How to Think Sideways Lesson 7 is a challenging workout: it can hurt, it’s certainly hard work, and the benefits are long-lasting and powerful. space Have you worked through Lesson 7 yet? Or are you in the middle of it, … 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
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
Every once in awhile a writer gets stuck on some tiny piece of information that he needs help with. Ideally, we’d get to consult with an expert for help, but what we have instead is almost as good. We like … Continue reading
As writers, we don’t always have the luxury of carving large blocks of time out of our lives in order to write. We have kids and dogs, spouses and jobs, and any number of other tangible realities that interfere with … 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
Some writers love sitting down to a blank page and just starting to write. The problem is, without at least some basic planning, it’s never entirely certain where they’ll end up. For most writer’s, having some basics about your characters, … 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
Some people complain that their Muse is shy, stubborn, or generally non-compliant. It won’t come out to share ideas… except perhaps at the most inconvenient of times. Others have quite the opposite problem. Some Muses have ideas spilling out so … Continue reading