Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
As a screenwriter, outlines are mandatory. Not so for authors. If you’re penning a novel, it seems as if you must choose between two camps – plotter (those who outline) or pantser (those who start writing a manuscript sans outline). But it doesn’t have to be one or the other, and I think the vast …
Continue reading “O is for Outlines”
I’ve spent most of my career writing cartoons and teen sitcoms where getting laughs from the audience is paramount! Not surprisingly, many screenwriters are comedians. I, alas, am not. Luckily, we all have the ability to be funny if we keep in mind the following three tips… 3 Tips for Making People Laugh Subvert the …
Continue reading “L is for Laughs”
Know what we need in the middle of this A to Z Challenge? A fun post full of cute kitty pictures! But I also have some bonafide advice for writers with cats. Just this year we adopted a stray kitten from the shelter, and I’ve learned a few things about writing from home with a …
Continue reading “K is for Kittens!”
A couple letters ago, I talked about External Conflict – all those forces in the universe that are bumping up against the protagonist. Now we’ll discuss Internal Conflict – the sometimes black hole of doubt within the hero. Like External Conflict, Internal Conflict must get in the way of the hero achieving his goal. Most …
Continue reading “I is for Internal Conflict”
Let’s face it, space is a risky business. I always considered every launch a barely controlled explosion. — Aaron Cohen, NASA Administrator Before writing this post, I Googled “false stakes” to see what other people had written on the subject and found… nothing! Not a single article or blog post on false stakes of the non-vampire …
Continue reading “F is for False Stakes”
Our two greatest problems are gravity and paperwork. We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming. — Wernher von Braun, Rocket Engineer Conflict is the engine of every story, and there are two kinds: internal and external. Because we’re on the letter E, let’s examine the external type of conflict… 3 Tips for …
Continue reading “E is for External Conflict”
It’s appropriate that I got letter “C” since Character Change is something I frequently write about on this blog. That’s because it is so crucial! I think it might even be the most important part of a good story. So, with that in mind, let’s launch this baby! 3 Tips for Writing Character Change Don’t …
Continue reading “C is for Character Change”
Two weeks ago I blogged about How to Create a Character Arc from Plot, followed my own advice, and came up with… multiple character arcs for my heroine. Yep. At least four or five, and I’m not sure which one is the right one for the story. What’s an I-have-too-many-ideas writer to do? Well, here …
Continue reading “Choosing the Right Character Arc”
There are lots of things that make a story good. In fact, I’m constantly overwhelmed trying to keep track of them all. But what elevates most stories above the rest is a satisfying character arc. What is this? Well, at the most basic level it is a story where the character changes. If your character …
Continue reading “How to Create a Character Arc from Plot”
Last week I blogged about the Hook vs Plot Twist Conundrum and realized it would be a good exercise to take some books off my shelf and read the jackets to learn more about what makes a good hook. After perusing my collection of YA and MG novels, I decided all good hooks had these …
Continue reading “4 Components of a Good Hook”