Last Call for Phoenix Workshop + Today’s Tip
Before we get to today’s writing tip, just a quick note that my Phoenix writing workshop is next weekend, and this is your last chance to sign up. This is also the last live writing workshop I will be doing in the U.S. until November. If you would like to come, but are having trouble registering because of financial […]
Writing a Bestselling Series, Chapter 4: Writing Discipleship
When I switched my major from medicine to “Editing” at BYU, I really decided to immerse myself in my writing. Now, I don’t want you to think that I gave up on everything else. I had other artistic interests. I had always been good at sculpting, had studied photography, and I was interested in oil […]
Getting and Giving a Great Review
Of course, we all want knockout love letters every time that we publish. It’s more than just the praise that we crave, a great review can go a long way toward generating sales. A rave in a major venue like Publisher’s Weekly or The New York Times not only sells books to the readers of […]
Writing a Bestselling Series, Chapter 3: Studies
As a young writer, I had a lot of doubts. Perhaps foremost was the problem that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Like most teens, I spent a lot of time . . . trying to figure it out. My father really wanted me to take over the family business. […]
Writing A Bestselling Book Series, Chapter 2: Hooked On Writing
I’m not sure exactly when I got hooked on writing. As a child I began experimenting with drawing pictures and adding a few words of story to them, as many children do. At the age of 9, I wrote a little poem about Halloween and drew a picture to go with it. My schoolteacher showed […]
Writing a Bestselling Book Series, Chapter 1
Frequently I’m asked, “How do you write a novel series?” and I’m left to flounder for words. You see, I know what they really want. They don’t want to know just how to write a series. Any fool can do that, and a lot of them try. There is no sense in writing a series […]
In India, a Drawerful of Manuscripts begs their Creator to Pursue Publication
For eight long years, I had been giving in to my desire to tell stories, and the stories that I wrote were all confined to the bottom drawer of my desk. . . . I almost gave up hope. I enjoy telling stories. Here’s a brand new story, but unlike my other stories, this one […]
Escalating Your Story
Every story consists of a character with a problem, and deals with his attempts to resolve that problem. This happens in several phases. In phase 1, the character recognizes that he has a problem–a big problem, one that will change his life. In phase 2, the character tries to resolve the problem and fails. As […]
David Farland Discoveries: Feather and the Moon Well
That happens sometimes. I’ll spot an author’s gifts. For example, while grading Stephenie Meyer’s papers in college, I recall thinking that she had a tremendous gift of voice. With J.K. Rowling, I recognized within three chapters that she had a world-class talent for audience analysis. Brandon Sanderson showed his genius at plotting in the first few pages of Elantris. With Shean, I saw a gift for creating complex characters that aren’t quite likeable, yet I somehow fell in love with them anyway.
Dealing with Editors
Of course, if an editor loves you, she’s going to give you a pass on things. She might not notice weaknesses in your manuscript in such things as plotting, characterization, or voice. You really can’t have that. A great editor is like a wise counselor, peering over your shoulder, offering advice on how to bring your story to life.