The 10 Types of Writers' Block (and How to Overcome Them) The Pixar Touch - history of Pixar - Blog - Pixar story rules (one version) Pixar story artist Emma Coats has tweeted a series of “story basics” over the past month and a half — guidelines that she learned from her more senior colleagues on how to create appealing stories: #1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes. #2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer.
They can be v. different. #3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. . #4: Once upon a time there was ___ . #5: Simplify. . #6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? #7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. . #8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. . #9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. . #10: Pull apart the stories you like. . #11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. . #12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. . #13: Give your characters opinions. . #16: What are the stakes? How to Create an Instant Bestselling Novel.
How to Create an Instant Bestselling Novel by Cliff Pickover Please consider the following helpful tips. These will make it easier to get your stories or novels published. These tips will help you write good fiction in general. First, buy a National Geographic magazine. Mechanics Show Not Tell It's better to show through a character's actions than "tell" by having the narrator describe. Example:"When are you going to leave for France? " Short Better Than Long In real life, people often talk in short sentences and phrases, rather than in long drawn-out sentences with big words. "Get out of here now! " Don't Begin To Don't have your characters "begin to do something," "try to do something," and so forth. Additional Mechanics "Like" or "As If" The word "like" should not be used preceding a clause with a subject and a verb.
Clifford A. Spice Up Your Writing With Dialogue. By Judy Cullins Does your chapter sound like a report? Does it go on and on with past tense sentences that tell, rather than show? To spice up your self help, non-fiction or fiction book and even promotional writing, you need to use much more dialogue. Why? Because dialogue presents your story through your characters' hearts and minds. If your aim your book at agents and publishers, the first action acquisition editors make is to find a section of dialogue.
It is difficult to put just the right words into dialogue--to convey character and emotion. Tips: 1. "You can't be serious, she said in astonishment. " So, show how astonished through dialogue or beat. 2. Stop using -ly verbs such as "I'm afraid it's not going well," he said grimly. " Examples: Percy burst into the zoo keeper's office. "Is something wrong, sir? " "Don't you realize you're killing those poor innocent creatures, you heartless fascist? 3. You have heard about show, don't tell and all -ly forms tell. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
20 Basic Plots For Story Generators - Software Secret Weapons. The 20 Basic Plots are collected by the Tennessee Screenwriting Association . After you come up with your own system for generating ideas, the next step is to put them in some recognizable story form (the basic plot idea), build your central conflict (the story premise sheet), then build your character and underlying themes (the thematic premise sheet). 1. QUEST - the plot involves the Protagonist's search for a person, place or thing, tangible or intangible (but must be quantifiable, so think of this as a noun; i.e., immortality). 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. (Note: Sometimes #19 & #20 are combined into rags-to-riches-to-rags (or vice versa) of a Protagonist who does (or doesn't) learn to deal with their dominating character trait).
Looking At People Through Their Words illustrates the use of artificial intelligence and data mining for text analysis. 102 Resources for Fiction Writing « Here to Create. UPDATE 1/10: Dead links removed, new links added, as well as Revision and Tools and Software sections. Are you still stuck for ideas for National Novel Writing Month?
Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining, Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas and Inspiration. Also, I recommend some resources for Revision and some online Tools and Software. Too many links? Pick a few at random and bookmark the rest for later. 10 Days of Character Building Name Generators Name Playground The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test Priming the idea pump (A character checklist shamlessly lifted from acting) How to Create a Character Seven Common Character Types Handling a Cast of Thousands – Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters It’s Not What They Say . . .
Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character” How to Start Writing in the Third Person Monomyth. 50 Strategies For Making Yourself Work. Written by Jerry Oltion Copyright © 2001 by Jerry Oltion Work avoidance is one of the major paradoxes of the writing profession. Generally, writers want to write (or want to have written), but all too often we find ourselves doing anything else but. We’ll mow lawns, do the dishes, polish silverware–anything to keep from facing the blank page. At the same time we know we eventually have to get to work, so we come up with all sorts of strategies for forcing ourselves to the keyboard.
Sometimes a single strategy works beautifully for an entire writer’s career (for instance: for over 40 years Fred Pohl wrote four pages a day no matter what, after which he was free to polish all the silverware he wanted), but in my own case I’ve discovered that any particular strategy only works for a couple of months before I learn to subvert it. As a result I have to keep inventing new ones. Set a quota of pages written per day. Kurt Vonnegut explains drama. I was at a Kurt Vonnegut talk in New York a few years ago. Talking about writing, life, and everything. He explained why people have such a need for drama in their life. He said, “People have been hearing fantastic stories since time began. The problem is, they think life is supposed to be like the stories. Let's look at a few examples.” He drew an empty grid on the board, like this: Time moves from left to right. He said, “Let's look at a very common story arc.
It starts with her awful life with evil stepsisters, scrubbing the fireplace. “People LOVE that story! He wiped the board clean and said, “Now let's look at another popular story arc: the disaster.” It's an ordinary day in an ordinary town. But the problem is, life is really like this... Our lives drifts along with normal things happening.
“But because we grew up surrounded by big dramatic story arcs in books and movies, we think our lives are supposed to be filled with huge ups and downs! That's why people invent fights.