Writing used to be almost completely instinctual for me. If you ever read the first draft of my first completed novel, you would see that pretty plainly. It’s pure kitchen-sink plotting: Every time the story slowed down, I threw in another attack or explosion, and made sense of them later. Years later when I wrote […]
Why I Needed Fast Draft Like A Glass of Water on a Ship in the Pacific Read More »
It should probably go without saying that below are SPOILERS FOR AVENGERS THAT AWESOME MOVIE IN THEATERS NOW. You’ve been warned. ≈≈:=> § <=:≈≈ ≈≈:=> § <=:≈≈ ≈≈:=> § <=:≈≈ That’s called a spoiler space, y’all…sure you want to go on?
Avengers, Beat by Beat Read More »
I follow @smoulderingsea on Twitter, and every once in a while he tosses out some sharp, smart #editortips. A recent one went something like “if it doesn’t have anything to do with your story, it doesn’t matter how you love it. Take it out.” My response to this has traditionally been a whine of “it all
Know Which Darlings to Kill Read More »
Editing Joss is not as much fun as writing him was, but it’s still been pretty fun. (I’m getting back to that tonight, I swear!) I’m using Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet among other tools to figure out what’s missing that needs to be in the book, or what is there that shouldn’t be. It’s not
Using the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Read More »
Lots of people will tell you what not to do. Don’t start with your character waking up, for instance. Agents and editors have seen this so many times, and apparently are intensely weary of it. Starting with back-story is out, starting with description is dulls-ville, starting with a prologue is usually a bad plan, dialogue can be tricky, for heaven’s sake don’t start with a dream…what’s left?
Taming the Dreaded First Scene Read More »
Recently I raved here about Save the Cat! Some friends wanted to hear more, so I thought I’d break down possibly the most valuable page in any writing book I own–with the clear caution that this alone isn’t enough (unless you are far better at taking a thought and running with it than I am.)
Save the Cat!: The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet (the BS2) Read More »
Pardon me while I try to plow through my library books. I do not like to return them unread, and I do not like to upset my librarians by keeping them overlong. So. No Plot? No Problem: A Low-Stress, High Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days is NaNoWriMo founder Chris Baty’s…well, guide
No Plot? No Problem! Read More »