The writer exploring the New World of Publishing needs a quiver full of arrows, including very short ones. The novel can take a year or more to go from idea to publication. In that year, dreams get dusty, bills come … Continue reading
Uh-oh. How To Think Sideways Lesson 9 mentions that word again. Math. No slide rules required, but you need to divide scene length into novel length to figure out how many scenes your book needs. Breathe. You can do this. What … Continue reading
We had a blast, didn’t we? We wrote our stories and submitted them for the first HTTS anthology. We held our breaths. Many were rewarded with acceptances, AKA Approval and Validation. Many others got the punch of rejection, AKA This … Continue reading
Holly’s lessons are comprehensive and profound, and for most of us they present entirely new ways to think about writing. Well, about everything! So, how do you approach each new lesson? How to Think Sideways members, go here and join … Continue reading
One of the great new elements of HTTS ULTRA is the Quick Fix included with every lesson. Week 8’s Quick Fix is devoted to muzzling that inner editor. As part of the lesson, Holly notes that the inner editor, AKA … Continue reading
Some stories are best told by an omniscient narrator who sees all, knows all, and tells all, if he decides to. Others are best told in that most intimate of viewpoints, first person. But for many writers, the standard POV … Continue reading
In the HTTS Week 9 Walkthrough, Holly shares snippets of her first-draft work on a Cadence Drake novel and explains why two of the snippets work and the third one doesn’t. See, two of the snippets drop the reader smack … Continue reading
This member of How to Revise Your Novel started the course without a lot of hope for her novel. She says: On top of which: before I started this lesson, I was beginning to think my novel was BROKEN BEYOND … Continue reading
In Week 5 of How to Revise Your Novel, the search is on for Conflict, because without it, there is no scene. Sometimes conflict is missing, but sometimes it’s just hard to recognize. Conflict isn’t always raised voices or raised fists. … Continue reading
You’re halfway through your novel and you realize that your Muse has brought you something new. Something big. Not a new novel, but a new development in the novel you’re writing now. Is this a good thing, or a bad … Continue reading