The ScriptShark Critique Sheet
I rediscovered the ScriptShark Critique Sheet from 2009. It’s another useful tool by which to evaluate your manuscript. …
Posts on the craft of writing
I rediscovered the ScriptShark Critique Sheet from 2009. It’s another useful tool by which to evaluate your manuscript. …
Our writers’ group challenge for November was First Five Words: come up with the opening line of a novel in five words, going straight into ‘show’ don’t ‘tell. …
A revelation about my fantasy series: I’m the author as translator. Put another way, my characters don’t speak English… …
For me, the hardest part of writing fiction is fixing the prose that defies editing.
In my head, my prose powers forward with the energy of Hemmingway and the tight, sparse economy of George Orwell. It has the lyrical description of Hardy, the sparking dialog of Chandler, and the tight plotting of Agatha Christie. …
I’ve found multiple sources of the Story Premise that pitches the novel. Longer than a simple logline, shorter than either a plot summary or a full elevator pitch, the story premise neatly conveys the essence of the entire novel. …
Abigail Perry’s Seven Key First chapter Questions are touchstones. They apply not only to opening chapters, but to every chapter and every scene in the novel.
We’ve looked at opening chapters before, but Perry’s seven questions, from a presentation in 2023, takes a different approach.
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Writing the last chapter doesn’t mean getting to the end of the plot. Whatever is in the last chapter is the memento mori, the closing image, the takeaway. The last chapter will likely set the mood for how the reader remembers the novel.
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What’s the difference between direct and indirect dialogue? And why do we need both? …
The reader hook you didn’t know you needed: Eight Types of Surprises to keep the reader turning those pages.
Jessie Cal’s Superior Plot Twists talk centred on Eight Types of Surprises at last years Escape the Plot Forest summit. …
If you’re stuck developing a character for your story, look no further than Jeff Elkins‘ Character Growth Worksheet.
A favourite writing coach, Jeff ‘The Dialog Doctor’ has offers excellent free tools, but this one featured as a giveaway in a presentation and isn’t on his website. …