December 2018 - Short Story or Vignette (What's the difference and who cares?)

Anthology of Short Stories

Short Story or Vignette?  

Okay, let's start with definitions to make it clear what each is.

A short story is a story with a fully developed theme, a beginning, middle, and ending but which is significantly shorter and less elaborate than a novel. A Short Story has a protagonist facing off with an antagonist (which can be a who or a what and involves a problem with dire consequences). 

Please note that this type of short story is called The Developed Short Story (DSS). If you master the DSS, you can write a novel because the only difference between the short story and novel is length [50,000 words and up] and scope [number of characters who have Point of View (POV) and Viewpoint as well as subplots or underplots].

A vignette, on the other hand, is a brief, evocative description, account, or episode, or even a portrait of someone (think character sketch). Vignettes are "slices of life" which may have a moral or point but which do not have a beginning, middle, and resolution. Often vignettes are literary prose.

Which is harder to sell or market, the Short Story or the Vignette? Answer: It's the Vignette. 

Which is easiest to write? The Vignette

These days the short story is enjoying a comeback thanks to downloadable short stories, short story collections, short story anthologies, and short stories in audio versions. 

*** Call it Karma or whatever, but last year, when I posted the schedule for this year's WCS blog topics, little did I know that come October I would be contacted by Pennwriters and booked to do a workshop on the Developed Short Story.

If you want to write well and tell a marketable short story, give yourself a great Christmas gift — register for the Feb. 1-28 2019  - From Story Spark to Story Done - Let's write a short story.  Details are HERE.

**********JANUARY 2019 TOPIC — SETTING, SETTING, SETTING, Part 1 - A Story's World, an overview

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Merry Christmas!

November 2018 - — The Inciting Incident (where the story really begins)

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.

This month's question is— What exactly is "The Inciting Incident?" 


The Inciting Incident is the specific point in the beginning of the story where the protagonist is drawn into solving a problem, dilemma, disaster, trouble, etc. 

For example, in Alice In Wonderland, the spot where Alice sees the White Rabbit is the Inciting Incident. When she saw that rabbit, her curiosity was sparked enough so that she followed the rabbit. 

Now someone might think that Alice falling down the rabbit hole is the Inciting Incident. But it is not. Again, it was her seeing the rabbit and making the decision to go after him that then culminated in her falling down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. In other words, if she had not seen that rabbit, there would be no story.

Another way to look at the Inciting Incident is to liken it to the domino that falls and which creates a cascade of events that leads to the climax and resolution of the story.

When an idea, premise, what-if, or character, etc. emerges from the imagination, it intrigues a writer. Thus intrigued, the writer writes, penning volumes of words to understand the story world (the setting) and the Protagonist's and Antagonist's personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. 

Please realize that back story, back history, character sketches, scenes to get to know the various character's personalities, figuring out setting details, and other pre-writing will be jumbled into the opening pages of a first draft. 

Only after the draft is completed is it time to look for the tipping point, the Inciting Incident for where the real story begins.

How do you determine where that Inciting Incident really is? 

You ask yourself:

● Where is the point that things truly changed for the Protagonist and which plunged him or her into the new story world of having to deal with some problem, some trouble, some danger, etc. that leads to the climax?

Or— 

● Where did the Protagonist encounter or confront a White Rabbit, which might be a person, incident, problem, dilemma, danger, etc. — and which is The Trouble that begins that domino effect of events leading to the climax of the story?

Sometimes it's not easy to find the correct Inciting Incident. The hardest time I ever had with finding the Inciting Incident was with my novel Jewels of the Sky. You see, I assumed early on that the death of the Protagonist's (Darq's) grandmother triggered the domino effect.  After a dozen trial-and-error openings that didn't work, I read farther into the story, beyond the pages dealing with the funeral. Then I  realized the real turning point, the real Inciting Incident, was when God picked Darq to test and have her choices determine the fate of her people  —  a matter of survival or extinction.

I will also confess that most of my story openings are spot on when I draft a work because I'm a Foundation Writer, number three on  the "10 Types of Writers" list. By the way,  if you're curious about what type of writer you tend to be, that list is still available as a free download at https://www.writerscheatsheets.com/free-writers-cheat-sheets.html

Keep in mind, a writer has only eight seconds to catch a reader's attention with a story's opening. That opening must make the reader curious or intrigued in some way, which captures the reader's attention and compels a reader to read on and turn pages. Make no mistake  — The Inciting Incident is the most compelling spot for a story's beginning. Find that spot and then revise for the drama that will hook and pull a reader into your story. 

