Welcome back! If you’ve been following this blog series, you know why studying stories is imperative to your ability to improve your writing craft. The short answer: By studying books, particularly ones that exemplify bestsellers, breakout novels, and, perhaps most importantly, masterworks in a genre, we can recognize patterns and invaluable, key elements in fiction… Read more »
If you’re a writer (and if you’re reading this article, it’s likely that you are!), you probably spend a happy amount of time reading. But when you read, do you read like a writer? Writers who learn how to read like writers inevitably improve their craft in immeasurable ways. The longer you read like a… Read more »
If you want to write a novel that captures your readers’ attention—and your future literary agent’s interest—then you need to write a first chapter that purposefully sets up expectations for the story’s big picture and contains an interesting story event on the scene level. Of course, a strong first chapter is only one step in… Read more »
How to Analyze a First Chapter If you want to publish your manuscript, you need to learn how to write well-structured scenes that hook and engage your readers. You also need to learn how to balance fun and important details that work with structure. In other words, you need a scene where every line weaves… Read more »
If you want to sell your book and engage your readers, you need to write a first chapter that sets up distinct expectations for the reader, like what the story will be about, the type of genre it is, and the quality of your writing. One way you can learn how to write a great… Read more »
The most important pages you need to prepare before you query a literary agent, besides the query letter, are the first pages of your book. But how do you start a book? Or, how do you know when the first chapter you’ve written will hook your reader? Sometimes in an attempt to seduce a literary… Read more »
Do you have trouble finding comparable titles for your book? Are you confused about how to use comparable titles in general? Or understand what they are? Comparable titles (also known as comps) can be extremely helpful when writing and pitching your book to a literary agent or editor. They are also a huge way to… Read more »
Have you ever read a scene and felt like it didn’t go anywhere, or didn’t have a purpose? Do you struggle to write scenes that develop characters? On a scene-by-scene basis, do your characters experience external and internal changes? Do you do in depth scene analysis? Whether or not published in a book or jotted… Read more »
Hey writers! In my past few articles we’ve been studying how to read with a purpose, and a fantastic way of leveling up our reading analysis skills is using the Story Grid Scene Analysis Template. As a quick reminder for readers who aren’t familiar with the Story Grid Scene Analysis Template, take a few minutes… Read more »
If you’ve been following my last two articles on scene analysis, you know how valuable I believe it is for writers to understand how to determine if a scene either advances the plot and/or develops the character(s). This is especially important if it is the opening chapter of a novel. Before I became a Certified… Read more »
