In which the author offers up his humble insights into writing stories people will love

How to Write a Story that Rocks

Here’s the two-hour 12-part video recording of the seminar Larry Correia and I gave on Feb, 11, 2010 at BYU’s “Life, the Universe, & Everything: The Marion K. ‘Doc’ Smith Symposium on Science Fiction & Fantasy.”

How to Write a Story That Rocks – Handout

The 3 Things You Must Learn to Write Killer Stories

The posts here follow a 2-3 hour workshop I deliver on the topic.

Introduction: How to avoid wandering around in the bushes for 10 years

Note: after you finish with the pages below, you will want to click on the “Writers–Posts” category on the left to find dozens of other essays about the business and craft.

Thing 1: What Stories Do

• Lesson 1: Lipstick
• Lesson 2: Getting Specific
• Lesson 3: My Main Draws
• More coming . . .

Thing 2: How Stories Do What They Do

Or you could say the parts of story and the principles of how they work to affect readers.

• Lesson 1: Rules vs. Objectives
• Lesson 2: Emotion Process
• Lesson 3: The 4 Parts
• More coming . . .

Thing 3: The Creative Process

• Lesson 1: The Creative Process
• Lesson 2: Step 1 of The Creative Process: Capture the Zing
• Resource: Zing Hunting Methods
• Lesson 5: Spiderman, Peter Parker, and the Gift of Writer’s Block
• Lesson 6: The Writer’s Trance & The Four Trance Breakers
• More coming . . .

Killer Workshop Materials

1. The 3 Things You Must Learn to Write Killer Stories Handout
2. The Story Cycle Handout
3. Please remember the 10-to-20′s. You can find the full list here. I would love to hear your experience with them.

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The Writing Business

• Lesson 1: The 4 Basic Things You’ll Do to Learn The Craft
• Lesson 2: Learning from Pros (books, podcasts, workshops, etc. I recommend)
• Lesson 3: Finding Your Audience (and getting paid) by Landing an Agent and Editor
• Other: Writing business facts & figures (size of advances, how people break in, etc.)

I’m sure I’ll add others.

Do I Read & Critique Manuscripts?

I would never fault anyone for asking a published author if they would read and critique a manuscript.  I mean, duh, if I wanted to learn cabinet making, shooting, accounting, writing, whatever–I’d want a professional to give me tips and feedback. So I don’t think anyone should feel bad for asking. Alas, I am simply too busy with my day job, my writing job, and my family to even think about being able to do this. So I do not read and critique manuscripts. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get expert feedback.

1. There are pros who DO read and critique. If you want this, please contact Mette Harrison. I know Mette personally and like her work. She’ll treat you well. She’s a pro author and reads a massive number of books each year and so can respond to many genres. She has a regular writing advice column on Orson Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show. If that’s not enough, know that Orson Card loves her work (his review of Mira Mirror and Princess and the Hound). Contact her and see if she’s right for you.

2. Go to pro author workshops. I don’t have time to critique, but I do make time to share what I know. If you come to a workshop, I can certainly respond to your pitch or concept. I still won’t have time to read and report my experience with the whole manuscript, but it’s better than nothing. On the other hand, while I am limited, there are workshops by pro authors that DO take time to look at your whole novel. David Farland and Dean Wesley Smith, both excellent pro authors, hold novel workshops that do this. I’ve attended workshops they’ve held and can recommend them to you.  And if you just want an all-around killer workshop, then Orson Card holds a week-long literary boot camp (announced each Jan-Feb) where you’re required to write a short story, but it’s so much more than short stories. I can’t recommend Card’s workshop highly enough. But don’t limit yourself to the three pros above–there are others.

3. Finally, sometimes the best insight comes not from feedback on your own work, but by you reading other people’s work (as a reader, not a critiquer) and simply asking yourself where it was unclear, unbelievable, or boring AS WELL AS where it was clear, believable, and interesting. For each case try to identify what was going on that made it that way for you.