Extreme Book Makeover: Saggy Scene Solutions – Creating powerful MOTIVATION Have you ever read a scene where the character says or does something that seems to come out of the …
Extreme Book Makeover: 7 Twists and Turns to add to your novel!
A great story is plotted by looking inside your character, figuring out what his lie is – and how this journey will somehow set him free – and then putting him in situations that make him confront his lies, his flaws and his weaknesses until he takes a good look at himself, figures out what he wants, and charges forward into a new future.
I know, that’s a bit oversimplified, but a story, boiled down, is simply about a character’s inner change, brought about by the external circumstances.
However, how do we make those circumstances intriguing enough to keep our readers’ attention?
At My Book Therapy, we have a character change chart/questions that helps us generate ideas on this journey. However, if you’ve already plotted this journey, and are still stuck, here are 7 ways to add more “trouble” or Twists and Turns into your plot.
Extreme Book Makeover: Start with the End to craft the Beginning!
I love writing contests for unpublished authors. I got my own start with a writing contest, and I believe there is nothing better for a new author than entering a contest to see if they have what it takes to write a story. (by the way, here’s a shameless plug for our own contest, the Fraiser!) The feedback can be essential to helping an author strengthen and add shine to their story.
The problem with these contests, however is that an author can have a fantastic opening chapter, honing and crafting it to compelling brilliance….
And still have the book fall apart after that.
Why does this happen? Because it’s easy to get excited about the beginning of a story – but maintaining the momentum to the end is challenging. In our Extreme Book Makeover seires, we’re headed into ACT 2 – how to keep the middle from muddling. But the key to keep Act 2 momentum going starts with a look at the END…and hinting at it in the beginning.
Start with the End in Mind.
Extreme Book Makeover: Help! How do I hook my reader?
Any book can be fixed – it just needs and Extreme Book Makeover. Over the past month we’ve been diagnosing common problems of a boring plot and how to fix …
Extreme Book Makeover: Help! I think my plot is boring!
I have to admit, I’ve never met an aspiring author who has said their plot is boring. Usually, what I get is a detailed waxing of the story, without any major explosions except the ones happening inside the author’s head. And lest you think I’m harsh, I’ve often been one of those authors! You know if you are boring someone, however, if they keep smiling at you while glancing away, or better, nodding, sighing and saying, “Wow! All that in one book?”
I was mentoring an aspiring author this weekend, and she said…well, why is my book different from every book out there? My answer: because she is different, and her voice is different, so she will tell her story differently.
But that still doesn’t make it sellable.
Sellable books come in two categories: High Concept and Low Concept.