Story Sensei

Number of characters: Not too many, or you may confuse your reader. Only as many as absolutely necessary. Determining who's necessary: Each character should somehow advance the conflict. Too many characters: Try to consolidate minor characters. Contrived characters: Combining characters can sometimes seem contrived, but this isn't real life. It's a story, and your job is to contrive skillfully . Real people: If they're alive (and sometimes even if they're dead), using a real person can open the novelist up to frivolous lawsuits for slander. Plus real people don't often fit your story needs exactly, because real people are more complex than your story people need to be. Shape your character's character: Use STRESS. Conflict reveals a character's true nature. Character growth: Show how characters change in response to situations. The events in your story will teach them lessons. Minor characters: Develop them as much as you need to for the...

Repeat after me: Each writer is free write their own way. I am free to write my own way. After all these articles, the bottom line is--write how you want to. No one's holding a gun to your head to force you to write a certain way. Go with your own gut instinct. 1) Being a writer Care about what you're writing about, because your reader will know when you don't. Be true to your values, your personality. You don 't want any kind of cognitive dissonance about what you're writing and your own inner values. Be self-disciplined. No one is going to make you sit down and write except yourself, and your are not going to published if you don't have a manuscript to submit. Develop your own unique style of writing. Don't copy anyone. Develop your own writer's voice. (One book that gave great exercises for developing my writer’s voice is Finding Your Writer's Voice by Thaisa Frank and Dorothy Wall. Not all the exercises resonated with me, but mo...

Shift to right-brain thinking for writing, left-brain thinking for polishing. Most writers say to lay down a bad first draft and edit later. There’s actually scientific reasoning behind it. Right brain is creative stuff like writing prose and brainstorming. Left brain is editing your prose and sifting through which brainstorm ideas you should keep or chuck. When you use both at once--like brainstorming and editing at the same time--the brain can't keep up with the switching back and forth. Your creativity can stall or your analysis can be way off. This is why many writers recommend turning off your "internal editor" when writing the first draft. Don't correct, don't second-guess that word, don't fiddle with that phrase, don't decide that action is too bland, don't stop and do research--just make a note and move on. That editing is left-brain work, which would short-circuit your creative right-brain work if you stopped to indulge in it. So only ...

These are books on writing craft and business that helped me a lot when I first started writing, so many of these are rather old. I haven't read all the different writing books out there, and I haven't read many of the newer writing books, so this list isn't comprehensive, it's just a list of the books that helped me the most. (Updated 11/21/2019) Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell Stein on Writing by Sol Stein Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass Characters, Emotion and Viewpoint by Nancy Kress Writing for Emotional Impact: Advanced Dramatic Techniques to Attract, Engage, and Fascinate the Reader from Beginning to End by Ka...