Fundamental Fridays

The Importance of Genre: What it Means for Your Story

Fundamental Fridays

Understanding the importance of genre in writing is the key to success. Get it wrong and it will cost us, as writers, a small fortune in book sales and advertising dollars. Get it right, and readers will tell their friends about us. Why? Because genre is all about reader expectations, and if a Story doesn’t… Read more »

Beyond NaNoWriMo: What Do You Do Next?

Fundamental Fridays

Did you just stay up until midnight every day in November to wring out 50,000 (or 20,000 or 80,000) words for your NaNoWriMo project? Or are you almost finished with a first draft of a memoir or family history you’ve been sweating over for years? If you wrestled any such beast even remotely near to… Read more »

How to Hook Readers with a Great Crisis

Fundamental Fridays

A crisis is a decision your protagonist must make. Plain and simple. It answers one of two types of questions: A best bad choice (like the “Would you rather…?” game) Irreconcilable goods (Should I do what is good for me, or for another?). Robert McKee stresses the importance of the Crisis Decision by identifying it… Read more »

Writing Scenes that Work

Fundamental Fridays

As Shawn Coyne always says, stories are about change. There has to be a change in every unit from the global story down to the micro beat. This applies to writing scenes as well. But how do you do that? The short answer is to make sure every unit turns on at least one value… Read more »

Vetting Your Book Idea

Fundamental Fridays

In the epilogue of The Story Grid, Shawn Coyne says: “The problem that bedevils most novice writers (and even some seasoned pros) is that they fall in love with the glamorous aspects of the literary trade–the romance of “the creative process,” the thrill of dashing off chapter after chapter in a white heat of inspiration,… Read more »

How to Practice Storytelling:2 Essential Skills

Fundamental Fridays

In Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers, he proposes that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a skill. If the skill you want to master is writing, what exactly should you do in those 10,000 hours? There are two types of storytelling skills that writers need to practice. We’ll define each of those skills, look… Read more »

Newer Articles >>

Fundamental Fridays

The Importance of Genre: What it Means for Your Story

Fundamental Fridays

Beyond NaNoWriMo: What Do You Do Next?

Fundamental Fridays

How to Hook Readers with a Great Crisis

Fundamental Fridays

Writing Scenes that Work

Fundamental Fridays

Vetting Your Book Idea

Fundamental Fridays

How to Practice Storytelling:2 Essential Skills

Fundamental Fridays

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Fundamental Fridays

Still not finding whatyou're looking for?

The Book

First Time Writer

Resources

Still not finding what
you're looking for?