David Farland’s Writing Tips—Building a Bookstore in Your Mind
Yesterday I happened to meet a nice gentleman who wants to be a writer. Specifically, ten years ago he got an idea for a novel, and it has been eating at him ever since. I meet a lot of people like that, people who have an idea for a novel or two. But here is […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips: Good News for Writers!
Over the past few weeks I’ve heard a lot of “worry” in the air. Writers have been talking about the Covid virus, worrying about recession, worrying that book stores might close, that the publishing industry is headed for a downturn, and so on. If you worry about things that might happen, you’re in trouble. On […]
Writing Tips: Switching Gears
Sometimes as writers, when we give writing advice, we often give advice by telling “How I write” instead of “How to write.” This idea came to me strongly after I spoke on a podcast with the good folks at Writing Excuses.
David Farland’s Writing Tips: One Tip for a Powerful Ending
A few days ago, I was thinking about the endings to stories and what they made me feel. In particular, I was wondering, “What makes a story stick with me? What makes it feel like a classic?” One author suggested that a great story typically arouses a sense of tragic romance. In other words, love […]
David Farland Writing Tip: Writing Dystopias
A lot of people are wondering why dystopias are so popular. They haven’t realized that they’ve always been popular. In his book Writing the Blockbuster Novel, the superstar agent Albert Zuckerman points out that if you want a book to go huge, you should transport a reader to a place that he wants to be. […]
David Farland’s Writing Tip-“The Shiver Test”
When you’re brainstorming a new story, how do you know that it will be good? Recently a young writer presented me with an outline for a novel that was nicely formed, had an interesting protagonist, and appeared to be well designed. She said, “It’s almost all there, but I don’t quite feel that it’s […]
What’s Good Writing?
Last week I heard from a young writer who had written several books and self-published them, but he said that he looked at his books one day and realized that they “weren’t really written to professional standards,” so he took them offline and decided to start over. He wanted to write books of higher literary quality, and so he rededicated himself to his craft.
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 […]