Yesterday, I ran across the video above, from Barnes & Noble Studio, on The Daily Beast’s Book Beast page. I’m not a fan of Jodi Picoult, though, to be fair, I’ve only read one of her books, My Sister’s Keeper. I was so disappointed with it, particularly the very deus ex machina feeling of the [...]
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m using a method suggested by Robert McKee in his book Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting (HarperEntertainment, 1997) to outline scenes. He recommends outlining a story (novel, screenplay) with one- to three-sentence scene descriptions on index cards before writing anything.
Plan Scenes, But Don’t Write Them (Yet)
McKee suggests [...]
I should know this by now.
Yet, I’ve struggled for years with what, exactly, a scene is.
The dictionary definitions are useful only to a point–the point at which I start trying to craft scenes. That’s when the wheels tend to fall off the bus. But I’ve been using a technique recommended by Robert McKee in his [...]
The New York Times reports on the finalists for this year’s Orange Prize, which include American books Home, by Marilyn Robinson, Scotsboro, by Ellen Feldman, and The Invention of Everything Else, by Samantha Hunt.
The Pulitzer Prizes were awarded this week. The Pulitzer Prize for fiction went to Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout (Random House); for [...]
I’m currently reading Robert McKee’s Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting (HarperEntertainment, 1997), and find his comments on creative limitations particularly useful as I start on a new novel.
I’ve decided to do as he suggest here in the video, and in more detail in the book: I’m going to straight-jacket myself into [...]
I’ve been reading Stephenie Meyer’s partial draft of Midnight Sun, which was leaked on the internet when she sent out a review copy to someone she hasn’t named. Last August, she posted something on her website about the leak, and how it stopped her, at least at that time, from completing the book, which covers [...]
“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”
Dorothy Parker
The ultimate guide to writing with precision and flair, The Elements of [...]
My writing teacher Laurel Yourke recently recommended that those of us in her novel workshop read Robert McKee’s Story: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting (HarperEntertainment, 1997). She said it’s perhaps the best book she’s ever read on writing fiction of any kind.
I’ve just started it, and agree with Laurel that it’s profound, [...]
There seem to be two schools of thought when it comes to revising fiction. Some writers (and teachers) insist that you finish a first draft before doing any real revision. Other writers describe their process as writing for the day, starting the next day’s writing by reading and revising the previous day’s work, then proceeding [...]
It is harrowing for me to try to teach 20-year-old students, who earnestly want to improve their writing. The best I can think to tell them is: Quit smoking, and observe posted speed limits. This will improve your odds of getting old enough to be wise.
Barbara Kingsolver, author of The Poisonwood Bible,
Prodigal Summer, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and [...]