A Simple Novel Outline – 9 questions for 25 chapters « H.E. Roulo Just as every tree is different but still recognizably a tree, every story is different but contains elements that make it a story. By defining those before you begin you clarify the scope of your work, identify your themes, and create the story you meant to write. At Norwescon 2011 I sat in on a session called Outline Your Novel in 90-minutes led by Mark Teppo. I’ll give you the brief, readable, synthesized version. Here are the 9 questions to create a novel: 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.) Now, with those 9 questions answered to your satisfaction, try to fill in a 25 chapter, 75,000 word outline. Chapters 7-18 are the middle of your book. Chapters 19-25 depict the heroic act to victory. Wasn’t that easy? Okay, sure, the work isn’t done yet. Using the idea that there are 25 chapters, I outlined my current work in progress. I hope that was helpful. Tell me what works for you. Related 6 Steps to Masterful Writing Critiques June 7, 2013 In "Writing Tips" Writers love to write. In "News"
How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method Writing a novel is easy. Writing a good novel is hard. That’s just life. Frankly, there are a thousand different people out there who can tell you how to write a novel. In this article, I’d like to share with you what works for me. This page is the most popular one on my web site, and gets over a thousand page views per day, so you can guess that a lot of people find it useful. Good fiction doesn’t just happen, it is designed. For a number of years, I was a software architect designing large software projects. I claim that that’s how you design a novel — you start small, then build stuff up until it looks like a story. If you’re like most people, you spend a long time thinking about your novel before you ever start writing. But before you start writing, you need to get organized. Step 1) Take an hour and write a one-sentence summary of your novel. When you later write your book proposal, this sentence should appear very early in the proposal. Some hints on what makes a good sentence:
A story in three acts » Jordan McCollum The most basic story structure is the story in three acts. The three act structure has been used since . . . well, forever, but in recent history, the biggest proponent of this structure is Syd Field in his book Screenplay (although it’s been applied to all kinds of stories, not just movies). So what are the structures in the three-act story? Act I is the “setup,” where we lay our scene (and our characters). That isn’t to say there’s no conflict here, nor that there’s nothing happening. Act I is about 25% of the story, and ends in the first turning point. Act II is the “confrontation” or the “rising action.” In the second act, which lasts for about half of the book, the hero(ine) learns and acquires new skills through these confrontations, arming themselves for the big confrontation at the end of this act/the beginning of Act III: the climax or second turning point. Act III is the “resolution.” Sometimes this also includes the hero(ine) coping with his/her newfound strength.
10 Tips for Writing Loglines Loglines are tricky things – distilling 120 pages of script into one sentence and imbuing it with the power to summarise, titillate and intrigue is a surprisingly difficult task. As a writer it can be hard to develop a good logline because you are invested equally in each part of your work – identifying the crucial story elements and leaving everything else out feels like you aren’t doing your script justice. But remember, a good logline is crucial to selling your script; in a covering letter, in a pitch, in the 30 second window you have with an executive when you accidentally meet on the Great Wall of China. That being the case it is vital that you develop a good logline for your magnum opus, something with sizzle and pop, but also, crucially, something that tells the audience what the script is about. The difference between a logline and a tagline A tagline is a piece of marketing copy designed to go on posters to sell the film - In space no one can hear you scream (Alien) 1. 2. 3. 4.
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Fundamentals of Fiction: Avoid Those Beginners' Blunders by Marg Gilks "Writing is easy; all you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until the drops of blood form on your forehead." -- Gene Fowler You've written a great story, sent it out again and again, but it keeps being rejected. Why? What are some of the writing blunders you may be committing that set red "amateur" flags waving for agents and publishers -- and invariably earn your story a rejection slip? They're Only Empty Words Blonde bombshell, guns blazing, go the extra mile, passed with flying colors, under cover of darkness. Like cliches, empty modifiers like adjectives and adverbs are the sign of weak writing, produced by a writer without the imagination or the skill needed to create evocative descriptions that add depth to the story. Used in place of more vivid language, adverbs and adjectives are just as commonplace as cliches. "Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader -- not the fact that it is raining, but the feeling of being rained upon," said E.L.
