Forget all the rules. Forget about being published. Write for yourself and celebrate writing.
-- Melinda Haynes
.jpg "Melinda Haynes")
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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Tuesday, August 16, 2022
Forget all the Rules by Melinda Haynes | Writing Quote
Monday, August 15, 2022
Story Alchemy: The Search for the Philosopher's Stone of Storytelling (Author's Craft Book 2) by David Sheppard (Free eBook)
Story Alchemy: The Search for the Philosopher's Stone of Storytelling
(Author's Craft Book 2)
by
David Sheppard
Get your free copy of "Story Alchemy: The Search for the Philosopher's Stone of Storytelling David Sheppard."
Description
Review
David Sheppard's Novelsmithing saved my last novel; his Story Alchemy may well save my work-in-progress. This is the most unusual book on craft I have ever read. My head is popping with new insights on the nature of storytelling, dream and memory, and the blurred line between everyday life and the world of myth. Story Alchemy gives you tools for bringing the stories up from your own psyche. This involves forays through the Iris of Time to meet your narrator, the invasion of your dreams by your characters, and the mental construction of something called a Memory Palace. For all this, the book is surprisingly practical, containing helpful templates for building a theme-based plot, step-by-step meditation techniques designed to deepen understanding of characters, and methods for visualizing scenes while writing them. However, Story Alchemy is not for the faint of heart. It will take you to the threshold of your secret self and challenge you to cross. Only you can decide whether this is a good idea. I have to say: my mind is blown. Katherine Grace Bond, author, The Summer of No RegretsDirector, TeenWrite workshopsWriting Instructor, Sky Valley Education Center
Product Description
Screenwriter? Novelist? Playwright? Write short stories? Story Alchemy presents a powerful new technique for establishing story structure and gaining insight into the entire creative process. If you thought Novelsmithing was good, you'll be blown away by Story Alchemy.
From the Back Cover
David Sheppard's Novelsmithing saved my last novel; his Story Alchemy may well save my work-in-progress. This is the most unusual book on craft I have ever read. My head is popping with new insights on the nature of storytelling, dream and memory, and the blurred line between everyday life and the world of myth. Story Alchemy gives you tools for bringing the stories up from your own psyche. This involves forays through the Iris of Time to meet your narrator, the invasion of your dreams by your characters, and the mental construction of something called a Memory Palace. For all this, the book is surprisingly practical, containing helpful templates for building a theme-based plot, step-by-step meditation techniques designed to deepen understanding of characters, and methods for visualizing scenes while writing them. However, Story Alchemy is not for the faint of heart. It will take you to the threshold of your secret self and challenge you to cross. Only you can decide whether this is a good idea. I have to say: my mind is blown. Katherine Grace Bond, author, The Summer of No RegretsDirector, TeenWrite workshopsWriting Instructor, Sky Valley Education Center
About the Author
David Sheppard is a graduate of Stanford University and an author of both fiction and non-fiction. His poetry has appeared in The Paris Review and in England (The 1987 Arvon International Poetry Competition Anthology judged by Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney). While living in Colorado he was a member of the Rocky Mountain Writers Guild for seven years, participated in its Live Poets Society and Advanced Novel Workshop, and chaired its Literary Society. He founded a novel critique group that lasted ten years. He has attended the Aspen Writers Conference in Colorado and the Sierra Writing Camp in California. He has taught Novel Writing and Greek Mythology at New Mexico State University at Carlsbad in the Continuing Education Department. He has traveled throughout Western Europe and is an amateur photographer and astronomer.
Buy David Sheppard Books at Amazon
Get your free copy of "Story Alchemy: The Search for the Philosopher's Stone of Storytelling David Sheppard."
Sunday, August 14, 2022
Writing Quote: On a Good Editor by Noah Lukeman
On a Good Editor
by
Noah Lukeman
When an editor reads, he is not just reading but breaking sentences into fragments, worrying if the first half should be replaced with the second, if the middle fragment should be switched with the first. The better editors worry if entire sentences should be switched within paragraphs; great editors keep entire paragraphs—even pages—in their head and worry if these might be switched. Truly great editors can keep an entire book in their head and easily ponder the switching of any word to any place. They’ll remember an echo across three hundred pages. If they’re professional, they’ll be able to keep ten such manuscripts in their head at once. And if you’re the writer, and you call them a year later and ask about a detail, even though they’ve read five thousand manuscripts since then, they’ll remember yours without a pause.
Noah Lukeman, The First Five Pages: A Writer's Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile
Free eBooks
- How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman
- The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman
About the Author
The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman (Free eBook)
The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman
Get your free copy of "The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman. "
Description
Review
“One of the best-ever books about the craft of writing. It is a book
that can change the world of every writer who embraces Lukeman’s ideas.
His classroom on paper should be on every writer’s shelf to be read
again and again.” ---Authorlink
“Full
of practical common sense about how to write fiction and [he] answers
many of the difficult questions first novelists ask themselves.”
