Category: novel planning
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Friday’s Findings: Goals or Systems?
I’ll be honest with you. I did not achieve my writing goals this year. I have no one to blame but myself. Being the end of the year, I thought about how I could do better in the year to come. So, I consulted with my friend, a book called The Atomic Habits. I’ve discussed The Atomic…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 2
In my last blog entry, I talked about the dos and don’ts of info-dumping. Now, I’d like to offer some case studies of info-dumping in action. While these may exaggerate info-dumps in action, they can still cause the writer to ask herself, ‘Have I done this?’ Info-dumps mostly pop up in these areas of description…
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Warning: No Info Dumping, Part 1
Let’s talk about some do’s anLet’s talk about some do’s and don’t’s of info-dumping. I try to find ways to include how things work in my sci-fi and fantasy stories, but I’m not always sure I avoid info-dumping. I try to. But it’s an easy trap to fall into, especially as a speculative fiction writer.…
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Friday’s Findings: Will I do NaNoWriMo This Year?
That photo of the guy contemplating NaNoWriMo may be a bit melodramatic, but it’s a feeling many of us can relate to. Since 2008, NaNoWriMo has been a journey of self-discovery for me. It’s shown me the strength I possess as a writer, pushing my brain, body, and sanity to the limit. It’s proven that…
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Friday’s Findings: Bullet Point Outline – Do you do it?
Want to write a rough draft of a scene like a champ? For a while now I’ve been trying this method using bullet points. It’s not my invention, but it makes sense to me. Here’s the short version: This method is pretty simple. And it actually speeds up the writing process because it puts me…
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Friday’s Findings: The Cat and the Snowflake
In my last post, I discussed using the Snowflake Method simultaneously with the Save the Cat beats to develop a story and end up with a first draft. I expanded this idea with an Excel spreadsheet that can be downloaded. Or if you prefer, right click on the graphic below to expand it. Once the image…
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Can Save the Cat and the Snowflake Method be Used Together? Simultaneously?
I’ve taken most of the summer off from writing blog posts to concentrate on my writing projects. Now summer vacations are over, and school is back in session, I’ve decided to get back into posting. Right click to enlarge. To see step-by-step instructions on using this graphic, click here. A thought occurred to me: as…
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The Intimidating Draft
“Drafts. Nothing is more intimidating than a blank page. Writing in drafts helps to diffuse some of that pressure. My rough draft has one goal; to write “The End.” I have the next 200-300 drafts to make it good.” -Max Brooks Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-and-gray-checkered-textile-6474345/ My Linktree
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Friday’s Findings: A Dollop of Delusion
“Your first book is brutal, and for that reason I really think it has to be a labor of love. Only love and a dollop of delusional hope will get you through that misery. Let the cynicism come later.” –Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters Friday’s Findings: Photo by NEOSiAM 2024+: https://www.pexels.com/photo/tilt-lens-photography-of-white-flowers-673535/ My Linktree
Andrew M. Friday 