How Many Drafts?
How many drafts does it take to get out of the edit toward a published book? Book One is still in the edit, and here’s why; it’s only on its’ third draft. …
Writing
It’s All in the Edit
I appreciate what people mean when they say ‘it’s all in the edit.’ Of the three book series, Book One is in serious need of editing. …
Free Flow: Get Up and Create
If you’re stifled at the keyboard unable to find your free flow: get up and create.
It’s a common thing with authors and other creative types. You want to create but the creativity won’t flow. …
Sanderson’s Three P’s of Plot
From his Free Writing Course online, we bring you Brandon Sanderson’s Three P’s of Plot. Fine advice for the budding author… …
Changing Point of View
When I accepted the fantasy novel challenge, I knew to make the effort worth while, it had to be a series. I plotted Book One and made a start.
Plotting Book Two I realised I was drawn to the secondary character, a young woman with a difficult back story and special abilities. She was far more interesting than the grumpy Western gunfighter (sword-slinger) of Book One. So I switched point of view. And stayed with her for the plotting of Book Three. The obvious was staring me in the face. …
Scene Structure in Fiction
What is scene structure in fiction? It’s exactly the same as the structure for the chapter and for the whole story. Scenes are the building blocks of story; you can treat each scene as a short story in itself. But it has to have a satisfying structure in order to keep the reader turning the page. …
Murphy’s Twenty-four Chapter Structure
Four books in progress and the main crutch is Derek Murphy’s twenty-four chapter structure holding them all together. Without structure, novels are just so many words. Structure is vital. But is has to be the right structure. …
Three Acts or Four?
Most movies, TV shows and plays break down into the classic three-act structure. There’s a debate about books, however; should you plot using three acts or four? …
MICE, Fractals and Budgets
Following Mary Robinette Kowal’s guest lecture for Sanderson’s 2020 course, we started looking at Word Budgets. Let’s go further with MICE, fractals and budgets. …
Character Arcs Rise and Fall
Part of the editing process is considering how character arcs rise and fall in the course of the novel. Movement, growth and change are key.
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