“How is your NaNoWriMo manuscript going?” I set my coffee down at the table where Sally sat waiting for me, drinking coffee and eating a cookie. A light frost tipped the grass outside, the lake frothy along the rocky shoreline. “I think my brain is shutting down. I’ve written about two thousand words a day, but I am running out of ideas on how to start my scene.” Sally broke off a piece of her monster cookie, the fresh-baked smell enough to make me wish I hadn’t eaten breakfast. “Have you done your scene preparation? Figured out Layer One: what kind of scene it is, and the 5 Ws’?” “Oh, that’s the easy part. And Layer Two isn’t so hard either. Creating Tension is easy once you understand the equation: […]
Read the RestArchive | November, 2012
Setting Up For Success, Part 1: Planning to Win!
We are getting down to the last few days of the year. Know what that means? Well, yes, there will be parties, gifts, over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go. In fact, that’s what most of us are focused on. Yet, just hours after all that tradition draws to a close, we usher in a brand new year. If you want to be successful in 2013—and who wouldn’t, right?—you would be wise to put some things in place now to make certain you reach your goals. Winston Churchill said it best: Fail to plan and you plan to fail. In fact, chances are there will be some readers of this blog who will say, “I’ll read this blog post later, when I have more time.” […]
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A Word From Your Book Therapist: It’s All About Craft, Baby!
If you’ve hung around My Book Therapy for any length of time, you know we focus a lot on crafting a novel. If you’re new to MBT, we are about crafting a novel. Dictionary.com defines craft as: an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill: the craft of a mason. skill; dexterity: The silversmith worked with great craft. Let’s tailor the definition a bit. The writer must possess a special skill to ply his trade. The writer worked with great craft. The statistic is 80% of all people believe they have a book in them. How many do you suppose actually write that book? My guess is less than 20%. Why? Time, heart, passion, skill, talent. Resistance and procrastination. Above all, lack of knowledge which means lack of craft. Recently I started taking piano lessons. My teacher is starting off with music theory. I find myself […]
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