by Emily Wenstrom |
When I wrote my last manuscript, I let inspiration carry me away. I had the introductory scene all laid out in my head, and my POV character’s voice was whispering to me in my head. I dove in head first, hard-core pantsing my way through the plot as I went.
At first it was great. But about two-thirds of the way through, I’d dug myself into a plot hole I couldn’t get out from, my worldbuilding was haphazard and unclear, my character’s motivations were fuzzy, and I had no idea where to go next.
by Monica M. Clark |
A couple of times I’ve mentioned The Snowflake Method, a technique to organize a novel before diving into the first draft. Some of the steps include creating a scene list and interviewing characters. I personally used this approach and, without it, I don’t know if I ever could have gotten my novel started.
The very first step of the Snowflake Method is to describe the plot of your novel in one sentence.
by Marianne Richmond |
Life is full of inspiring conversations waiting to happen! String together five simple words to elicit information and jumpstart learning, connection and discovery.
by Monica M. Clark |
The last couple of weeks I have been thinking about dialogue in fiction. A friend of mine told me that some agents will flip to a random section of a manuscript and make a judgment based solely on the dialogue!
by Joe Bunting |
How do you evoke a full sense of the time and setting of a novel? One way to quickly make sure your readers know exactly where they are (and when) is to write about the news.
