Dramatic Structure and Plot, by Hallie Ephron
…or how to keep your story from circling the drain From: http://mysterywriters.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Ephron_-_Plotting_-_Website.pdf As I was planning to teach my first session for MWA University on dramatic structure and plot, I thought a lot about what works in a mystery novel and what doesn’t. After all, I write them. I read gobs of them. Is plotting simply sequencing scenes?
A Guide to Black Hair #2 – Natural Styles, by Justina Ireland
Here is the second article in the series by Justina Ireland, A Guide to Black Hair #2 – Natural Styles — Justina Ireland. Note especially the “Red Flag Words” at the bottom of the article. Thank you, Justina, for helping avoid personal blind spots.
A Guide to Black Hair #1 – Relaxers, by Justina Ireland
Justina Ireland is a YA author, and as she says, Purveyor of Awesomeness. She is writing a series of articles, a Guide to Black Hair. Here is the first in the series, A Guide to Black Hair #1 – Relaxers. Hair is such an important part of a person’s identity. Most of us have dealt our entire life with one type of hair – whatever ours is – and it would be easy to… Read More
How Data Can Help You Write A Better Screenplay, by Walt Hickey of FiveThirtyEight
The data gods at Five Thirty Eight evaluated the success rate for thousands of screenplays submitted through The Black List and have distilled some interesting insights. For example… Hagen said novice screenwriters find writing good dialogue and characters particularly challenging. Genres that rely heavily on dialogue and characters — namely, comedies — tend to fare worse overall. On the other hand, niche dramas — particularly those set in a compelling time period, or at… Read More
Intensive, Two-Day Novel Writing Workshop by Michelle Hansen
Michelle is offering a two-day workshop on novel writing, with attendees receiving a 30 minute “Tapping Your Genius” coaching session from Michelle. Check it out!
9 Expert Ways Savvy Writers Leverage Pinterest To Get Noticed, by Mandy Wallace
Here’s a knockout tool for writers. One that helps you write better stories, expand your readership, and grow a loyal following—all in one place. You’ve guessed from the title that tool is Pinterest. But, like any tool, you have to know how to use it to get the best results. I’ll share those … Source: 9 Expert Ways Savvy Writers Leverage Pinterest To Get Noticed – mandy wallace
How to Create Instantly (& Instinctively) Recognizable Characters; by Helga-Schier
From: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-create-instantly-instinctively-recognizable-characters Meeting characters in a novel is very much like meeting people in real life. When we start reading a book, it’s as if we moved to a new town and were meeting a whole bunch of new people at the same time. Your job as a writer is to create that town and populate it with characters that live their lives before our eyes.
A 5-Step Technique for Producing Ideas circa 1939, by Maria Popova
From: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/05/04/a-technique-for-producing-ideas-young “The habit of mind which leads to a search for relationships between facts becomes of the highest importance in the production of ideas.” Literature is the original “inter-net,” woven of a web of allusions, references, and citations that link different works together into an endless rabbit hole of discovery. Case in point: Last week’s wonderful field guide to creativity, Dancing About Architecture, mentioned in passing an intriguing old book originally published… Read More
How To Uncover Your Character’s Emotional Wound, by Angela Ackerman
From: http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/05/how-to-uncover-your-characters-emotional-wound “One of the challenges a fiction writer faces, especially when prolific, is coming up with fresh ways to describe emotions. This handy compendium fills that need. It is both a reference and a brainstorming tool, and one of the resources I’ll be turning to most often as I write my own books.” James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Deceived and Plot & Structure “In these brilliantly conceived, superbly organized and astonishingly… Read More
Resources for Writing Marginalized Perspectives, by Dahlia Adler
Dahlia Adler provides excellent Resources for Writing Marginalized Perspectives on her blog, The Daily Dahlia.