WRITING
Scene Structure: Understanding the truth about character archs, Live Write Thrive | Tweet
A true hero’s journey will show the process of the hero moving from his persona to his true essence by the end of the story. And this is a great model for novelists.
The New Way to Write Your Life Story: The 10 Themes of Legacy Writing, Writer’s Digest | Tweet
Following simple prompts, and based on the principles shown in Writing Your Legacy – The Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting Your Life Story, you will be able to complete a personal life story for your family, your friends, and your community.
- How to write realistic fight scenes, Helping Writers Become Authors | Tweet
Writing realistic fight scenes can feel like being in one. Then again, being in a fight involves reaction, quick thinking, and intuition. A lot of times writing the scene takes the opposite: careful choreography, thinking, and re-thinking–and more.
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- Writing night scenes with Rayne Hall, Romance University | Tweet
Do you want a scene in your novel to be especially intense, emotional, creepy, scary, romantic or exciting? Let it play out at night.
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- All you need to know about punctuating and formatting dialogue, Writers Write | Tweet
This is the third step in my dialogue series, How To Write Fabulous Dialogue In 5 Easy Steps.
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How to write dazzling dialogue
- How to abandon your outline to improve your story, Writer Unboxed | Tweet
At t
he heart of a story is tension, and at the heart of tension is unmet desire. So, at its core, a story isn’t primarily about what a character does, but what he pursues.
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- Grow reater empathy by showing your protagonist’s vulnerable side, Writers Helping Writers | Tweet
Writing a book synopsis involves creating a summary that gives the reader a sweeping overview of the central plot events and the specific appeal of a story.
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+ 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 definitive list of cliché dialogue, Go Into The Story | Tweet
Here is my “definitive” list of the worst offenders when it comes to lazy, trite dialogue.
- Character Archetype Analysis: ‘Good Will Hunting’, Go Into The Story | Tweet
What about the character archetypes in Good Will Hunting? Since I had never applied them to that movie before, I gave it a shot in a forum post.
- Balls of steel: Navigating Hollywood- 11 Ways to develop your screenwriting hustle, Script Mag | Tweet
When you’re a screenwriter living outside of L.A., you’re going to need some extra hustle in your step. But living in L.A. doesn’t always make breaking in easier. You may not need the airmiles, but you certainly need to do something to separate yourself from every barista who has a screenplay to pimp.
- Screenplay format: The most common formatting mistake, Script Mag | Tweet
What is the most common formatting error that you see?
My writing setup, 2016, John August | Tweet
In 2011, I wrote a post detailing my writing setup. Over the past five years several things have changed, so I thought I’d give it an update.
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
- Amazon are not nice, but they’re your best friend, Just Publishing Advice | Tweet
Complain all you want, but for self publishers, Amazon is your best hope.
How (and when) are Amazon reviews removed?, Author Marketing Experts | Tweet
You may have read recently that Amazon is cracking down on reviews – not so much getting them but how you get them. A while ago I wrote about Amazon’s policy for pulling reviews and when and how they might do that, you can see that post here.
- Publishing trends in 2016 with Jane Friedman, The Creative Penn | Tweet
In this interview, Jane Friedman and I discuss the top publishing trends for 2016 and how you can make the most of the opportunities available.
While we authors are no stranger to self-publishing or writing, when it comes to art, particularly graphic novels, we can feel a little bit like a fish out of water. Here’s one author’s account of how it can be done.
7 Book Marketing Trends authors can’t afford to ignore, The Book Designer | Tweet
Marketing is not a simple task. It extends far beyond basic tips, tactics and hurriedly outlined strategies on the back of a napkin – if you expect results.
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