---Michael Korda, author of Making the List
“Lukeman’s
advice is practical---and often entails multiple, time-consuming
steps---without a hint of the flakiness that creeps into many writing
guides. Though Lukeman works with books, he wisely asserts that the
observations in this volume are applicable to all types of imaginary
writing, from film to poetry. Indeed, it is a worthy addition to any
writer’s reference shelf.” ---Publishers Weekly
“A godsend...The Plot Thickens
is not the type of book you want to check out from the library or
borrow from a friend. It is the type of book you need to purchase so it
can sit on your desk, dog-eared and underlined, worn from years of
overuse.” ---Prairieden.com
"One of the best-ever books about the craft of writing." (Authorlink )
"A highly useful book that is written in an accessible style and filled with valuable examples." (The Writer )
"A written version of the mentor you always wished you could have." (Midwest Book Review )
"The type of book you need to purchase so it can sit on your desk, dog-eared and underlined." (Prarieden.com )
"Lukeman
understands... what makes for excellent, not just bestselling, fiction.
Treat yourself to his superbly written reference guide." (Netauthor.org )
Product Description
As
a literary agent, Noah Lukeman hears thousands of book pitches a year.
Often the stories sound great in concept, but never live up to their
potential on the page. Lukeman shows beginning and advanced writers how
to implement the fundamentals of successful plot development, such as
character building and heightened suspense and conflict. Writers will
find it impossible to walk away from this invaluable guide---a veritable
fiction-writing workshop---without boundless new ideas.
Noah
Lukeman is a New York literary agent whose clients include winners of
the Pulitzer Prize and American Book Award, National Book Award
finalists, Edgar Award finalists, New York Times bestselling authors,
and the faculty of esteemed universities. He has worked as a manager in
Artists Management Group, and is currently president of Lukeman Literary
Management Ltd. He is also author of the bestselling The First Five
Pages, now part of the curriculum in many universities.
“One of
the best-ever books about the craft of writing. It is a book that can
change the world of every writer who embraces Lukeman’s ideas. His
classroom on paper should be on every writer’s shelf to be read again
and again.” ---Authorlink
“Full of practical common sense about
how to write fiction and [he] answers many of the difficult questions
first novelists ask themselves.” ---Michael Korda, author of Making the
List
“Lukeman’s advice is practical---and often entails multiple,
time-consuming steps---without a hint of the flakiness that creeps into
many writing guides. Though Lukeman works with books, he wisely asserts
that the observations in this volume are applicable to all types of
imaginary writing, from film to poetry. Indeed, it is a worthy addition
to any writer’s reference shelf.” ---Publishers Weekly
“A
godsend...The Plot Thickens is not the type of book you want to check
out from the library or borrow from a friend. It is the type of book you
need to purchase so it can sit on your desk, dog-eared and underlined,
worn from years of overuse.” ---Prairieden.com
About the Author
From Publishers Weekly
Lukeman's
second book on writing after 2000's The First Five Pages (a third
volume on dialogue is still to come) discusses the craft of writing
well-plotted fiction. Lukeman, a literary agent, rallies against the
lazy and mundane that cross his desk in the form of 50,000 manuscripts
submitted in the last five years. Initially, at least, he is less
concerned with artfulness than the simple need to make the book
compelling beyond the first few pages. He asserts that the foundation
(and often the first casualty) of a book is character, and accordingly,
Lukeman dedicates the first two chapters to an exhaustive list of
questions a writer should ask about the "outer" and "inner" life of each
character. He encourages a Dr. Frankenstein-like approach to creating
realistic fictional characters: devising them with the intention of
bending them to the writer's own will, but at the same time investing
them with enough life that they are capable of making their own way in
the world and ultimately surprising their creator. A third chapter
called "Applied Characterization" discusses how to use this knowledge to
form a plot. The remaining five chapters cover different aspects of
plotting: "The Journey," "Suspense," "Conflict," "Context" and
"Transcendency." Lukeman's advice is practical and often entails
multiple, time-consuming steps without a hint of the flakiness that
creeps into many writing guides. The closest he ever gets to sounding
like a guru is when he sagely stresses, "Real life is the best teacher."
Though Lukeman works with books, he wisely asserts that the
observations in this volume are applicable to all types of imaginary
writing, from film to poetry. Indeed, it is a worthy addition to any
narrative writer's reference shelf.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In this follow-up to the author's successful First Five Pages
(2000), literary agent Lukeman focuses on the mechanics of
storytelling. He introduces budding writers to the techniques of
characterization (ask yourself questions about the people you've
created), the various ways of generating suspense (danger, a ticking
clock), and the importance of conflict. He writes from experience: he's
read, he tells us, more than 50,000 manuscripts in the past half decade.
Curiously, he mostly uses movies to illustrate his points, on the
assumption that more of his readers will recognize his references that
way. (This premise--that would-be writers won't be familiar with
literary references--may strike some as slightly insulting,
unintentional though it may be.) All in all, though, this is a crisply
written, nicely detailed examination of the art of storytelling.
Beginning writers will find plenty of practical tips and useful advice
in its pages. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Get your free copy of "The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life by Noah Lukeman."
