If you’re part of the writing community, you’ve probably heard of pantsing and plotting. There’s a lot of debate about which one is “right” or which one works (spoiler: it depends on the writer and the book). If you aren’t familiar with the terms, here’s a quick breakdown. Pantsing means writing by the seat of
Read MoreStory development
Goals, stakes, and urgency: The screenwriting method that works for novels
The GSU (goals, stakes, and urgency) method was mentioned in an article on ScriptShadow by Carson Reeves as a method of developing a screenplay – but it works great for novels, too! Screenplay methods can often be applied to novel-writing. Jessica Brody adapted Save the Cat! (a well-known beat sheet for screenplays) into an excellent
Read MoreIs your story idea strong enough to become a book?
Just having an idea isn’t enough when you want to write a book. You have to decide whether your story idea is strong enough – can you turn it into a book of 50k words or more? If you choose a weak idea, you could find yourself giving up on the book while writing it,
Read More