For more general writing books, see here Structural writing books Jessica Brody: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel Had to mention this one. Save the Cat! started as a book for screenwriters and then years later was re-written to focus on novel writing. What this book does amazingly well is lay out the general ‘beats’…
For this week, I’ll switch it up and list some of the podcasts (here for some writing books) which have helped immensely over the years. We don’t always have time to sit and absorb a book, but podcasts have been integrated into our lives over the last decade, and on a commute or while folding…
As part of my goal to write on this blog more often, I’ll sporadically post the writing resources that have helped me. No doubt, as you march along on your wiring journey, others will suggest books, podcasts, websites, etc, they’ve used or found helpful, and with almost all of these, the common refrain is: Your…
My day job is in the finance/accounting field and Q1 tends towards stressful due to yearend audits, which often lead to a creative desert. These badlands are harsh and full of self inflicted anxiety over wanting to focus on creative endeavors and having little motivation left outside of the 9-5. It’s a horrible place to…
With most long-running shows, characters often diverge from established character arcs to stretch the narrative. While I’ve enjoyed The Handmaid’s Tale with its dystopian themes and horrifying relevance to current societal issues, it also falls into the character arc trap. Think of June’s multiple decisions to stay in Gilead. These read as a need to…
I started this blog a little over a year ago to catalog the trials and tribulations of a writer’s life and the search for a writing process. All the foibles and mistakes made while stumbling around as a newbie writer. But when it came to writing, the content took on a different tone, not for…
A piece of advice floating around the writer community from established authors is to carve out a portion of the internet for yourself. I.e., a website or blog (yes, a blog is technically a website) somewhere you have complete control. Do this so that in the very real and present future, if someone takes control,…
There comes a time in every work in progress, around thirty-three thousand words, might be different for you, where the writing becomes a slog. For most normal novel length manuscripts this is right smack dab in the frothy middle. The roads so bright and clear when the idea was new have run there course. Characters…
In all my previous failed attempts at crafting a novel, my writing style was that of a pantser (one who writes by the seat of their pants) in the truest sense of the word. I didn’t plan any part of the book. From the moment the idea hit I let the words fly. Characters? They’ll come. Setting? Whatever works. Story? It’s on the blank page all I have to do is find it! Where this haphazard methodology led was stalling out when ideas ran dry and leaving the work behind. That is until I learned to use the concept of a roadmap to help give direction to my pantser style.
The process of editing a novel can seem daunting to us amateur authors. After completing my first draft, I took Stephen King’s advice from ‘On Writing’ and put the draft away for six weeks. In the intervening couple of months, I read a couple of writing books and outlined a plan for completing my first revision. As with writing…