This member is almost finished revising her novel and she’s thinking about getting some professional help.
No, professional help for the book.
Which should she hire, a content editor or a proofreader? What’s the difference? Which one would be a better use of her budget?
If you know the answers or want to know the answers, log in and go here to join in. This discussion is in Writer Talk, which is open to all members.
If writing the book feels like a wild, exhilarating party, revising the book can sometimes feel like the morning after. Chips are ground into the carpet, and you’re not sure where all the furniture is. You ignore your pounding head and start to clean up the mess–only, the mess is overwhelming, and maybe the furniture was in the wrong place to begin with.
You begin to worry that you’ll never get it right. Worse, you worry that you’ll never get the hang of revision and that every book will take a year.
HTRYN members go here for an insightful, inspiring discussion of the revision process.
Thanks to Cat-Gerlach for suggesting this post.
How do you know who the protagonist of your novel is, when you have two characters who seem to be equally important?
Is there only one protagonist per story or can there be two? Is the protag the one who takes down the bad guy at the end? Is it the character who changes the most by the end of the story? Does alternating the points of view of these two characters make them co-protagonists? If one has greater needs and a larger character arc, does that make him the protagonist, or at least give a clue that he might be?
The discussion on the HtRYN forum includes the TV show, “How I Met Your Mother,” G.R.R. Martin’s “A Game of Thrones,” and of course Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.
It’s a fascinating discussion, with practical advice and answers from other members. You can find it here after you log into your class at HTRYN.
When a famous author permits an emerging writer to create a story for his universe, and the publisher pays for the story, it’s time to celebrate. Virtual champagne and chocolate for everyone!
The story in question is a free online read until March 14, 2012.
A milestone for an HTTS student and a free read for all of us.
Go here to offer congrats, ask questions of the author, and find a link for the free read.
This student emerged from the monastery having separated her story’s main plot and two sub-plots. Her concern now is how best to integrate the plot and sub-plots to maximize the reader’s enjoyment.
How would you do it?
Log in to check it out and join the discussion.
Oh, yeah–the book in question is the first of a series.
Thanks to Cat-Gerlach for suggesting this post.
The long-awaited Self-Publishing Expansion Lesson 13: How To Promote Your Writing BEFORE You Publish, is now complete and available in your classroom.
This lesson shows you how to promote your work ethically, which benefits both you and your readers, (and will help you get consistently higher reviews) and teaches you how to create quality content related to your writing that will bring you the targeted traffic of readers who will actually like your work.
The lesson also teaches you how to set up your:
and finally how to do acceptable cover art for your self-published work until you can afford to hire a pro.
Login to your student page, and download Lesson 13A from the lesson links at the top.
Do you curl up under a blanket with a laptop and a cup of tea? Do you head to a park or nature preserve where nobody but the birds will find you? Do you go to a coffee shop or busy mall and people watch while you write?
HTTS students, log in and check out this thread to share your favorite places to let your muse have their way.
The best writing can say more about the author than they ever intend, because the best writers put so much of themselves into their stories. Most often it’s intentional, with the author’s interests, passions, hopes and fears reflected in their plots, settings and characters. Sometimes, however, a writer only discovers common themes and ideas in their stories after the fact.
All members can log in and join this conversation about hidden themes and recurring plot devices that you’ve discovered in your writing.
I’m currently putting together the means by which students of courses like the Plot, Language, Character, and Culture clinics, Professional Plot Outline course, and other courses will be able to join the writer’s community.
Margaret and I are working on programming and setup right now. I hope by the first week of next year to have at least a part of this operational. Watch here for links to the courses you’ve already taken, or want to take, to see how you can join the community.
A Sideways student ponders how other writers develop, build, and implement unique systems of magic for their books.
What fictional magic systems make sense to you and which ones seem contrived? How much do you pull from real world myths, religions and philosophies? How do you balance different magical elements in your own writing?
Log in to share your thoughts and experience here.