Fiction
Your Hero’s Goal
By Ron EstradaI’ve been spending the month of October preparing for NaNoWriMo. Without a plan, you could easily waste 50,000 words next month. Today, we’ll discuss your hero’s goal. First, let’s review: You should have, by now, developed the backbone of your story: The Moral Premise. Here are the steps you should have taken:…
2 Essential Elements of a Scene
By Ron Estrada The characters of Breaking Bad have different goals…this creates conflict! If you’ve been following along with my NaNoPlotMo method of plotting, or even if you haven’t, eventually you have to write the scenes. Be excited! This is the fruition of your labor. Now you’re free to create without fear of missing some key…
State Your Theme
by Ron Estrada A lot of things have to happen in the first twenty pages of your novel. You’re busy introducing characters, setting, smashing that perfect opening line (stop it…It’s not as important as everyone says). But there is something often overlooked by writers. That is the statement of your theme. The Story Question The…
The 6 Month Novel
by Ron Estrada I’m interrupted constantly. How am I going to get a novel written in 6 months? I didn’t say they had to be consecutive months. However, the goal is to help you establish a writing system. One day, as you’ve often fantasized, you will be able to stick to a schedule. We want you…
A Novelist’s Movie Review: Catching Fire
by Ron Estrada Catching Fire, the second part to The Hunger Games trilogy, opened last week just in time for the big Thanksgiving movie rush. Of particular interest to writers is the big question of how to treat the middle part of a trilogy. While not the focus here, I always stand on two rules…
Watching a Movie with a Purpose
by Ron Estrada This week kicks off the big movie season for Hollywood. Thanksgiving weekend will launch some of the biggest flicks of the year. In fact, Catching Fire, part two of the Hunger Games trilogy, has already opened. It’s on my “to see” list this week. As a writer, though, you shouldn’t just sit…
The Mid-Point Moment
by Ron Estrada Your novel’s midpoint is often compared to the center pole on a circus tent. Without it, you get a long, sagging middle supported only by the first and second plot points, which are too far apart to hold your reader’s attention. Larry Brooks, author of Story Engineering, suggest the midpoint be a…
Your 5-Point Novel Outline
by Ron Estrada As some of you may have surmised, I have recently converted fully into the camp of the planner\plotter. As a recovering panster, I feel it is my duty to immerse my fellow writers into the world of planning. I understand this will be a shock to some of your systems, so I’ll…
Read to be Published
by Ron Estrada To pick up on the theme that Super G laid down yesterday, I wanted to talk about our reading strategy. Yes, I said strategy. If you’re the typical writer…interrupted, you personally know at least a dozen published authors. You also have a spouse and friends who say, “Oh you have to read…
Novel Idea to Premise
by Ron Estrada Your Big Idea You wake up at 1 am and say “Aha! I’ve got an idea!” Though your spouse is probably annoyed with you, you’re thrilled. You reach for your handy journal on your nightstand and write something like “A young girl meets her true love on Ellis Island.” You smile at…