — because on this website and in my story evaluations, this is […]
Case Study: Staying in the Conceptual “Lane”
Here’s a good little case study, taken from my supposedly short (this turned out to be over 8 pages of feedback) $50 Conceptual Kick-Start analysis service. As usual, props to the courageous writer who consented to share this. Actually, she was delighted and enthusiastic when she found out there was a clear direction to take […]
ARCHETYPES: Empowering Source-Driven Characters and Plots
A guest post by Robert Jones. You are invited to comment and engage, you’ll find Robert to be responsive, supportive and a wealth of clarifying mental modeling across the vast universe of fiction writing. Archetypes have a universal power that, when tapped effectively, is proven to generate best-selling novels and films. The right combination […]
The Bermuda Triangle of Storytelling
Don’t Let It Sink Your Story Before It Leaves the Harbor “Idea” is one of the most dangerous words in storytelling. Every story begins with one, in some form… so what’s so dangerous about that, you ask? Ideas are wonderful things, right? In the most obvious conversational context, “idea” is a generic term for a […]
The Key to Making Your Historical Novel Publishable
It is some combination of confusing, intimidating and challenging to hear that the very thing that brings a story to life can also – too often, in fact – be the thing that kills it. This is especially true in the historical genre, as well as science fiction and fantasy. It’s like salt in a […]
Novelists: Hatch a Stronger Story Idea in 2014
Three Ways to Discover Something New and Exciting But first… For the past couple of weeks we’ve been inundated with “best of” lists for 2013 books and movies. On the latter front, several movies scored well across the board, including a few #1 rankings each for Frances Ha and Inside Llewyn Davis. Before I lean […]
Another Take on The Most Critical Thing You Need to Know about Writing a Novel
You’ve read this here before, and it bears repeating because the entire enchilada of effective storytelling is embraced in these few lines: A great novel is not just ABOUT something… a theme, a time, a setting, a situation, or even a character. That’s a great start, but it’s rarely a great novel if that’s the […]
Confessions of a Story Fixee
Not long ago I wrote an article entitled Confessions of a Story Coach, which appeared on the Writers Digest website (September 4th), and more recently, right here until Google’s clear-as-mud ranking rules forced me to take it down. I thought it might be helpful for those on the fence, and moreover, those who have a […]
Elevate Your Storytelling Game
A Few Thoughts To Help You Make Your Story Better Out of the Gate (Which Is Your Head) But first… you are invited to read an interview running on Authornomics… with me. There’s some value there, in that it illuminates the sometimes long and winding road that becomes the path to publication. In my case, […]