Randy Ingermanson
Using Character Values to Write Great Fiction
Values determine a character’s abstract motivations and concrete goals. Values are important because they define, ultimately, what a character will and won’t do. When a character’s values are in conflict, they force the character to make a choice. That’s a key to writing great fiction. It’s easy to make a decision when you only value…
Organizing: Does Multitasking Make You Stupid?
Computers are faster and smarter and more efficient than ever. They run at gigahertz speeds, using gigabytes of memory, giving you giga power to get things done. Even so, once in a while, most machines seem to freeze for several seconds, stuck in some mysterious inner world that you know nothing about. If they’re so fast and so smart, why should…
Marketing: 10, 100, and 1000 Dollar Work
So you’ve got a book coming out and the marketing director at your publisher calls you up, very excited about your book. You’re excited too, until she tells you all the things she wants you to do to promote your book. Put up a web site. Create a blog. Make a Facebook fan page and…
Organizing: Strategizing Your Writing Career
Let’s be clear about two things: * Strategy is hard work. * Strategy pays off massively. Strategy is hard work because it will never really end. If you’re going to succeed in your writing career, you will need to be continually refining your Strategy. Having a sound strategy doesn’t guarantee you’ll be successful, but it makes your success much…
The Snowball Effect
One thing I’ve learned in the last few years is that the work you put into your writing tends to snowball. It starts small and is easy to handle. As you keep working, it grows and grows, and suddenly . . . (if all goes well) suddenly it’s a monster. You’ve created something huge! This…
How to Have a Great Conference
Are you going to a writing conference this year? I hope you’ll be able to. Writing conferences can be expensive, humiliating, and discouraging, but they can also change your life. My career began to blossom when I committed to going to at least one major writing conference every year. I know many writers who can…