Yesterday we posted part one of an interview with a self-published author that MBT had the priviledge of coaching this past year. Read that post here: Today is part two of the journey. SMW: Dennis, you’ve written a delightful Christmas novella, South Pole Santa! Can you take us through the history of this story and help us understand how you went from idea to finished product? Dennis: The first draft was a really rough draft. Bear in mind it was already December and I was only starting to write the story. So I really hurried to get the first draft done and I completed it on December 7 and it was about 10,000 words. You and I discussed did a couple of days later and I’ll never forget that first […]
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Conversations: Understanding Turning Points
“I’m so sorry,” Sally said, sitting down and unwrapping her scarf from her neck. Outside, ice glazed the puddles, the sky a slate gray. The first hint of snow hung in the air, the world of northern Minnesota in crisp expectation. It was a perfect day to teach Sally about how to understand Turning Points in a novel. I love the change of seasons. I blew on my candy cane mint mocha. “Why?” “Our high school football season is over,” she said. “I know how you love to go to the games.” I do. I live for the Friday night lights. “It was a tough game. A number of game-changing turning points that could have turned the game our way. Our boys fought a tough fight.” “I heard that on […]
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Conversations: How to start your Scene
“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 RestQuick Skills: NaNoWriMo Scene Starter Infographic
Sally asked me for a Scene Starter Graphic to help her as she builds her scenes for NaNoWriMo. If you haven’t joined the MBT WriMo Celebration yet, sign up for the fun, support and prizes at: http://www.mybooktherapy.com/mbt-wrimo-2012/! Hope the Infographic helps! (Right click on link below to download the graphic) Infographic Page 1 Page 2 Page 3
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