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.

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