I always enjoy presenting at the Life, the Universe and Everything writers conference. This year they asked me to present the following. The 3 Little Secrets that Make Plotting So Much Easier No, the secrets don’t have anything to do with the hero’s journey; 3, 7, 8, or 9 acts; Lester Dent; or cat-saving beats. An average novel
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People go to movies, watch TV, and read novels because they enjoy having a certain type of experience. They enjoy it so much that they are willing to pay for it, again and again and again. Our job as writers is to create a narrative that evokes this desired experience in the reader. Yes, we
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In part one, we talked about the story problem and its central role in reader suspense. We also talked about a man scratching his bum. In part two, we discussed the three character factors that are critical for reader suspsense and how they also help make a character rock. (For those of you just starting
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I saw this today and thought of the assignments I give in my workshops. Look at what this hugely popular writer did to learn and focus her craft: Knew what she liked and followed HER passions (she knew what rocked her). Took 4 books she loved and broke them down to look for patterns she could
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My first four professionally published short stories were all love stories of one kind or another. I love good love stories. And so when the Writing Excuses team podcasted about this topic with Dave Wolverton, I was excited to hear what they had to say. Of course, they didn’t dissappoint. However, I would like to
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