How do you identify the driving force behind your book? When writing fiction, especially genre fiction (popular/commercial fiction), it’s important to have strength in both plot AND characters. Characters make a story memorable and give readers a way in to connect at some empathetic, human level (even if characters are non-human). Plot separates a compellingContinue reading “Plot vs Character Driven Novels”
Tag Archives: Plot development
A Newbie’s Guide to Big Picture Edits
In January, I released a guide for self-editing your novel. When it comes to editing, it’s not just one mountain to climb, but several––and some smaller foothills, maybe even some off-course deep-sea exploration, just for good measure. What I’m getting at is… self-editing is a journey. To ease you on this journey, I highly recommendContinue reading “A Newbie’s Guide to Big Picture Edits”
Romancing the Beat Overview: Featuring Disney’s Tangled
While writing the post: 5 Tips for Writing Romantic Subplots, my fifth tip was to utilize romantic story structure and I recommend checking out Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes (which also has a Scrivener template). But I wanted to include my own overview. Quick disclaimer: This overview is pretty true to Gwen Hayes’ beats,Continue reading “Romancing the Beat Overview: Featuring Disney’s Tangled”
Save the Cat! Fifteen Beats Vs. The Seven Point Story Structure
Understanding Story Structure I recently began outlining book two of the Uprising trilogy. And whenever my outlining process begins, I know I need to dust off my copy of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. Despite the title of this post, and the fact that I use Save the Cat!, I’m notContinue reading “Save the Cat! Fifteen Beats Vs. The Seven Point Story Structure”
Newbie to Novelist 