You may use a revising checklist or an editing checklist to bring your story to fruition, but sometimes that's just not enough. Perhaps this particular story DOESN'T call for setting overload, or this particular story DOES call for characterization development. Every story is unique in its needs. The following five techniques will get you working with your story in the way revision was intended to be: a literal re-vision-ing of what your story is intended to be. They will get you thinking about your story in different ways. They'll ask you to pay attention to the specific, unique elements that THIS particular story needs. They'll ask you to remember the heart of the story, and bring that to the surface in a meaningful way. This isn't focusing on word choice, but intention. Ready to get revising?
Read more3 Big Things You MUST Know About Your Characters
You've probably seen a million bajillion character questionnaires. Most of the time they ask you about basic physical facts: birthdays, height, favorite colors. But these aren't the details that create an interesting, authentic, believable character that will stick with readers. These details won't allow your readers to be intimate with your characters. Learn the REAL questions you should be asking your characters. Get to the heart, the core, the DNA of their self in order to bring them to life. By going through your character's psyche, influences, and behavior, we'll discover who your character really is. It’s time to get character planning, my friend!
Read moreHow to Transform Your Writing Dreams Your Reality
Every month I like to do a reflection on my achievements and a little bit of planning my goals and dreams for the coming weeks. June is the half-way mark of the year, and it's the perfect time to evaluate where you're at and where you're going. It's also important to set goals that you actually can and want to accomplish. Learn how to set the right kind of goals so you'll actually get shit done and transform your writing dreams into your reality. Plus, there's a FREE 10-page workbook to get you started on your own goal setting.
Read moreDoes Your Novel's Genre Matter? How to Fuse Genre and Literary Fiction to Create a Strong Story
There's an ongoing war between literary fiction and genre. They're placed at odds with each other, a black or white fight to who's better. But in fact, there's a BIG gray area. In order to write a Real+Good Story, you need to know the actual differences between the two, how they're made up of the same stuff with different levels of emphasis, and how you can cater to that in your novel so your reader is satisfied. Plus, I made you a workbook that asks you the right questions about your novel so you can fuse genre conventions and literary conventions to write the best story possible.
Read more5 Ways to Find Your Character's Authentic Voice (+What George Saunders Can Teach You About Voice)
George Saunders is a freaking genius writer, which is why he's one of my FAVORITE masters. What he does especially well is creating realistic, believable, authentic voices for his characters. Let's look at some Saunders stories in action to see what he's doing well, and then explore 5 techniques that you can get started with TODAY to make your characters speak authentically too.
Read more8 Steps to Mentally Prepare to Write Your Novel
Let's assume for now that you've already got that hard stuff figured out. This isn't about planning the intricacies of your novel. This isn't a craft lecture. Rather, this is figuring out how to get your mind in the right place so that when it comes down to doing it, YOU ACTUALLY DO IT. This is about mental preparation to set your goals and achieve them in the time period you allowed. Learn how to get your mind ready so that when you're ready to write, you write.
Read moreHow to Write a Character-Driven Plot in 4 Steps
Literary fiction writers tend to avoid plot. We’re trained to be plot snobs, focused only on character development and description and point-of-view amongst other things. But your story can’t be plotless. Plot is tension, plot is drama, plot IS story. So we must learn to fuse plot and character seamlessly. Learn how in 4 steps to get started with your story.
Read moreThe Frankenstein Technique: How to Use Juxtaposition + Causality to Discover Deep Themes
When your story is falling flat and you're wondering if you should abandon it, DON'T! Learn how to use The Frankenstein Technique (juxtaposition, causality, and subtext) to bring deeper themes to your story and reinvigorate it with new life.
Read moreThe 2 Rules of Writing (The Only 2 You'll Ever Need)
There are a MILLION different rules of writing you could follow. But there's really only two you need to absolutely succeed. Find out what they are and follow them. Ideally, now.
Read moreHow Write About Big Themes Without Being Too Sentimental or Cliche
We write “about” the world. We write to document the human experience: the beauty, the chaos, the pain, the sentiment. We want to write something real. But how do we evoke it without falling into cliche? Poet Joy Katz shows us how to defeat that pesky cloud of "aboutness" when it comes to big themes once and for all. Here’s how she got me to think about common, but big themes in a whole new way.
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