The New World of Publishing: Stop Submitting Manuscripts to Traditional Publishers | (Warning!!! I am talking about novels only here, NOT short fiction… The short fiction markets play under other rules and are fine. The top magazines and anthologies don’t buy all rights or hold your rights forever. For example, at Fiction River, we ask for only a two month exclusive from the time of publication. Some of the Dell magazines ask for six months up to a year. David Farland did a balanced post on the question of when to be an indie writer or when to sell to traditional publishing. Dave broke apart the idea that some genres are better than others for indie publishing. And if you are at the level of David Farland or any of the other writers he mentioned (all friends of mine as well), you have clout to negotiate a novel contract to get out of some of the horrid stuff publishers are putting in smaller-book contracts. But most writers these days don’t have that kind of clout. And almost no new writer does. Just to be clear… Agents? Period.
Harry Potter - Chapter by Chapter & The Harry Potter Companion The following books are still to come; check our updates page for the scoop on what’s happening now! The Tales of Beedle the Bard Like this: Like Loading... Fundamentals of Fiction: Being Realistic by Marg Gilks "I am always interested in why young people become writers, and from talking with many I have concluded that most do not want to be writers working eight and ten hours a day and accomplishing little; they want to have been writers, garnering the rewards of having completed a best-seller. They aspire to the rewards of writing but not to the travail." -- James A. Michener I sent the first story I ever wrote for paid publication to Asimov's Science Fiction. I had a lot to learn. My story was rejected, of course. Be Humble I know this is a hard concept for a beginning fiction writer to grasp, because I was once a beginning fiction writer, and I thought my stories were just as good as the ones I read in the pro magazines, too. "About three years ago," said author Amy Sterling Casil in 1997, "I went to my first SF convention and was shocked to hear Harry Turtledove say he'd written about a million words before he published his first novel. Don't Be in a Hurry Don't Quit Your Day Job
The Muse: The Goddesses of Creativity and Fresh Ideas Tragedy is one of the Nine Muses by Gustave Moreau What's a Muse? In Greek mythology, the muses were goddesses of artistic inspiration. Many writers speak of spending time with their muses while they're writing in a state of " flow ," or say that the muse has refused to visit when they have writer's block. Choose Your Muse We have several muses fluttering around to help you. Story Starters - One keeps a variety of on hand. Visual Prompts - One has to help you come up with new ideas and worlds. Writer's Block - One will help you understand and . Madness - And one will connect you with links to .
Creating Villains People Love to Hate by Lee Masterson Every story has to have a bad guy. There wouldn't be much conflict for your protagonist to overcome if there was no antagonist to stir the pot. Yours might be the evil villain who opposes everything your hero (or heroine) does. He might be the treacherous double-agent from the past, or the psychotic evil scientist, or maybe just the "other woman" fighting for your hero's attention. Whoever your villain is, making sure he is believable is far more difficult than simply creating a character who does bad things to hold up your protagonist's progress. You job here is to make your villains credible, logical, and believable, but not likeable. But it's more involved than just explaining their adverse actions. Basically, you need your villains to be real, three-dimensional people. Unfortunately most "bad guys" are shown as being shallow, narrow-minded creatures whose only ambition is to be as evil as possible. Your villain is no different. How Not to Create a Villain, by Anne Marble
Worksheets for Writers The writing community is fortunate to have many great resources. Based on things I learned from phenomenal teachers like Larry Brooks, Michael Hauge, and Martha Alderson, I developed these worksheets* to help all writers, from plotters to pantsers (those who write by the seat of their pants). Let me know at my Contact page if there are other worksheets you’d like me to create. Sign up for my newsletter to receive my blog posts and hear about all additions I make to this page.12K+ Scroll down to see all my worksheets, or click to jump to the one you want… Story Arc Beat Sheets Writing Craft Worksheets Publishing Process Worksheets * With the exception of the Save the Cat Beat Sheet, which was developed by Elizabeth Davis, all worksheets were created by Jami Gold. New to Beat Sheets? Need examples? Note: I love sharing these worksheets, but if you give others the direct links to the files, the links won’t work. Want to Thank Me for These Worksheets? (Click each image to view larger version.)
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Creative Writing 101 RJ Great article. Morning is definitely the time where I am most creative. I think it’s because my mind is the freshest and the least cluttered at this time of day. Doug Rosbury When I write, it is with an emphasis on the sharing of wisdom arising from my life experience. Wether one could reasonably term such writing as being creative or not I don’t necessarily concern myself with. The creative aspect which I believe is part of a writing nevertheless may be found in how I address people with careful consideration regarding how I may come across to them.