Happy Halloween! Today, I have a special treat for you guys. We have been talking about structure for the past few weeks and one of the greatest resources available to writers is James Scott Bell’s Plot & Structure. But, we can talk more about structure tomorrow. Few holidays offer such a rare opportunity to rufie …
Oct 28 2011
Are Successful Writers Just Lucky?
Anyone crazy enough to write 60-100,000 words doesn’t attempt such an endeavor on a whim. Most of us, at least in the back of our minds, envision being the writer who beats the odds. We want to make it to the top. As we head into National Novel Writing Month, it might be a good idea to …
Oct 26 2011
The Dark Side of Metrics–Writer Friend or Ticket to Crazy Town?
Last week, we talked about the bright side of using metrics. Writers tend to go pale and look for the scotch when someone mentions analytics. Yet, if we don’t ever look to a standard of measure, then we can float around aimlessly, wasting valuable time on busy-work. We have better things to do than focus …
Oct 24 2011
Structure Part 4–Testing Your Idea–Is it Strong Enough to Make an Interesting Novel?
For the past month, we have been discussing story structure. Part I of this series introduced the novel on a micro-scale. Part II explored the big picture and offered an overview of common plot problems. Part III introduced the most critical element to any novel, the BBT (Big Boss Troublemaker). Each of these blogs builds upon the previous lesson, …
Oct 19 2011
Numbers Are Our Friend–Writers and the Wild World of Metrics
Okay, yesterday Literary Agent Rachelle Gardner had a blog post that promptly scared the bejeezus out of a lot of writers. I’m here to help you guys understand that Rachelle is actually on our side, and the idea of numbers should not scare you. Numbers can be a writer’s best friend. They can keep us …












