Perfect Counterparts, by Erik Bork
From: http://blog.artella.com/post/141211270456/on-developing-story-ideas-by-pete-docter What makes an audience root for two people to be together? The Save the Cat books have a name for the type of story where the primary external conflict is that two people who are “perfect counterparts” have something big in the way of “living happily ever after.” It’s called “Buddy Love.” And it includes most types of love stories, including the classic “Forbidden Love” (Brokeback Mountain, Twilight, Moulin Rouge) or… Read More
On Developing Story Ideas, by Peter Docter
From: http://blog.artella.com/post/141211270456/on-developing-story-ideas-by-pete-docter “Where do you get your ideas?” This is a question people ask a lot, and frankly it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding about the creative process. For some geniuses like Walt Disney or Miyazaki, their movies show up to them fully formed. Kapow: Dumbo. Pinocchio. Spirited Away. If you’re lucky enough to be born brilliant, ideas just appear all at once in your head. I used to believe this. But here’s the… Read More
Birth vs. Battle, by David Corbett
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2016/04/12/birth-vs-battle Let me kick things off with blasphemy: Conflict is not the engine of story. Allow me to explain. The longer I teach, the more writing texts I seem to read, if only to find out if someone else has a clearer, simpler, or more insightful way of presenting the material. (To my chagrin, that’s often case. Fortunately, I’m not so old a dog that I’ve forsaken new tricks.) In… Read More
7 Lessons in Outlining, by Jeanne Veillette Bowerman
From: http://www.scriptmag.com/features/balls-of-steel-7-lessons-in-outlining-first-draft-fear-oh-my By Jeanne Veillette Bowerman | October 10, 2013 I have a problem starting scripts. I am a self-proclaimed outline junkie, allowing myself to linger in all the possibilities of characters and conflict for far too long before opening my screenwriting software and diving in. For this new project, I’m trying something new on multiple fronts: I did a rough outline, not as detailed a one as I normally do (the one… Read More
Four Things House of Cards Can Teach Us About Writing, by Cris Freese
From http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/4-things-house-of-cards-can-teach-us-about-writing I think the general consensus among those writers who teach the craft is that you must read—and read widely—about the craft of writing, particularly those authors who write in your genre. But I think there’s a lot you can learn about writing from other mediums, too. Specifically television. Every other Monday, I’ll be bringing you takeaways from some of the best television shows out there. These are meant to be specific… Read More
Surviving Nearly There, by Robin LaFevers
Recommended by Maureen McQuerry: A lovely encouraging post for us all – Surviving Nearly There by Robin LaFevers. From: http://www.robinlafevers.com/2014/05/16/surviving-nearly-there One of the hardest stages of your writing journey—one that will take the most dedication, commitment, and self exploration—is the ‘nearly there’ stage. This is the stage where your critique partners love your work, you’re getting personalized rejections from agents or editors and highly complimentary reports from your beta readers, and yet …. Read More
Worksheet: Story Structure: The Seven-Point System, by Dan Wells
Adapted from Dan Wells on Story Structure The Seven-Point System: 1. Hook 2. Plot Turn 1 3. Pinch 1 4. Midpoint 5. Pinch 2 6. Plot Turn 2 7. Resolution Key: Start at the end.
8 Things to Cut When You Kill Your Darlings, by Kristen Kieffer
From: http://www.shesnovel.com/blog/kill-your-darlings If you’ve been writing for long, you’ve most likely heard the phrase “kill your darlings.” In fact, this phrase has become so ubiquitous that you probably roll your eyes upon reading it. But, as with many clichés, “kill your darlings” is popular for a reason; it’s a tried-and-true editing technique that can help you create the best version of your story. Don’t believe me? Take a look at these popular authors who have touted the phrase after finding it vital to… Read More
Desperately Seeking Darlings, by Kim Bullock
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2016/01/22/desperately-seeking-darlings-to-murder January 22, 2016 Back in late October, Liz Michalski wrote a post about how her portly manuscript lost an impressive 52,000 words. As someone who writes long and cuts later, I related well to her obsession with chopping adverbs, unnecessary adjectives, and dialogue tags. I ran that gauntlet myself when the last draft of my manuscript clocked in at 115,000 words. The length wasn’t terrible, but I feared it might be… Read More
The Redemptive Arc, by David Corbett
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2015/12/08/the-redemptive-arc December 8, 2015 It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to talk about my three favorite elves: Shame, Guilt, and Ho-Ho-Hope. Those of you who follow this blog daily probably have gathered already that I’m going to follow up on two recent thought-provoking posts, one by Tom Bentley (“Shatter Your Characters”) on using shame and guilt to deepen characterization, the other by Donald Maass (“The Current”) on the implicit… Read More