Chrissy Medeiros joined the Idea to Draft Story Intensive with a story idea in her mind … and today she’s 74,000 words into her draft and a few thousand words away from being finished. In her own words, here’s how the Idea to Draft Story Intensive has helped her take her story from “idea seed” to…
Idea to Draft Story Intensive Case Study: Paula Thorne
By Jennifer Blanchard
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Paula Thorne joined the Spring 2014 Idea to Draft Story Intensive with a story idea in her mind, but no clear way to execute it on paper … and today she’s more than halfway finished with her first draft. In her own words, here’s how the Idea to Draft Story Intensive has helped her take her…
The 3 Phases of Writing A First Draft
By Jennifer Blanchard
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Writing a novel is one of those activities that takes time. It’s something you’ll have to be willing to stick with for at least a year to a year and a half. So that’s why you’ve gotta love the process as much as you do the story you want to tell. We all have story ideas…
Why You Should Ignore Your Characters and Know Your Ending Ahead of Time
By Jennifer Blanchard
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When I wrote my first novel back in 2008, I had no idea how it was going to end. I wasn’t even really sure how it was going to start, or what was going to happen along the way. All I knew was that my protagonist wanted to end up with the guy. Except that…
The Final Piece of Information Your Story Needs
By Jennifer Blanchard
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This is the final post in a four-part series on story structure. You can read part one here, part two here and part three here. To learn more about story structure, be sure to opt-in to receive a free copy of the eBook, How To Write Better Stories. Story structure is the skeleton of your story; it’s the backbone that…
A Strong Reminder of What’s At Stake In Your Story
By Jennifer Blanchard
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This is part three in a four-part series on story structure. You can read part one here and part two here. To learn more about story structure, be sure to sign up to receive a free copy of the eBook, How To Write Better Stories. There are some moments in a story that are huge. And others that…
The Moment In Your Story That Changes Everything
By Jennifer Blanchard
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This is part two in a four-part series on story structure. You can read part one here. To learn more about story structure, be sure to sign up to receive a free copy of the eBook, How To Write Better Stories. There’s a moment in every story (or at least there should be!) where the…
Do You Know The Most Important Moment In Your Story? (Hint: It’s Not What You Think!)
By Jennifer Blanchard
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This is part one in a four-part series on story structure. To learn more about story structure, be sure to opt-in to receive a free copy of the eBook, How To Write Better Stories. There’s a moment in every story that’s most important. It’s more important than the ending. More important than how the protagonist (aka:…
2 Books Every Novelist Should Read Annually
By Jennifer Blanchard
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You know that feeling when you read a book and it lights up something inside you? Finally everything makes sense. You feel on-fire with insight. Your world will never, ever be the same again. This feeling doesn’t happen with every book you read. No, it only happens with a few very special books. Books that…
5 Ways to Boost Your Creative Juices Using Your Nose
By Jennifer Blanchard
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This is a guest post from blogger Cindy Coons. I asked her to write this post after she approached me with the idea of using scents to unblock yourself and get inspired to write again. Cindy is going to share her top 5 scents for helping you to boost your creative juices. Enjoy!–jen By Cindy…