I recently read The Story Paradox by Jonathan Gottschall, which is all about the dangers of storytelling. If you’re interested in learning how stories work, you’ll want to set aside some time to read this book. I wanted to talk about a point he makes early in the book, which is that stories where the…
When I’m writing, I rarely listen to music because the words of the lyrics interfere with my words. If I need to drown out the kids across the street, I will listen to white noise or an instrumental station on Pandora. Sometimes, though, if I’m doing something like giving feedback to students, where the lyrics…
To help your author develop strong GMC, try to identify the goal and motivation for each important character throughout the arc of the story. You’ll often find that goal-motivation is clear for only some of the characters or for only part of the story. Conflict is usually sharpest and most compelling when all of the…
We often talk about telling stories, but how to tell a story is something of a misnomer for novelists. A novelist needs to show the story. Undoubtedly you’ve heard the old advice, “Show, don’t tell.” And you may have heard that yes, indeed, you can and should sometimes tell. For example, you don’t need to…
If you’re struggling with your story, one of the best ways to get started is to use a common (that is, frequently used) plot structure. If you start writing with an idea of the kinds of story events that have to happen in your story, it is easier to focus on the other aspects of…
In discussing the editing of fiction, we’re trying to make explicit what narrative competence is—that is, what makes a story a good story. At the most basic is the plot. And plot, at its most basic, is simply the story of change. There is an initial situation, some sort of challenge or reversal to that…
One of the ways I beat procrastination is to play little games with myself. For example, “I’m going to fill up this notebook before my flight leaves tomorrow.” I’ve also counted things down on Facebook: “Going to write 1,000 words this afternoon.” Then “500 down, 500 to go.” Then 250, 50, and none. I have…
Many freelance editors are interested in getting editorial work from book publishers and packagers, and often they’re so focused on landing the client that they don’t think about setting expectations for their work. Then the first project is assigned, and they have less time than they normally have with indie authors, they’re asked to sit…
When you’re a writer, everything is material. This makes us sort of strange and awful, if we’re being honest. I remember one of the first things I thought after my daughter was diagnosed with horrific, debilitating disease was, Well, this is going to make a quite a story someday. I flinch whenever I think about…
Recently, someone asked me a “How do I get my first client?” question, which is one of those questions that can take three hundred pages to answer. But I did want to provide an overview answer to this question. First, I want to distinguish between a beginning editor who has no idea what they’re doing…