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How To Write Shop

Articles on the craft and business of writing

goal

Book Blurb Critique by a Marketing Goddess

June 20, 2011 by Edie Ramer 7 Comments

From my post last month on blurbs, Elle J Rossi won a critique by Misty Evans (marketing goddess) and me (minion of marketing goddess). Elle gave me permission to share the process. Here’s the first blurb she sent us from her paranormal romance BROKEN FLIGHT: There were two things Anna James never planned on: Dying … [Read more…]

Posted in: Marketing Tagged: book blurb, conflict, cover copy, Elle J Rossi, GMC, goal, indie publishing, Misty Evans, motivation, self-publishing

Jump start your plot with a MacGuffin

April 28, 2011 by Lori Devoti 1 Comment
MacGuffin plotting mystery

Anyone a fan of The Maltese Falcon? How important is the Maltese Falcon in the story? Well, it’s ALL important and in the end, not important at all. The item itself turns out to have no real value to anyone—but what makes it important is it gets the characters and thus the plot moving! The … [Read more…]

Posted in: By Genre, Mystery, Plotting, Writing Craft Tagged: goal, macguffin, plotting, two dogs one bone

Not a plotter? Your answer? Goal Motivation Conflict.

March 14, 2011 by Lori Devoti 12 Comments
Goal motivation conflict writing plotting a book

A while back Kathy Steffen and I taught a great group of writers from the Romance Writers of New Zealand what I consider to be the very first step in writing any book—nailing the Goal, Motivation, and Conflict of your main characters. (Also known as GMC: Goal Motivation Conflict) If you follow this blog, you may … [Read more…]

Posted in: Plotting, Writing Craft Tagged: charaters, conflict, goal, motivation, plotting

How to Write a Scene, Article Two, Scene Structure: Goal, Conflict, Disaster

September 29, 2010 by Lori Devoti 5 Comments
Building with Blocks

Miss the first article in How to Write a Scene series? Read it here. Article Two in How to Write a Scene, Scene Structure: Goal, Conflict, Disaster by Lori Devoti, a  How To Write Fiction Series. Goal, Conflict, Disaster is the basic scene structure of every good scene and yes, this means every scene should … [Read more…]

Posted in: Scenes, Writing Craft Tagged: conflict, disaster, dwight swain, goal, scenes, sequel

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Save The Cat!
by Blake Snyder

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Mastering Amazon Ads: An Author’s Guide

by Brian D. Meeks

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