Dedicated to the classic books on fiction writing. Learn to write short stories, novels, and plays by studying the classic how-to books. I believe fiction writing is a Craft. In the hands of a writer who has mastered the Craft, it can become more than that. It can become Art. Art = Talent + Craft But the bedrock is Craft. There are fundamental techniques to be studied, unfamiliar tools to be mastered, tricks of the trade to be learned. And it all takes time. (Writing Mastery) (Writing Craft)
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The art of the short story
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The novel is a quagmire for young writers
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Short stories are a sliver of a novel
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Short stories can balloon into novels
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Three stories in Just After Sunset that are novel-length
In the first two weeks of the Fall semester, California State University, Northridge screenwriting professor Eric Edson presents PowerPoint lessons to the entering first year grad MFA class. He begins with the Hero Goal Sequences story structure paradigm. Here is an inside look at the full first class of the lecture.
0:00 - Great Movies Have These 3 Essential Story Elements
13:53 - Writing Can't Be Taught
26:29 - If I Don't Write I Don't Feel Good
34:28 - How To Find The Emotional Spine In A Screenplay
45:05 - Theme Comes Last In The Writing Process
55:20 - 11 Step Story Structure Made Easy
1:09:27 - Story Structure Is A Form Not A Formula
1:21:00 - A Writer's Job Is To Create Questions, Not Give Answers
1:29:58 - How To Figure Out What A Character Wants
Writing Coach, Teacher, Mentor and Screenwriter Pat Verducci teaches two Advanced Screenwriting courses at UCLA TFT. She has written scripts for Touchstone Pictures, Witt-Thomas Productions, and Walt Disney Animation Studios. She has also worked as a story consultant for Disney/Pixar. She wrote and directed the feature film True Crime, starring Alicia Silverstone, and her writing credits also include documentary shorts for HBO and Showtime. She co-produced Somewhere Between, a feature documentary about four teenaged girls transracially adopted from China, and served as a story consultant on the Tinkerbell franchise for Disney. She is currently the script editor on several feature film projects for Film Victoria and Screen Australia, and is writing Citizen Bella, a documentary on the life of modern dancer Bella Lewitzky. Verducci serves as a mentor at Cinestory and the Meryl Streep funded IRIS/New York Women in Film and Television’s Writer’s Lab for Women. She’s a member of the Writers Guild of America.
Stephen King On Writing interview collection of Screenwriting Lessons with George Rr Martin and others. Many of his short stories and books were adapted into movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, It, The Stand, The Shining, Carrie, Misery, Stand by Me, Pet Sematary,...
0:00 - Intro
0:40 - If you don’t succeed get a bigger nail
1:28 - Write 6 pages a day
3:12 - Go where the story leads you
5:08 - The good ideas will stay with you
6:17 - First you read and copy other writers, then little by little you develop your own style
7:02 - Writing is self hypnosis, you need to have a routine
7:25 - Start with short stories and let them develop into novels or screenplays
8:27 - Learn to write for different mediums
10:27 - Look for ideas that you would really enjoy writing for longer periods
11:11 - Get immersed in your writing process until the outside world is gone
12:35 - Outro
Beginnings, they're hard! How do you land a first page? First line? First act? What are some of the common pitfalls in book beginnings, things to watch and avoid?
I'm going over all the things to consider at the start of your book. Many agents, editors, and readers will only give you a page or two before they give up--so you want to make sure you hook them, keep your pacing up, nail that inciting incident, and get them into act two.
Some things I'm covering include first lines (do they matter?), first pages, starting in the right place, inciting incidents, info dumping, exposition issues, character development, plot beats, worldbuilding and more!
TIMESTAMPS
01:38 Starting in the right place
04:41 Exposition pitfalls
07:07 Info dumping & trusting your reader
09:14 Getting readers to care about your character/world
12:24 Inciting incidents
15:57 Examples of inciting incidents
17:31 Decision point/break into two
18:49 First impressions
20:18 Delivering on the promise of your premise/first pages
23:14 First lines (with examples)
Who is telling a story, and from what perspective, are some of the most important choices an author makes. Told from a different point of view, a story can transform completely. Third person, first person, and second person perspectives each have unique possibilities and constraints. So how do you choose a point of view for your story? Rebekah Bergman explores the different ways to focus a story.
The point of fiction is to cast a spell, a momentary illusion that you are living in the world of the story. But as a writer, how do you suck your readers into your stories in this way? Nalo Hopkinson shares some tips for how to use language to make your fiction really come alive.
“It’s not what you say; it’s what you don’t say.”
Subtext involves the hidden feelings beneath spoken words—anger, love, mistrust—all the emotions characters don’t dare admit aloud. It can add sizzle to drab dialogue and make the speakers sound like real people. If you’ve ever been told your conversation scenes feel “too on the nose,” this video is for you.
What Is Subtext? (0:00)
Body Language (1:05)
Secondary Emotion (3:51)
Sugarcoating (5:37)
Implied Accusation (7:51)
Passive Agressiveness (9:27)
Why We Use Subtext (11:55)
Writing Exercise (13:16)
Scenes are the building blocks of stories. Every scene in a novel contributes to the story in some way, whether through characterization, atmosphere, or plot progression. In examining the anatomy of a scene, we’ll start with the big-picture skeleton, then dive into the essential organs, and end with the skin—the outward appearance of the writing itself.
Introduction (0:00)
Skeleton (0:28)
Essential Organs (3:40)
Skin (6:57)
Overview & Writing Exercise (9:11)