*****NEXT MONTH'S TOPIC: December 2018 — Short Story or Vignette (what's the difference and who cares)


MARK YOUR CALENDARS! 

Feb 1-28, 2019  -  From Story Spark to Story Done — Let's write a Short story."  This in-depth, hands-on course is hosted by Pennwriters. www.Pennwriters.org - Registration details will be forthcoming. 

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October 2018 - How long does it take to become a published author?

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.

This month's question is—
"Is it a matter of talent vs. craft in becoming a published writer?"

Two things about talent— 1) Talent cannot be taught, and 2) talent will take a writer only so far. 

As to the writing craft? Craft can be taught and the devices and techniques can be learned. But—and you knew there was going to be a but, right?—the kicker is that it takes time to learn craft because craft enhances talent and liberates creativity. 

Oddly enough, there are writers with the highest ability and degree of talent but who don't write. And then there are those writers who strive for years to learn story, to learn writing craft, techniques, and devices who succeed as published authors and storytellers. So, what's the difference in the two groups? It's desire and drive.

Or at least that used to be the norm. Actually, these days anyone who writes anything can self-publish overnight. Craft and good storytelling isn't in such an equation. The proof is in the 4,500 books a day that glut the marketplace.

If you want to write well and tell a story well, sell books that readers will thoroughly enjoy, you'll need to understand how much talent you were endowed with and weigh it against your desire to tell stories vs. the quick, overnight fantasy of becoming "a rich and famous author." 

To enthrall readers and sell books means putting in the writing time and learning how to overcome your talent weaknesses. How much time? Figure a million words and The 10,000 Hour Rule.

What is The 10,000 Hour Rule? Simply stated, it takes roughly 10,000 hours of work—hard work—and diligent practice—in any field to become accomplished. This doesn't make you the best, but it certainly does make you highly skilled and savvy.

It doesn't matter if the field is sports (like swimming, dressage, or soccer) or a particular profession (veterinarian, surgeon, or engineer), it takes time to learn skills. It takes time to practice and experiment with techniques and devices. It even takes time to digest the failures because those provide valuable knowledge and insights.

Because there are 144 aspects to a novel, and no one can learn everything overnight, The 10,000 Hour Rule for a writer translates into roughly five years. However, that only makes a writer "accomplished." To make the expert-author league, triple or quadruple that. Yes, there are those one-in-a-billion people who become overnight successes. If you're one of them, more power to you. The rest of us, well, we take the long and winding road to success.

Here's the thing, writers are basically self-taught. They learn by reading how-to books, attending workshops, taking courses, actively interacting (talking) with successful writers, and getting reliable feedback on their works in progress. And they write and write and write. As Sol Stein said, "A writer is someone who cannot not write."

Unfortunately, because of the ease to vanity publish* with Amazon or Smashwords and others, far too many writers skip the learning aspects of fiction and storytelling. What further complicates things these days is that the burden of quality and comprehension falls squarely on the shoulders of the writer. Just ask readers. And don't forget, readers who sample poor-quality stories don't usually buy another book from that author.

So, I encourage you to take the time necessary to learn and become a terrific storyteller.

