Today I got an email from a student who begged me to help her with what she called a “tangled ball of events and scenes” she needed to put together to form a book-length work. What, she asked, was my advice?Writing Tip for Today: If you aren’t writing your book in chronological order, how do […]
Tag Archives: cherry pick scenes
Muse in Absentia? Cherry Pick for a Day
Novel writers will almost certainly hit a wall as they write a first draft. Instead of walking away from the book, or complaining that your Muse has taken an extended vacation, once in a while you might “cherry pick,” or write fun, exciting or tense scenes. I’m only recommending this for occasional use–too much cherry […]
Placeholder Scenes
As you draft your novel, you may decide to skip certain scenes and come back to them later. If you do, a placeholder scene will help you see the story arc more clearly, as well as create a marker that says, “Hey, don’t forget about me.” Caution: If you use these placeholders, resist the temptation […]