Thank you all for a great launch week for Structuring Your Novel: Essential Keys to Writing an Outstanding Story. The book hit #1 in the Writing Skills category in Amazon’s Kindle Store on Sunday and has remained there all week. Just a reminder: today is the last day to enter the drawing for the three-tiered […]
August 27, 2013 by 1 Comment Structuring Your NovelHow to Structure a Whammy of a Climax
The climax is what our stories are all about. We craft our beginnings and middles just so we can reach this final whammy at the end. The bad guy is defeated. The guy gets the girl. Secrets are revealed. Resolutions are made. The conflict is resolved. The story ends. In order to milk our climaxes […]
August 26, 2013 by 2 Comments Structuring Your NovelHow to Structure the Beginning and Ending of Your Book
One of the most important decisions you make as a writer is how to structure the beginning and ending of your book. Perhaps the one thing that most distinguishes a book from real life is the fact that a book has a beginning and an ending. In real life, stories don’t end. Even death doesn’t […]
May 24, 2013 by 24 Comments Prose3 Ways to Add Repetition That Pleases Readers
We all know to avoid “bad” repetition—our overused pet words, unintended echoing phrases, and repetitive sentence structure. But there’s also useful repetition that we can use to enhance our stories. Repetition can be used to reinforce a sense of unity or to supply readers with a satisfying feeling after tying up loose ends. Let’s look at three examples […]
February 13, 2013 by 22 Comments Novel EndingsThe Biggest Problem With Trick Endings
Most readers love trick endings. How long have people been talking about The Sting or The Sixth Sense? And what author among us wouldn’t like to replicate that kind of excitement and memorability? But there is a big problem with trick endings. When they work, they’re amazing. When they don’t work, they make readers grumpy and […]
October 28, 2012 by 33 Comments Novel Endings10 Stories With (Brilliant) Loose Ends
The ending of your story is even more important than its beginning. If the beginning flops, readers will set the book aside and never think about it again. But if the ending fails, your book (and you) will live in infamy in the deep, dark dungeon of reader disdain. No pressure, right? Creating the perfect […]
September 23, 2012 by 26 Comments Beginning Your BookWhy Story Beginnings and Endings Must Be Linked
The ending of your story is a loooong way away from the beginning. Tens of thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of words is an extraordinary journey. Contemplating the ending from the vantage point of the beginning is like looking up at the top of Mt. Everest and imagining yourself—in all your windblown, frostbitten glory—standing […]
September 12, 2012 by 41 Comments Novel EndingsIs the Cliffhanger Ending Overrated?
Writers often hear they need to end their scenes, chapters, and even books—if they’re part of a series—with cliffhangers that will force readers to choose between either reading on to find out what happens… or dying slowly and painfully of curiosity. But is this really good storytelling? When it comes to scenes and chapters, we […]
June 17, 2012 by 36 Comments Writing LifeThe Top 25 Ways to Ruin a Book
There are only so many ways to do things right in creating a book. But there an infinity of ways to blow a book. Nothing anyone writes completely escapes every mistake and pitfall. But some of those mistakes are more costly than others. Let’s take a look at the top twenty-five ways to blow a […]
May 6, 2012 by 30 Comments Structuring Your NovelThe Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 11: The Resolution
The resolution is always a bittersweet moment. You’ve reached the end of the story. You’ve climbed the mountain, and now you can plant your flag of completion at its peak. But as the finale of all your work, this is also the finale of all the fun you’ve experienced in your wonderful world of made-up people and places. The […]
