How to Make a Forbidden Romance Work
Today’s “Ask Jami” came from a comment on my Romance Beat Sheet post. Nick wanted to know how a story’s structure would change if the romance is forbidden. Ooo…
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Story Themes: What’s Your Worldview?
We often struggle with identifying a story’s theme, and when it comes to including themes in our own stories, we might be at a loss for how to do so. This past weekend, a writing workshop for preteens included lessons on how to write with themes. The processes the kids went through to discover how to incorporate themes in their stories might help us too.
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How to Organize Our Writing Research & Notes — Guest: Jenny Hansen
Today’s post continues the “secret weapon” theme from Tuesday’s post, but this time we’re going to talk about issues related to our writing. And this time, the secret weapon is Microsoft’s OneNote. Researching character or location pictures? Use OneNote. Want to capture the most useful tips on a blog post? […]
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Websites, Beat Sheets, and Lost Pants—Oh My!
I’ve been there, struggling in the same way we all do. My life is a constant balancing act between family and all my (many) various work projects. Between that common understanding and my epic, mini-ebook-length workshop handouts, my workshops are popular.
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How to Make Turning Points Drive Arcs and Themes
Last week, we looked at turning points from the perspective of beat sheets—how to identify them and ensure they’re changing the direction of the story enough to deserve their name. But turning points affect the story in other ways too. Turning points aren’t just about plot twists. (In fact, plot […]
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What Makes a Story Event a “Turning Point”?
Our stories are filled with scenes where (hopefully) things happen, but only some of those events are turning points and belong on a beat sheet. So how can we identify our story structure?
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In Defense of Pantsing
Too much writing advice assumes that pantsers can’t succeed. But trust me, we can, and the pantsing method is not the cause of any problems.
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Why Story Structure Matters
Story structure isn’t just about the “rules” of story beats. It lies at the core of our ability to tell a story. Let’s take a look at what that means.
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Ask Jami: Can We Use Beat Sheets with Scrivener?
Do you use the Scrivener program for your writing? Many writers do, especially as Scrivener sponsors NaNoWriMo and offers a discount to participants. I started using Scrivener for my NaNo drafting last year and was able to buy the program at half-off because of my NaNo win. Woo hoo! Many writers […]
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NaNo Wrap-Up: Beat Sheets 101
Not familiar with beat sheets or spreadsheet programs? Learn what the different columns and rows mean and how we can update the details for our unique story.
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