6 min read
The 30-Day Novel Challenge: Draft a Book in a Month
50,000 words in 30 days is 1,667 words a day. That number is the entire challenge. It is not the hard part.
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Guides for the book you’re writing
Practical craft, no filler: how to write the story you’ve been carrying and finish it. Each guide links to the studio page for its genre. Every one is free to read.
5 min read
How to Outline a Novel: 7 Methods That Work
I have tried most of these. What I eventually worked out is that outline methods are not better or worse than each other. They fail differently. The right one for you is whichever failure mode you can live with.
Read the guide5 min read
How to Write a Villain Readers Love to Hate
My first antagonist was a man who wanted power. That was the whole character. I gave him good lines, a scar, a reason from his childhood. He stayed completely inert for two drafts.
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How to Write Dialogue That Sounds Real
That is exactly how people talk. It is also unreadable, which is the first thing to understand: realistic dialogue is not a recording. Real conversation is mostly maintenance. Fiction dialogue is what happens when people need something from each other and cannot ask directly.
Read the guide3 min read
Novel vs Book: What's the Difference?
A book is a container. A novel is a form that goes inside it. Cookbooks, biographies, poetry collections and instruction manuals are all books. None are novels.
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Screenplay vs Script: What's the Difference?
A script is any written text meant to be performed. A screenplay is a script written for the screen.
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7 min read
How to Write Your First Novel Without Drowning in It
A warm, practical guide to writing your first novel, from the blank page to a finished draft, for anyone who’s been carrying a story they haven’t started yet.
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