* To Vanity Publish means paying a company a fee, or full costs, or giving them a percentage of sales to produce books, videos, music, academic journals, or other works. (In my opinion, Amazon.com has for many first-time writers become their vanity publisher.)

~~~~~~~~~~ November 2018 — The Inciting Incident (where the story really begins)

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http://www.rimstoneconceptsllc.com/Workshops-Courses_c3.htm

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September 2018 - How to Start a Blog (why and when)

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.







The question posed for this month is — 
"Should I blog before I finish my first book or after?"

The reality is that you should have begun blogging before you wrote the first draft. Why? Because you need a readership to tap into when you do publish or are published. The experts say that for success, you'll need a following of 1,000 people before you launch a book. That's a truly daunting task if you wait until after the book is out in cyberland.

The most popular blog venues are Blogspot and Wordpress. For the record, I prefer using Blogspot ( https://www.blogger.com ) which, thankfully, ties into my hub website (www.writerscheatsheets.com). I also have a Wordpress blog but I don't like it as well as the Blogspot one. The reason I ended up with a Wordpress blog is that someone had already taken the name Jewels of the Sky (https://jewelsofthesky.wordpress.com/) at Blogger. Which brings me to advising you to google your name and the name for any blog you want to set up so you can find out if it has already been taken.  

When setting up your blog, strive to keep the name for the blog as short as possible. Doing so cuts down on typing the link as well as enabling your followers to find your blog as fast as possible. 

As to frequency of blogging, that's a quandary. Two things to consider are: 

1) how much content can you produce and on what time schedule? What happens when you run out of topics (if writing a daily blog, that's 352 days a year and 352 different topics).

2) who are your readers? Will they love or hate being pestered daily, weekly, etc.? So, when is the best time to engage with your followers or your potential followers?

Choices in frequency of blogging are daily, weekly, bi-weekly, tri-weekly, monthly, quarterly, only on the first (or fifteenth) of a month, only on Tuesday and/or Thursdays, etc. It's up to you, the time you have available, and who your audience will be.

One other aspect about blogging to consider is becoming a Guest Blogger, that is, you become the "guest" and are featured on other people's blogs. That I enjoy doing. [And, yes, if you would like me as a guest at your blog, feel free to contact me.]

The sooner you start blogging, the sooner you work the kinks out of the process and gain loyal followers who'll help sell your book when you do have it published.

Of course, blogging isn't for everyone, but it is a basic necessity for an author. It also counts as "social media," which editors, agents, and publishers consider part of an author's platform.

Blogs and blogging is a broad and controversial topic, so I can't go into great detail with this post, but here is a link to a post that I found very informative and which mirrors my own views on blogging.

https://smallbluedog.com/do-authors-really-need-to-blog.html

****October 2018 — Is it a matter of talent vs. craft in becoming a published writer?
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August 2018 — Misplaced Modifiers are laughable and the bane of writers

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.



The question posed for this month is "Critiquers have nailed my writing for misplaced modifiers. How can I recognize them and stop making this mistake."


Misplaced modifiers are common grammatical errors where a clause, phrase, adverb, or adjective is inappropriately separated from the word it modifies or describes. This type of error often happens during the heat and speed of drafting a story. This post will be about misplace modifiers— not dangling modifiers, which is a subject unto itself. 

Whether a misplaced modifier comes at the beginning of a sentence or later in the sentence, the result is awkward— often illogical,  unintentional, even humorous— imagery when read.  For example: 

Misplaced Modifiers— 

CLAUSES— at the beginning of a sentence (notice this is an introductory clause)— 

After fixing the prairie schooner's wheel, the horses pulled the load down the road. (Can horses fix wagons wheels?)

PHRASES— at the end of a sentence—

Marsha noticed the fence behind the house made of barbed wire. (A house made of barbed wire?) 

Or even, John spotted the airplane using binoculars. (An airplane using binoculars?)

ADVERBS—Misplaced use of adverbs often changes the meaning of a sentence. The most common "Red Flag" adverbs to look for are only, just, nearly, merely, and almost. Examples include— 

Just Marsha was picked as prom queen. 
      Marsha was just picked as prom queen. 

      John only donated ten dollars to the camp fund. 
      Only John donated ten dollars to the camp fund.


ADJECTIVES—Like adverbs, placing an adjective in the wrong position changes the meaning and imagery of a sentence:

Marsha ate two slimy bowls of spaghetti. 
      Marsha ate two bowls of slimy spaghetti.


Catching misplaced modifiers— be they clauses, phrases, adverbs, or adjectives— is best done by slowly reading the manuscript out loud and visualizing the actions, the cause-effect sequences, and being mindful of clarity. 

