Whenever we stare at that first blank page of a new manuscript, we ask ourselves a question, What opening scene would make me interested in reading the book? No, this isn’t rhetorical. It’s a genuine question. For us, a great opening scene is a combination of three things: · A short, choppy first sentence to […]
#01: Baiting the Hook Read More »
It’s a lot like the Golden Rule—whoever has the gold makes the rules. Whoever has the outline writes the story. As you have probably realized, the outline is the last step in the, ahem, outlining process. Before we begin writing the outline, there are a few questions that we want to ask ourselves to ensure
#08: The Golden Outline Read More »
Ah, yes. A far better alternative to the birds and the bees. Both the pants and the plans refer to the type of writer you are and can be. Pant-style writers fly by the seat of their pants, and Plan-style writers plan their work. Better put, Pantsers don’t outline, while Planners do. How Planners outline
#01: The Pants and the Plans Read More »
Everybody dies! Well, not all of them. #thanksmarkruffalo But yes, this is the part of the outlining process where you spoil the story by writing out the beginning and ending scenes. Keep in mind that these scenes do not have to be full chapters. Really, they could be only half-a-page long, provided that the scene
#05: Spoiling the Story Read More »
Well, not everybody can be Batman, but everybody does need a Robin. Even Joker has his own Robin, but that’s a far darker storyline. With the summary complete, we now have a better understanding of who the supporting cast is supposed to be. In the case of Into the Dark, we want to create eight
#07: The Sidekicks Read More »
Easy, Breezy, Summary You remember the summaries that you hated writing for your language teachers? Well, guess what? We’re doing them. If only to avoid later confusion, let us quickly define two words who have extremely similar meanings. A summary is a brief explanation for a larger body of work (i.e., book, movie, etc.). A
#06: Easy, Breezy, Summary Read More »
Have to be honest, there wasn’t a 2.0… or even a 1.0… At this stage in outlining, we don’t need to know every character. Instead, we only need to create the main characters who will help us understand what type of story we are writing. So, this article will only focus on creating the protagonist,
#04: Fiction Character Creator 3.0 Read More »
Please don’t sue us Build-A-Bear… Blurbs—that is, back-cover description of a book—are an essential tool in a writer’s arsenal because it allows us to gauge interest in a story. Starting with a blurb before writing allows you to make sure that your idea is worth pursuing. If it isn’t, well, don’t delete it. Instead, put
#03: Build-A-Blurb Read More »
It’s you. You’re the idea machine. Step one? Create an idea. Step two? Well, there is no step two. Okay, okay. Fine. Let’s break it down a little more, shall we? Ideation is the first step in outlining, writing, and publishing. In a way, it is what sets writers apart from machines. But how do
#02: The Idea Machine Read More »
Like the IRS (or even your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend), apostrophes are possessive. Everything is theirs. Michael Scott’s paper. Dwight’s beets. Jim’s pranks. Pam’s art. Stanley’s diabetes. So, this all seems pretty straightforward. Rule of thumb: use ‘s for singular case and s’ for plural case, right? Nope. If it was, why would apostrophes be style? Plural forms of
#02: Apostrophe’s Role in Ruining Relationships Read More »
