There are sometimes when we just get slammed unexpectedly with something in life. Out of the blue an old flame returns to town, our car breaks down, our mother-in-law comes to stay for a month, we are offered a new job, etc. We shake our heads and say, “I never saw that one coming.” That would be the peripheral plot in a novel. Something on the edges of the story that is believable that comes in to impact what is going to happen. Brainstorming peripheral plot possibilities is a great strategy to lift the sag in the middle of your novel. It helps you to break through predictability and keep tension on the page where your reader wants to know what is going to happen next. So how do we […]
Read the RestArchive | July, 2012
MBT Hosts Editor Ben Erlichman from Splickety Magazine!
My Book Therapy is excited to partner with Splickety Magazine – a Flash Fiction Magazine that is sure to help you on your publishing journey! Check out the video below and then Subscribe to the MBT Flashblog to get your FREE Digital copy of the current issue! Have a great writing week! Susie May PS – Splickety Magazine is having a cool contest with ACFW Colorado HISWriters Contest? Check it out at: http://www.hiswriters.acfwcolorado.com/flashfiction_2012.php.
Read the RestConversations: How to make your dialogue pop!
“It’s so hot, I think I’m melting. I haven’t been able to write for three days.” Sally held a blended mocha, sweat glistening on her forehead as she plunked down on the Adirondack chair next to me. “Really? What, has your brain turned to mush? Are you fingers slipping off the keyboard?” She stared at me, frowning. “Ouch.” “If you want to be a writer, Sally, you have to press on. Do you want to be a writer? Or just a wannabe?” “I think I’m going to take my mocha elsewhere.” “There’s no crying in writing, bay-bee. I once wrote a book while living in a garage without plumbing, heat or electricity. Believe me, I had reasons not to write. You have to press on, like a mailman, through sleet […]
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Declaration of Independence Part 2: Leave Off the Shackles
When President Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, all slaves in America were given their freedom. They could go anywhere and do anything. Interestingly, not many left the plantations where they had been enslaved. Why? They didn’t know how to be free. These free black Americans had become so accustomed to living in literal or virtual shackles, when they were removed, they didn’t have a clue about what to do. They opted to place themselves back into the shackles they’d been set free from. Last week, we learned about our freedom as writers American writers. Hopefully that was an eye opener for you. But now what do you do with that newly discovered freedom? Here are a few facts about being free. It’s not always comfortable. Before you were liberated, […]
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