Since grammar checkers don't usually flag misplaced modifiers, it is helpful to go old-school and diagram the sentence that has been flagged for a misplaced modifier. For example— 

Coated with ketchup and mustard, I enjoyed the
         hamburger.


Actually it was the hamburger that was coated in ketchup and mustard. Diagramming the sentence nets— 

Remember, readers are not mind readers, they only have the words on a page to go by. It is in the revision process that you can more clearly look at what you wrote and get the words right.

P.S. Feel free to share one or two of your misplaced modifiers and brighten my day.  ☻

******Next month -  September 2018 — How to Start a Blog (why and when)

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July 2018 — Preplanning for NaNoWriMo (a Project Bible)

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.

The question posed for this month is "I want to participate in NaNoWriMo in November. Any tips to make the writing go more smoothly or help me achieve my word count?"

You are wise to begin planning now for NaNoWriMo (the National Novel Writing Month, https://nanowrimo.org) because it can save you countless revisions and rewriting as well as avoid a story that dead-ends or one that goes off on tangents.

When it comes to writing a story, I truly recommend doing as much preplanning (and thinking) as is possible based on the idea and characters that have been conjured by the imagination. 

I am also an advocate of writers embracing "structured creativity," which doesn't limit but liberates creativeness. 

Structured creativity can be as simple as having a personal Project Bible to keep track of and ensure a story comes alive (which nets fewer mistakes when drafting). That Project Bible could be nothing more than reminders, forms, or check-off lists. You see, by my count, there are 144 aspects of a novel. Unless you have a genius mind with total recall, how can you possibly keep tract of all that information about story, plot, characters, setting, time lines, etc.? Most writers can't. I certainly can't. But having a "guide" and "reminders" is a godsend to creativity and generating a completed story that readers will pay money for. 

Again, now is the best time to begin your process, to think about your story, your characters, the theme, the plot, etc. and jot down the bones of the story. That way, when November comes, you have a better chance of completing a worthwhile tale. 

*** August 2018 topic — Misplaced Modifiers

Get your stories written - take the course - 

Become a producing writer of quality fiction -

http://www.rimstoneconceptsllc.com/The-Project-Bible-a-1-on-1-course-for-fiction-writers-PUB-1500-ProjectBible.htm

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June 2018 — Pros and Cons of Writing Every Day

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.



The question posed for this month is "What are the pros and cons of writing every day?"


Most writers have heard the adage that writing is a muscle—you have to write every day to build that muscle. 

Sure it's wise to set aside time to write because, as E.B. White said, "A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper."

Now, the pros and cons of writing daily is not as simple as you might think. 

Writing boils down to the psychology of self. It's desire versus commitment. It's work versus free-rein. It's the logical brain versus the creative self. And, as you may be aware from my past blog posts and the information in my guidebook, REVISION IS A PROCESS, logic will always—ALWAYS—trump creativity. And of course, life tends to sabotage the best laid plans. For instance, you intend to write for a hour on Wednesday morning. On that day you wake with a headache and fever that fogs your brain. You're too sick to write. Maybe it's something at work that trumps writing that day. Maybe it's a family problem or an errand that must be run that prevents you from writing. In the end, nothing gets written. You may even tell yourself you'll find another time to write. Then something else subverts that plan. That's when you realize you need to look inward and make a very important decision—to write or not write.

BICHOK (Butt In Chair Hands On Keyboard) is a mantra many writers are told to embrace. It means making a commitment to write every day. It doesn't matter what you write, as long as you write. After all, daily writing strengthens and sharpens skills, it relieves stress, it helps articulate feelings. Writing daily also leads to developing analytical skills to puzzle things out logically and creatively.  

But BICHOK may also negatively impact a writer by giving them writer's block. When a writer cannot think of what to write, they often turn to investing in books or online resources for inspiration (writing prompts), which may or may not lead to quality writing that's marketable or to a great story.

In actuality, BICHOK is a terrible way to learn fiction writing skills or storytelling skills. Such skills cannot be adequately learned or discovered this type of trial and error. Besides, unlearning any bad writing habits developed with such trial-and-error writing will be very, very, very difficult to unlearn.

Do I advocate BICHOK or write every day? Well, I happen to be a proponent of Sol Stien who said "a writer is someone who cannot not write." If writing is in you, truly part of who you are, you'll find the time and a way to write, be it every day or by binging or by some other method that works for you. 

Capitalize on your inborn compulsion to write. Strive to understand what type of writer you are, set reasonable writing goals, and figure ways to work around life's interferences.

