Or I should say, read or watch one story multiple times before setting to the task of breaking down.
This is the only way to learn story structure.
Read MoreOr I should say, read or watch one story multiple times before setting to the task of breaking down.
This is the only way to learn story structure.
Read MoreI don’t mean vodka (though AFTER you’re done writing, why not?). I mean the beverage of your choice that takes a little bit of time to make (like hot coffee or hot tea) and then some more time to drink. It’s a short break, say 5-10 minutes, that you can use to think.
Think about your story, then get back to writing. NO SCREENS.
Read MoreTo begin is the hardest thing of all, isn’t it?
Here is a little trick the might get you going.
Think about your first pages as throwaways. Warmup. Clearing your throat.
Read MoreIt can be a source of great inspiration. And it can be a source of great paralysis.
Knowing what to write about and how to do it.
On one hand, diving into the page without any plan whatsoever is a lot of fun. The possibilities are endless. You fly. You soar You reach the stars. Until you don’t. Until you stop because you’re not sure where you’re going. And then the paralysis sets in. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m not good enough to do this. I’m an impostor. Oh no! They’ll find out! What to do?” And you procrastinate, and procrastinate some more, and eventually get blocked and might even quit.
The opposite of this is planning ahead, and only when the plan is as solid as can be, starting to write. There is no soaring involved. At first. At first, there is only hard work. Structure, structure, structure. Yet when the hard work is done, writing it is incredibly easy. You know exactly where you’re going. You know you won’t fall because you’ve thought it all through. You get it done, and ship it, and start another project. And another. And another. People start calling you pro, and you realize, “Yep. I am.”
How to get from one place to another? By studying story structure.
Read MoreIt's easy to say and hard to do. I know, I know. I struggle with the same. I'll have days when I want to kick up my head and holler at the sky my frustration.
How much longer do I have to keep learning? How much longer until I have a breakthrough? A bestselling novel that I'll produce, that'll give me all the money I need to buy my own planet and to move there and to write there every day for as long as I want, without having to worry about bills, and food, and rent, and other annoying things like dishes and laundry??
Patience, my friend. It'll happen, if you only chip away at it every day.
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