It’s all been building toward this, Act III. Where all the setups payoff, characters have overcome their internal/external issues to solve the big problem in front of them, and where they plan live out the rest of their lives in this new world. The gather the team, the execute a Read more
Well, this year has disappeared before my very eyes. Catching up on my reading goals as best I can, as I fell off the bandwagon for a bit while I figured out how to promote my own book. I’m back on and looking to crush the rest of the year Read more
Act II was/can be a scary act, for me at least. It’s the heaviest, beefiest of the three acts and can either drag a story down, bringing it to a grinding halt, or it can raise the stakes and tension for a sweet payoff in Act III. Act II is Read more
Photo Credit: John Stoke, 2014, Green Bank Observatory Flickr Setting in any story is, or should be, just as important as any character. It may not have motivations and goals like a character (or maybe it can?), but it can help convey themes, act as an obstacle, or represent something Read more
As I switch gears back into prep for book two, I recently revisited my writing reference crutch, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. There are plenty of books about writing, story structure, and methodologies for turning your idea into a story. Besides Save the Cat!, Stephen King’s On Writing, and Read more
I’m not having it right now. Not yet at least. Right now, I’m being lazy and procrastinating or finding some other task to do instead of writing. Maybe I’m doing that because I actually don’t know what to write? Shit, do I have writer’s block? No. You can’t have writer’s Read more
One of the key elements of creating compelling characters is finding their motivation. Whether it be internal, external and/or both (ideally), character motivations are what drive them to make decisions about the obstacles thrown at them. This creates conflict which creates drama which creates an interested reader. Even if they Read more
I’m very behind on my goal of a book a week but made up some ground in July, August not so much. Another mixed month of sci-fi and detectives. My favorite combo. Anyways, September is around the corner, I’ll see if I can get back on track. In the meantime Read more
So you wrote and launched a book, great! But does anyone know about it? I launched HOST on 08.01.23, it’s crazy to think it’s been out for almost a month already, and I feel like the work is just getting started. Marketing, sales, promotions are key to getting the word Read more
I love music. I know, that’s equivalent to someone saying I love movies, or I love breathing. It’s also a terrible thing to write on a dating app, but people still write it (tip: be specific). When it comes to music, I’ll give everything a shot (unless it’s pop country, Read more