Several people in the Western Massachusetts writing groups are reading this now, based on the recommendation of a member of Maria’s Sunday afternoon writers’ group. Hawker talks about the same things as many of the other books I’ve read on this topic — start with a theme, focus on aRead More →
Janice Hardy runs the awesome Fiction University site. In this book, she goes through a whole bunch of possible plot problem, like how to fix endings that don’t resolve the core conflict, or dealing with too much or not enough setups, or fixing endings that don’t involve the protagonist, orRead More →
This is a very hands-on guide to plotting. According to the book, plots are a series of scenes that are deliberately arranged by cause and effect to create dramatic action filled with tension and conflict to further the character’s emotional development and provide thematic significance. The author goes through eachRead More →
Zuckerman — an agent who’s represented some really huge names — really opens up your eyes about what really made a novel go viral, where people love it so much they recommend it to everyone. He talks about having high stakes, larger than life characters, a clear foundation for suspense,Read More →
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody This is a sequel to Blake Snyder’s screenwriting classic Save the Cat! (also a website.) This is a classic framework about hitting all the necessary beats in a story, and when exactly to hit them so that the story feels likeRead More →
New update, June 18: I’ve started a new virtual Zoom-based MeetUp group for speculative fiction writers. If you write science fiction, fantasy or horror, check us out. Update: Since this post was first published (on my personal blog), several people have contacted me from all around the country wanting toRead More →