David Farland’s Writing Tips: Great Character Arcs
Often I will hear a young author talk about character arcs and realize that they have a misconception: just because character changes, that doesn’t mean she has a character arc. For example, let’s say you have a character who works as a pizza delivery person and suddenly she gets a new job working as a […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips—Wish Fulfillment
Awhile back, a writer was critiquing another author’s novel and said a little snootily, “This strikes me as a lot of wish-fulfillment.” She was right, but the impetus for nearly all fiction comes from wish-fulfillment. If a reader is in the mood for a good romance, or a thriller, or a western, or a fable, […]
David Farland Writing Tip: To Grow or Not to Grow
If you want to understand how vital character growth is to good fiction, take a look at a few classic movies. Study such films as Good Will Hunting, As Good as it Gets, Orange County, and The Silver Linings Playbook. In each of these films, every major character grows during his or her time on […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips—Giving Readers Hope
Nearly every novel shows a character with a big conflict. Sometimes conflicts are so vast that the tale is overwhelming. But readers must somehow muddle through those tough times, and what is going on in the reader’s life will affect how much they can handle in a novel. Is your reader’s mother dying from cancer? […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips: Why Scenes Go Bad
First, not all stories are written for you, and you can’t write a story that every single person on
earth will connect to. A romance that works beautifully for a sixteen-year-old girl just doesn’t
interest me as a sixty-year-old man. A mystery that intrigues me might seem tepid to you.
Pros of Getting Your Books Turned Into Movies
Many authors dream of seeing their books turned into films, but for some, it’s a nightmare.
After all, filmmakers tend to take liberties with an author’s story, often making changes that seem detrimental to the tale just to “make it their own.”
Maxing Out Your Readership
Certain books don’t just sell well, they sell far more copies than there it would seem that they have audience members. They aren’t just hits, they become a “phenomenon.” You know their names: Harry Potter, Twilight, 50 Shades, etc. Before Harry Potter was released, I’d read an article talking about the Goosebumps novels. Analysts believed […]
You Need to Write a Bigger Series
The expectations for a book series are growing. There is of course a great reason for writing a series. When you write a standalone novel, it may go to the bookstore and sit on the shelf for only two months before the stores strip them off the shelf and return them to the publisher. Just […]
The literary world is like a ship trying to sail through the fog….
In case you don’t know it, the literary world is like a ship trying to sail through the fog … View this email in your browser In case you don’t know it, the literary world is like a ship trying to sail through the fog. The fog is so thick, it’s hard to know where […]
What Are Your Best Practices?
The art and craft of writing is mysterious. Why does one thing work for Joan and not for Dave? That’s a good question. My son Forrest helps counsel writers who are having problems, and a few weeks ago he mentioned something that he’d noticed. Time and again, he’d talk to authors who had been on […]