by Jill Williamson | Jan 31, 2024 | Creativity, Elements of Fiction, Fantasy, Guest Posts, Learning from Other Authors, Plot, Speculative Fiction, Story Ideas, Story Structure, Writing
Ellen McGinty is an author and editor of Young Adult fantasy and historical fiction. She lives in the Tokyo metropolis with her husband, three boys, and a hypoallergenic cat. When not writing or editing, you can find her exploring the wilds of Japan with an abundance...
by Jill Williamson | Oct 11, 2023 | Brainstorming, First Drafts, Learning from Other Authors, NaNoWriMo, Plot, Story Structure, Writing
For the past few months, I’ve been taking you through my process of developing my upcoming Blood of Kings Legends short novel using The Story Equation by Susan May Warren. This story is about Guy and Girl. (I cannot yet share their names because my contracts says I...
by Shannon Dittemore | Feb 8, 2023 | Plot, Story Structure, The Craft of Writing, Writing
Just two elements left! Plot and Theme! If you’re playing catch up, here are the previous articles in this series introducing the Five Elements of Fiction: The Five Elements of Fiction The Five Elements of Fiction: Style The Five Elements of Fiction: Character...
by Jill Williamson | Feb 16, 2022 | Go Teen Writers Book Club, Learning from Other Authors, Plot, Scenes and Scene Structure, Story Structure, The Craft of Writing, Writing Tools
It’s no secret that I love Blake Snyder and his Save the Cat books. I own them all. I’ve read and dogeared them all. I’ve even taught workshops on his process at writing conferences! And I’ve blogged about it here, often. If you search for...
by Shannon Dittemore | Mar 10, 2021 | Grow An Author, Plot, Story Beginnings
Stephanie here. Shannon is in the middle of a move (and a book deadline . . . pray for Shannon!) so we’re pulling a post from the archives on her behalf. This post originally ran in 2018, but it’s definitely worth reading again. The promises you make to...
by Jill Williamson | Feb 17, 2021 | Climax, Editing, First Drafts, Getting Feedback On Your Writing, Mailbag, Plot, Story Structure
Today’s GTW Mailbag question comes from Isabella. She asks: Hello! Could you please write something on what a strong v.s. weak plot looks like, and what makes a strong plot? Also, how do you take a weaker plot, and make it stronger? Thanks! This is a great...
