Fiction Notes

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  • Category: "Start Your Novel"
  • Subplots Fight Writer’s Block

    Tuesday, October 7, 2014 Start Your Novel Permalink

    Subplots are a connected sequence of events, just like any other plot; the difference is that this is a minor plot with fewer developments. It should affect the main plot in some important way--or else you should delete it--but it doesn't need the same development of a main plot. I am still plotting my trilogy, ...

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  • Storytelling: One Surprising Approach to Plotting

    Thursday, August 21, 2014 Start Your Novel Permalink

    Plotting is probably the hardest thing I do. I can explain to you 29 different plot templates. And I often write about plotting a novel. Theory, I know. And I know that I can plot a story pretty well. It's just HARD. The problem is that there are a series of inter-connected scenes which build to ...

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  • How to Write a Book Series: 3 Crucial Decisions

    Monday, July 28, 2014 Start Your Novel Permalink

    To write a series of books, my biggest tip is to plan ahead. You may get by with writing one book on the fly—plenty of people do that. But for a series to hang together, to have cohesion and coherence, planning is essential. Here are three decisions you should make early in the planning process. Decision ...

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  • Do You Fear Starting a New Novel?

    Monday, June 30, 2014 Start Your Novel Permalink

    Today, I stare failure in the face. Today, I am scared. Today, I see possibilities as the possibility of failing. In other words, I have finished all my self-imposed deadlines on other projects and cleared my plate of other tasks, so that I can start a new novel. And it terrifies me. It's an ambitious project, something I expect ...

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  • Major v. Minor Revisions: The Surprising Relationship between Draft #1 and Draft #2

    Wednesday, June 11, 2014 Novel Revision, Start Your Novel Permalink

    When you revise, do you do minor surgery or major surgery on your novel? Most of us revise multiple times, but some revisions are bigger than others. I believe in making incremental changes, that is, getting it mostly right and then doing a series of tweaks. The change isn't huge, but the results are important. ...

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  • Bad First Drafts–And Why They are OK

    Friday, May 9, 2014 Start Your Novel Permalink

    Never cry over first drafts! Instead, take heart in Katherine Paterson's wise words: Make ice cream. Once again, I am writing a really, really bad first draft. That’s OK. I know that I can clean it up. But every time I do this, I am slightly embarrassed. Really? That’s the best I can do? I have avoided the draft ...

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