Fundamental Fridays

Considering Perspective: How to Choose Your POV

Fundamental Fridays

Once I connected the parable of the blind men and an elephant to writing advice, my life became a lot easier. This cautionary tale from the Indian Subcontinent features several blind men reporting on what an elephant feels like to them. Of course, they each inspect and therefore describe a different part of the elephant…. Read more »

Look in the Mirror: 10 Principles for Authors

Fundamental Fridays

Look in the mirror. What do you see? Right now? There’s a fit person inside every out-of-shape person. I’ll do one better; there’s an athlete inside every couch potato. When I’m at the gym, I can push harder and farther if I lift weights in front of a mirror, because I’m actually looking at Strong… Read more »

What to Expect from a Story Grid Developmental Edit

Fundamental Fridays

“The Story Grid is a tool, a method to check your work or to inspire a work. […] The Story Grid can make you learn a great deal about why you’ve written your Story in the first place. And that knowledge will be indispensable to making your work better. Not just a little bit,… Read more »

Consider the Source: Elements of Point of View and Narrative Device

Fundamental Fridays

Point of view (POV) isn’t the most scintillating of writing subjects. On the surface POV appears to be about pronoun (first or third person) and verb tense choices (past or present), but it must be more than that because it’s the subject of the third of the Editor’s Six Core Questions. While diving into… Read more »

Value Shift 101

Fundamental Fridays

Value Shift is one of the most challenging parts of Story Grid theory to understand because it speaks to the very heart of story and human nature. That makes it also one of the most crucial aspects to master. Without it, your story isn’t about anything, your reader won’t become engaged and you will have… Read more »

Internal Genres Part 3: Conventions and Obligatory Scenes

Fundamental Fridays

The Long Way Round Over the last few months, we’ve been exploring the Internal Genres, an adventure that’s only increased the farther and deeper we go. When we set out from the shore, our desired destination was to understand the what makes each Internal Genre unique, how they are different, and how they are connected…. Read more »

Resistance is Not Your Enemy

Fundamental Fridays

Resistance is not your Enemy. Your life is not a War story where you must go into battle and have the courage to overthrow Resistance. Resistance is not your Opponent. Your life is not a Performance story where in order to avoid shame, you must stop being lazy and work harder than Resistance. Resistance is… Read more »

Internal Genres Part 2: Character Driven Stories through Life Values

Fundamental Fridays

Executing Cause and Effect Last month, we looked at internal genres from the perspective of Friedman’s Framework. Our aim was to distinguish the three main internal genres and twelve subgenres because they can be confusing or, as Shawn Coyne says, “squishy.” From the work of literary critic Norman Friedman and studying twelve Masterworks, we learned… Read more »

Stories Need Great Villains

Fundamental Fridays

Every story needs a great villain because without him, the hero can’t shine. He’s the force of antagonism that keeps the action moving and the reader engaged. He pokes and prods at the protagonist, forcing her to stretch, grow and change. Stories, after all, are about change. For change to happen, there needs to… Read more »

The Mind Behind the Prose: How Nonfiction Authors Reveal Themselves in Stories

Fundamental Fridays

What happens when you begin reading a book or an essay or a magazine story? If the writing is at all interesting, you are in search of the author. You are imagining the mind behind the prose. Often that imagining takes a direct, even visceral form: who is this person? —Richard Todd Good Prose:… Read more »

<< Older Articles

Newer Articles >>

Fundamental Fridays

Considering Perspective: How to Choose Your POV

Fundamental Fridays

Look in the Mirror: 10 Principles for Authors

Fundamental Fridays

What to Expect from a Story Grid Developmental Edit

Fundamental Fridays

Consider the Source: Elements of Point of View and Narrative Device

Fundamental Fridays

Value Shift 101

Fundamental Fridays

Internal Genres Part 3: Conventions and Obligatory Scenes

Fundamental Fridays

Resistance is Not Your Enemy

Fundamental Fridays

Internal Genres Part 2: Character Driven Stories through Life Values

Fundamental Fridays

Stories Need Great Villains

Fundamental Fridays

The Mind Behind the Prose: How Nonfiction Authors Reveal Themselves in Stories

Fundamental Fridays

Still not finding what
you're looking for?

The Book

First Time Writer

Resources

Fundamental Fridays

Still not finding whatyou're looking for?

The Book

First Time Writer

Resources

Still not finding what
you're looking for?