Tips for Plotting Your Novel
A plot doesn’t have to be brilliant for a story to work. It just needs to have some basic components: characters, in conflict, and in a setting. The characters must struggle to overcome some obstacle (or obtain some goal) on three or more occasions, and the tale must resolve in such a way so that […]
Writing Easy
I’ve been a bit sick for the past few months. In fact, back in September I got sepsis and had to make a trip to the emergency room at the hospital. I had a high fever and plummeting blood pressure, so the doctors put me on fluids and a broad-spectrum antibiotic. Once you start treatment, […]
Writing Tip and David Farland’s Illness
I’d like to talk a bit about how to deal with criticism that you disagree with. There are a lot of reasons that people will dislike your work that have nothing to do with your work. If you look at online reviews of Lord of the Rings, which is widely acclaimed as perhaps the best […]
Wolves and Sheep
I heard it again last week, the theory that “villains and heroes are both the same, they see themselves as the protagonists of their own stories.” Not usually. It is true that sometimes a villain imagines himself to be a hero. An ecologist who blows up a tractor in order to save the redwood forest […]
Playing Nice
Recently I saw a news story where an elderly basketball fan for the Utah Jazz was given gifts by some players. The woman, at age 102, had a hard time getting to games, so the team gave her season tickets while one player gave an autographed shoe, another a blanket with the team logo, and […]
It’s not the Thread, it’s the Weave
Many new writers when they start a tale will concern themselves with the “narrative thread” of the story, or the plot line. Here’s a definition of “narrative thread” from Wikipedia: A narrative thread, or plot thread (or, more ambiguously, a storyline), refers to particular elements and techniques of writing to center the story in the […]
When to Stop Polishing a Manuscript
Many new writers don’t know when to stop polishing a manuscript and move on to the next. Part of the reason for that might have to do with Ernest Hemingway. Many years ago, a writer asked Hemingway, “How many times should I rewrite a manuscript?” Now, Hemingway hated dumb questions, so he answered “Oh, at […]
David Farland’s Online Classes Start on Saturday
Are you ready to push your writing to the next plateau? Here’s your chance: Dave will be starting two separate 10-week writing courses on March 2nd, but you may want to act now, since these won’t be available for another six months. Registration for David Farland’s online classes, “The Advanced Story Puzzle,” along with “Writing […]
Quality or Speed?
There is an old saying among people who produce goods: consumers want things done cheap, done now, and done well—but as a creator, you can normally only supply two out of the three. When you try to put out high-quality goods quickly at a low price, you almost always fail. As writers, we don’t get […]
Going Pro
Many authors enter the field rather slowly, much as if they were going swimming in a lake. They like to stick a toe into the water, test it out, and see how it feels. They don’t go screaming into the lake, leaping in like maniacs, committing themselves wholly. I don’t blame those who are cautious. […]