You are a writer who cannot not write, right?


***Next Month: July 2018 — Preplanning for NaNoWriMo (a Project Bible)

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May 2018 - Why are stories rejected by editors, agents, and readers?

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.

The question posed for this month is— 

WHY ARE STORIES REJECTED BY EDITORS, AGENTS, AND READERS?

There are many reasons why stories get rejected by readers, editors, agents, and also why stories receive low scores from contest judges. Here are seven of the most common ones:

1. Poor writing ability

What's written forces the reader to re-read because the reader cannot instantly grasp images or understand what's going on. Sentences are often long, run-on, awkwardly formed, poorly punctuated, etc. Cause-effect sequences are missing or glossed over and so things don't make sense. 

2. Poor storytelling ability

A lot of aspects fall under "poor storytelling ability." Basically, it's the failure of a writer to understand what a story is, what plot is, what character arcs are, and why a reader reads a particular genre. 

Poor storytelling ability also results in cardboard, two-dimensional characters that are puppets being manipulated by the author for the sake of a convoluted or irrational plot that makes little sense.

What's written might also be a vignette or series of vignettes, a rant, or a poorly disguised religious tenet. Worse is a thinly disguised storyline taken from an existing movie, TV show, computer game, or publication, or one which is borderline "fan fiction." These often violate copyrights as well as turn a reader off.

3. Submitting or self-publishing a first draft

Many stories get rejected because the writer submits a first draft or too early a draft. For writers who self-publish too soon, their story is riddled with typos, mistakes, errors of logic or premise, unbelievable elements, poor storytelling techniques and devices, etc.

What can make the difference between a drafted story and a polished one is ruthlessly and painstakingly self-editing the work. However, most writers have no idea how to self-edit or what they should be self-editing for.

TIP — To go from initial draft to polished manuscript requires running a story through the filtering lens of knowledgeable writers (either worthwhile critique groups or critique partners). Of course, all writing benefits in the final stage by hiring a professional fiction editor (not an English teacher).

5. What's written is excessively or grossly violent, perverse, depraved, offensive, pornographic, libelous, weird, or wholly unbelievable. 

6. What's written is not appropriate for the age of the reader it was intended for. This is particularly true for children's books.

7. The subject has been done to death (it's a beleaguered trope or cliched topic). Along with tropes, the publishing markets have ups and downs—a particular story element may have gone out of favor with readers or the market has been saturated with too many similar stories. 

As I've said many times over the years, talent will take a writer only so far. It is craft that enhances and liberates talent. Always strive to learn craft and to write the best story possible.

***Next Month: June 2018 — Pros and Cons of Writing Every Day

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April 2018 — Break the perfection habit and stop editing as you write

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been submitted to me by writers and readers of this blog.

The question asked this month is — "How can a writer break the perfection habit, or are there ways to stop editing as you go?"

The fastest way to kill ideas is to edit as you write. 

The fastest way to erode your confidence in getting a project done and doubt your ideas are any good is to edit as you go. 

And the fastest way to stifle productivity is to stop and dwell on a sentence for two or three minutes. That's lost words and lost time. For instance, if you typed 50 words a minute, in those three minutes you have lost 150 words. If you stop every five minutes for three minutes, that means in a hour you have lost 21 minutes (at 50 words per minute that equals 1,050 lost words).

Obviously, editing as you go is destructive. Yet, to understand why a writer is compelled to stop and edit and re-edit sentences or paragraphs or pages, a writer first needs to understand WHY they are compelled to seek that perfect sentence, to use the perfect words, or to form the perfect description.

Two reasons come to mind. The first is fear. The second is logic vs. creativity. 

The fear a writer has lies in the misguided belief that what they are producing isn't good enough, brilliant enough, or that it's the worst kind of drivel or garbage.

This, of course, is a negative message that has to be stopped. The fact is, you cannot judge a work until you have written (drafted) the entire piece and distanced yourself from the story. Once the story fades sufficiently, you can go back to it—with new eyes and a better frame of reference. Then you can look at what was written and better judge the flow and impact of the scenes. It's the old can't see the forest for the trees syndrome. So, keep this mantra in mind when drafting anything you write—done is better than perfect.

As to the second reason, the curmudgeonly problem of editing as you go is firmly rooted in the battle of logic versus creativity. In other words, the two sides of the brain are at war. 

