[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] An expert is someone who knows the worst mistakes that can be made in his field…because he’s probably already made them. -John Dechancie. [/perfectpullquote]
WRITING
Grand Finales: Tips for Writing Great Endings of Novels | LIVE WRITE THRIVE
Writing a great ending for your book is just as important as a dynamite opening that rivets our attention and compels us to keep turning those pages.
Related content:
Masterplots Theater: L is for Love Story | WRITE ON SISTERS
Masterplots Theater: L is for Love Story
Today we are exploring one of the most popular masterplots of all time: The Love Story. And even if you’re not writing a full-on romance, most stories have an amorous subplot which contains the same plot elements.
Related content:
Gre
at plots are awesome. Beautiful descriptions are awe-inspiring. But if you can crack character, you are made.
Related content:
- The Emotion Roller Coaster: Why Characters Resist Change | WRITERS HELPING WRITERS
The Emotion Roller Coaster: Why Characters Resist Change | If
you are trying to claw past feelings of low self-worth brought on by past trauma, or you’re determined to think positively and fight the cloud of pessimism that always seems to envelope you, your brain may actually work against you.
Related content:
- 4 Things House of Cards Can Teach Us About Writing | WRITER’S DIGEST
4 Things House of Cards Can Teach Us About Writing | 
This week we’ll take a look at House of Cards, which does an excellent job of creating compelling primary characters with strong goals and opposition, as well as a rich supporting cast. Few shows on television have filled out their cast of characters as well as this one. 
Related content:
- The Key to Criteria-Driven Story Development | STORYFIX
The Key to Criteria-Driven Story Development | 
Two Things You Should Know About Your Story… the Earlier the Better.
Related content:
The Psychology Workbook for writers
- Novel Research: 12 Ways to Ace your Book | HELPING WRITERS BECOME AUTHORS
The two sides to novel research: Accuracy and authenticity.
Related content:
+ Related books:
- How to write dazzling dialogue
- Writing success: Your book from start to finish to publication
- Outlining your novel
- Writing deep point of view
- The art of memoir
- Reading like a Writer
- Rock your revisions
- The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression
SCREENWRITING
- The Pyschological Subtext of The Call To Adventure | GO INTO THE STORY
Basically SOMETHING HAPPENS early-to-middle of Act One which jumbles the Protagonist’s ordinary life and sets into motion their departure into a New World (whether geographical in nature or not).
- Coloring Scenes: Writing to Engage the Reader | SCRIPT MAG
It’s all in the writing. After all the structuring is done, the scenes themselves have to entertain. Most often, when I read a script, I think to myself, “It needs color.” Color the characters; color the scenes; color the dialogue. It’s all in the writing.
- How to Write a Treatment | SCRIPTSHADOW
Like a lot of film industry jargon, the term “treatment” is intentionally ambiguous, so that important people can toss the word around without quite knowing what it means.
- A Spoiler-filled Discussion of Batman V Superman | THE BITTER SCRIPT READER
Because at least one person demanded* it! My spoiler discussion ofBatman v. Superman!
3 Ways to Build Empathy for Difficult Protagonists | LA SCREENWRITER
For some time now, there’s been a growing trend among protagonists. The new Golden Age of television that we find ourselves in has been built around men and women that most of us would find difficult in real life.
Related books:
- Super Structure: The key to unleashing the power of story
- Screenplay: The foundations of screenwriting
- Essentials of screenwriting
- Screenwriting: The sequence approach
- 33 Ways to sell your screenplay
- The eight characters of comedy
SELF-PUBLISHING
- How to Start Blogging: A Definitive Guide for Authors | JANE FRIEDMAN
This will be a strange way to begin a guide to blogging, but I want to save you time, trouble, and heartache: The average author does not benefit much from blogging.
- Attract and Engage Readers with Image Marketing | THE CREATIVE PENN
Our social media feeds and inboxes are cluttered, but we still want to know what’s going on. And we still need to reach our readers … so how do you stand out in a sea of content?
Why Negative Reviews Are Better Than No reviews | CREATIVINDIE
People don’t really trust 5 star reviews and most people will jump to the 1 and 2 star reviews. If there aren’t any negative reviews, people will question all of the positive reviews. So you want some negative reviews.
Instagram Primer for Indie Authors | THE BOOK DESIGNER
According to a report by Digital Marketing Research, as of March 2016, Instagram had 400 million monthly active users and captured the attention of 20% of all Internet users.
How To Promote Erotic Fiction- 9 Actions You Can Take | JUST PUBLISHING ADVICE
Erotic fiction is very popular, but finding ways to promote erotica ebooks is a challenge.
Related books:
- Self Publishing: My rules to staying alive and making money
- How I sold 80,000 books
- Write. Publish. Repeat: The no-luck-required guide to self-publishing success
- Createspace & Kindle Self Publishing Masterclass
- The Self-Publishing Road Map