Saturday, August 13, 2022
How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman (Free eBook)
How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman
Get your free copy of "How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman."
Description
"Noah Lukeman, one of the top literary agents in New York, gave writers a great gift."
--James Frey (regarding The Plot Thickens)
"This will certainly help writers of any kind defeat rejection and possibly score."
--Writers.com (regarding The First Five Pages)
Many
books have been written about how to get published. But few have been
written by literary agents, who receive thousands of submissions each
year and who grapple with them on a daily basis. Even fewer have been
written by active literary agents who are willing to write from the
trenches and offer their perspective on why they reject manuscripts, and
why they accept them. And no books have been written from an agent's
perspective on what it's like, step by step, to work with an agent on a
daily basis, and on how to assure that you maintain a long, happy
working relationship with your agent.
How to Land (and Keep) a
Literary Agent is the first book written from an active literary agent's
perspective that teaches authors why agents reject or accept
manuscripts; why they decide to represent certain authors and not
represent others; the best way to approach agents; the best way to work
with an agent on a daily basis; and that offers them dozens of specific
resources to make the difference in their finally finding the perfect
agents for their work.
New York literary agent Noah Lukeman,
President of Lukeman Literary Management Ltd, has represented multiple
New York Times bestsellers, winners of the Pulitzer Prize and American
Book Award, National Book Award Finalists, and has himself written three
critically-acclaimed books on the craft of writing, The First Five Pages, The Plot Thickens, and A Dash of Style. During his last 13 years
as a literary agent he has read thousands of manuscripts and represented
hundreds of book deals, and in this book he shares his insider's
perspective, offers insight and practical tips about what works and what
doesn’t.
How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent is a must-read
for any author serious about getting published. Geared for a broad
range of authors, its subject matter is relevant to authors of fiction
and non-fiction, screenwriters, poets--any serious author--offering
principles that will help lead to success no matter what your craft.
Practical and engaging, filled with exercises, anecdotes and sidebars,
this 200 plus page book takes you on a journey, and will bring you that
much closer to finally landing a literary agent.
How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent includes:
* 10 Reasons Why You Need an Agent
* 9 Steps to Building Your Bio (for Fiction)
* 8 Ways to Build Your Non-Fiction Platform
* 13 Factors to Consider When Evaluating an Agent
* 24 Free Resources for Researching Agents
* 11 Fee-Based Resources for Researching Agents
* The 4 Musts of Submitting
* 4 Keys to Successful Follow Up
* 3 Resources to Protect you from Agent Scams
* 5 Ways an Agent Can Take Advantage of You
* To Use a Book Doctor?
* 7 Ways to Protect Yourself in an Agency Agreement
* To Hire an Attorney?
* What it’s Like to Work With an Agent (a Step-by-Step Timeline)
* A Publication Timeline Chart
* 15 Ways to Assure a Great Relationship With Your Agent
* 6 Reasons to Drop Your Agent
* To Self Publish?
"Lukeman’s
advice is practical—and often entails multiple, time-consuming
steps—without a hint of the flakiness that creeps into many writing
guides."
--Publishers Weekly (regarding The Plot Thickens)
This
100,000 word file includes two additional books written by Mr.
Lukeman--HOW TO WRITE A GREAT QUERY LETTER and ASK A LITERARY AGENT--for
free!
Get your free copy of "How to Land (and Keep) a Literary Agent by Noah Lukeman."
About the Author
Friday, August 12, 2022
Writing Quote: Beginnings and Endings of a Story Sell Your Manuscript by Charles Raymond Barrett
Beginnings and Endings of a Story Sell Your Manuscript
by
Charles Raymond Barrett
If the overworked editor, hastily skimming the heap of MSS. before him, comes upon one which promises well in the opening paragraphs, he will turn to its conclusion, to learn how well the author has kept his promise; and if he finds there equal evidence of a good story, he will put the MS. by for more careful reading and possible purchase. Experience has taught him that the end of a story is second only to the beginning as a practical test of the narrative; and therefore to the author as well the conclusion is of extreme importance.
Except from "Short Story Writing: A Practical Treatise on the Art of the Short Story by Barrett"
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Science Fiction Writers’ Week August 29th and runs until September 2nd 2022
Hey Fellow Writers!
Do you want to write a bestselling science fiction novel?
Then you won’t want to miss what ProWritingAid has in store for you this August!
Our friends at ProWritingAid are excited to announce Science Fiction Writers’ Week, an entire week jam-packed with events specifically designed for Science Fiction writers.
Best part?
The whole week is FREE!
During
Science Fiction Writers’ Week, you’ll attend live sessions with
bestselling authors including Andy Weir and Nghi Vo, as well as software
demos, craft and editing workshops, and networking events to help you
create science fiction that is out of this world!
Science Fiction Writers’ Week kicks off on August 29th and runs until September 2nd. If
you can't make it live, don't worry! All the sessions will be available
via replay, so you can sign up anyway and watch the sessions when it's
convenient.
You can learn more, see all the session names, and register for this free event here.
We hope you check it out, and look forward to seeing you there!
Fiction Writing Tips
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