Here's the thing—logic will always—ALWAYS—trump creativity. So in order to become a producing writer of quality stories, it's far better to write creatively as quickly as you can and get that first draft committed to paper. Once it’s down, then you can turn lose the logical brain and take all the time you need to give full attention to editing for the good of the story. (Your readers will appreciate that.)

Now, there are ways to shut the logical, critical tyrant self down and create a story. One of the best ways is to turn off a computer's monitor. That way the eyes cannot see and thus the logical brain cannot judge the words going onto a page.

A side benefit from doing this is that a writer can slow down and concentrate on the imagery the subconscious (imagination) sends up for the story. Even stop-frame analysis is possible because the image can be held longer and better action sequences can be recorded.

Yes, this works for those who touch-type. And yes, when the monitor screen is turned back on the writer will see typos. Some will net hilarious spellings, but it's always good to laugh.

So, I challenge you "perfectionists" to test what happens when you turn off the monitor and write for 10 minutes. Post the results to this blog and I'll send you a free Writers Cheat Sheet on "Functions of the Imagination." 

****Next month: May 2018 —  Why are stories rejected by editors, agents, and readers?

~Follow this blog so you'll always get the updated posts! ~

                       

MARCH 2018 - Stop falling for the rhetoric of being a Pantser

For 2018, all the monthly topics have been

 submitted to me

 by writers and readers of this blog.

The question asked this month is "I've been told that being a Pantser is the way to write a story. Is that good advice?"

New writers and aspiring novelists for ages have been fed the rhetoric of BICKHOC (Butt In Chair, Hands On Keyboard). This results in a writer being known as a Pantser (one who writes by the seat of their pants). 

Pantsers are told to let the words out, come what may—free the Muse to play on the page—and great things will come.

First of all, let me debunk the Muse rhetoric. You don't have a Muse. You have an imagination, and it resides in your subconscious mind. That imagination is part and parcel of who you are and how you tell a story. The imagination is the inventive, think-outside-the-box creative self.

Pantsers shun rules and restrictions on creativity. They disapprove of outlines. After all, an outline reminds them of the formal outlines they had to learn in school. In actuality, a writer's "story outline" or "plot line" is as individual as the writer themselves and is not restrictive but liberating.

Pantsers will say that using forms is a waste of time, particularly character questionnaires, because the Pantser wants to discover who their characters are while writing and writing and writing, and writing—often to a dead-end story or going off on a tangent or having another character take over the story.

Pantsers will say that any outlining or use of forms or formats takes the joy out of the writing process and keeps them from discovering the wonders that can go in their stories. Hogwash. These are the same writers who admit they have a lot of started but unfinished stories. If they do complete a story, they complain and are frustrated because it is "such a mess" to fix.

Well, stop falling for rhetoric. Stop listening to it. The fact is that logic will always — ALWAYS — trump creativity. Why? Because people want to make sense of their world. And readers are very logical people. As a writer, you need to get readers to suspend their disbelief in order to believe in vampires, elves, or aliens. To do that takes logic and creativity working together.

And here's the best kept secret about producing writers—they use some type of "Structured Creativity." Not the detailed structure of a Plotter, who plots out all aspects of a story before they write—and who may never write the story because they plotted so heavily that they lost interest in the story itself.

Every producing writer has a system that works for them and which they use before writing and even during writing a manuscript. Their system ensures they have characters, plot, and a story to tell. The brunt of the work was done before they committed to the time to produce the manuscript. There was joy in creating the actual story because the writer knew there would be no dead-end, no character taking over. More joy came with putting words to the page because the writer knew the cast of characters as "people" not "puppets." 

Another benefit of Structured Creativity is that nothing is written in stone. There's flexibility and freedom of creative expression.

As to revising the work? Structured Creativity means a first draft is not nearly the frustration it once was. It's more like polishing the work.

Okay, I will admit, when I first started writing, I was told to be the Pantser. I hated the failures of stories dead-ending. I hated rewrites after rewrites and still the story failed. When I took a professional fiction writing course, my eyes were opened to structured creativity and what story was all about. It took me three years to create my Master Project Bible. I use it for all my storytelling from short stories to novels.

So, how about not listening to rhetoric and start learning more about story and using structured creativity for your next fiction project?

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Next month's topic—  April 2018 — Break the perfection habit and stop editing as you write.

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The Project Bible

This is now available as a 1-On-1 Course for Fiction Writers