by Joe Bunting |
One of my roommates and I started watching Downton Abbey last week, and within four evenings had finished the first two seasons and are almost all caught up. It’s a really engrossing show, for those of you who haven’t seen it, and Maggie Smith is a treasure (and a Golden Globe winner).
However, between the two of us, we were able to predict a fair number of the plot twists. It’s no fault of Downton’s writers, to be sure. When you consume pop culture, whether it be in the form of books, TV, music, or film, you’re bound to catch on to patterns in the storytelling.
by Joe Bunting |
After over a year of thinking and planning, in November my friend Jeff Goins and I launched Story Cartel, a site to help authors share their stories with readers.
by Joe Bunting |
Do you want to grow? The only way to get better at your craft is to keep going even when things get hard.
by Joe Bunting |
1. Write.
2. Keep writing.
3. Whenever you think about it, write.
5. If you’re angry, write anyway.
6. If you’re feeling insecure, write anyway.
7. If you’re depressed and think no one cares about you or your writing, write anyway.
4. Don’t work for hours on the perfect zinger to respond with. Work on your writing.
8. If they convince you that you’re not a real writer, write anyway.
9. If you need to delete their comment, do it. Then go and write.
10. It doesn’t matter what they said or why they said it or who they are. It only matters that you write. So get to work.
by Joe Bunting |
It’s New Year’s Eve. I was thinking about the end of the movie When Harry Met Sally. You know the scene (well, unless you haven’t seen it, in which case, spoiler alert!)—Harry is racing to meet Sally and tell her how he feels as the clock ticks towards midnight on New Year’s Eve.
The countdown to the new year, the airport chase scene, the race to the altar. All of these so-called clichés don’t have to be avoided entirely. (After all, the urgency in the examples I listed helps to heighten the drama.) You just have to know how to use them in a fresh way. Here’s how:
