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Anti-outline-writers often feel frustrated when it comes to pre-planning a novel, but it’s possible to write your NaNoWriMo novel as a pantster with a little help. As we head into NaNoWriMo season, writers everywhere hear a lot about plot points, beats and storyboards. How about Flash Cards? Writing Tip for Today: Here’s a simple method […]
For novelists, pace, or rate of revelation is one of the more advanced writing skills. Knowing how fast or slow to reveal story information, managing time and choosing the right scenes to dramatize can either pace a novel brilliantly or doom it to an excruciating reader experience. Writing Tip for Today: What are some […]
In my classes I often use well-known movies to illustrate writing techniques, as do many writing coaches. Being a visual society, we are apt to more easily grasp writing skills if we can picture them unfolding on the screen. If you watch movies as a writer, I guarantee you’ll never approach films or your work […]
Last post, we talked about constructing an imaginary clothesline (or a real one, if you wish) on which to hang the events of your story. The clothesline, you’ll recall, functions as the story’s backbone or structural support. Writing Tip for Today: Once you’ve strung your story’s clothesline or story goal, you’ll need to write scenes […]
Reread the last scene you wrote for your novel or memoir. Now summarize “what happens” in the scene to move the story forward. Moving the story means your MC must be somehow moving toward the goal, even if the movement is some type of setback. Is identifying what happens (of consequence) difficult? If so, you […]
A plot point is a critical juncture in a story. Without this event (or scene), the story would stall. I often ask novel writers to identify five major turning points in their stories. It helps you see the necessary forward movement to get your main character closer to the goal.Writing Tip for Today: Here are […]
Show me a writer who enjoys writing a synopsis and I’ll bet that writer either enjoys self-torture or else is dead. We moan and groan over this part of writing, but a decent synopsis is possible, and almost pain-free.Writing Tip for Today: Yes, it’s true that writing a good synopsis often takes several drafts. And […]
A reader asks what a plot point really is. Writing Tip for Today: Plot points in a story describe the event(s) where your main character’s goal, attitude, adversary or situation changes enough to affect the outcome. Turn, Turn Turn. You can think of these plot points (or “pinch” points ala Larry Brooks) in terms of […]