This is a key to raising your work from just being a commercial book or movie to becoming a bestseller.Dave has trained authors in conjunction with his role as coordinating judge of the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Program, as a creative writing instructor at Brigham Young University, and he has honed his skills in dozens of writing seminars and classes.In this eBook, Dave teaches new writers the basics of how to analyze an audience, and outline, draft, and polish a novel.The secrets found in his unconventional approach will help you understand why so many of his authors go on to prominence.

    The book became a national bestseller, won a slew of awards, and is soon to be a major motion picture. Get the first draft down quickly! The 90-Day Novel is a day-by-day guide through the process of getting the first draft of your novel onto the page. The 90-Day Novel has been used at the L.A. Writers' Lab over ten years and has helped hundreds of writers complete their work. Some of Watt's students have gone on to become bestselling authors and win major literary awards.The 90-Day Novel is structured into three parts. Part One describes the process of getting your story from imagination to the page and prepares you, through a few simple, powerful writing exercises to access the story within. Part Two is a series of 90 daily letters that will guide you through the hero's journey. Writers often tend to get stuck halfway through, mired somewhere in their "idea" of the story. The 90-Day Novel will show you how and why you got stuck, and how to get to the end of your first draft. Part Three is a compendium of stream-of-consciousness writing exercises designed to access the primal forces in your story, as well as the Structure Questions that will invite up images at key stages in your hero's journey. The 90-Day Novel teaches you how to distill your plot to its nature, and clarifies the mysterious process of assembling vague disparate images into a coherent narrative. Working in this way, story structure (which is often taught as a formula) becomes a springboard, setting you free to explore the far reaches of your imagination. "There are no rules," Watt tells us. "Stay out of your left brain, and let your unconscious do the heavy lifting." The 90-Day Novel clearly articulates the process of marrying the rigor of story structure to the wildness of the imagination, and in the process reminds us of something we so often forget . . . that writing is actually fun. For more information, go to www.lawriterslab.com."For years I have been fascinated by the industry legend of how Alan Watt wrote his masterful novel, Diamond Dogs, in 90 days. Now, at last, he shares his secrets. The 90-Day Novel is smart, insightful, thorough and wise. It's also one of the best books on novel-writing I have ever seen. I feel confident that anyone who takes this program seriously will have a solid manuscript to show for the effort."- David Liss (national bestselling author and Edgar winner of A Conspiracy of Paper)"Let Al Watt take your heart by its hand and get your 90-Day Novel onto the page. It will be the experience of a lifetime."- Viki King (author of How to Write a Movie in 21 Days: The Inner Movie Method)"The 90-Day Novel is the real deal. Alan Watt gets down to it by brilliantly articulating the fusion of the muse to the rigor of story structure. If you've been struggling with your story, or really want to get dangerous on the page, read this book. Follow it, and you will have a first draft in 90 days."- Eric Miles Williamson (Pen finalist for his novel East Bay Grease, and author of Say It Hot) "The 90-Day Novel provides the inspiration, focus, and structure that every novelist needs to finally put down on paper what has been alive inside him, perhaps for years, struggling to get out."- Allison Burnett (author of Christopher, finalist for Pen Center USA's Literary Award in Fiction)"The 90 daily letters are absolutely worth the price of admission. A friendly nudge, a gentle reminder of our commitment, a powerful blast of insight: all serve to boost our flagging morale, or comb out our confusion, or intercede with the bitter fight against our creative impulses."- Mary Shannon (Professor of Creative Writing, Cal State Northridge/90-Day NovelistAbout the AuthorBestselling author Alan Watt has received many awards for his writing, including France's 2004 Prix Printemps (best foreign novel). He founded LA Writers' Lab in 2002. He lectures on the creative process and teaches The 90-Day Novel workshops to writers throughout the world.

    At once a memoir, meditation on the artistic process, and advice on craft, Still Writing is an intimate and eloquent companion to living a creative life.Through a blend of deeply personal stories about what formed her as a writer, tales from other authors, and a searching look at her own creative process, Shapiro offers her gift to writers everywhere: an elegant guide of hard-won wisdom and advice for staying the course. "The writer's life requires courage, patience, empathy, openness. It requires the ability to be alone with oneself. Gentle with oneself. To be disciplined, and at the same time, take risks." Writers--and anyone with an artistic temperament--will find inspiration and comfort in these pages. Offering lessons learned over twenty years of teaching and writing, Shapiro brings her own revealing insights to weave an indispensable almanac for modern writers.Like Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird, Virginia Woolf's A Writer's Diary, and Stephen King's On Writing, Dani Shapiro's Still Writing is a lodestar for aspiring scribes and an eloquent memoir of the writing life.

    With elegance, humor, and sophistication, Gardner describes the life of a working novelist; warns what needs to be guarded against, both from within the writer and from without; and predicts what the writer can reasonably expect and what, in general, he or she cannot. "For a certain kind of person," Gardner writes, "nothing is more joyful or satisfying than the life of a novelist." But no other vocation, he is quick to add, is so fraught with professional and spiritual difficulties. Whether discussing the supposed value of writer's workshops, explaining the role of the novelist's agent and editor, or railing against the seductive fruits of literary elitism, On Becoming a Novelist is an indispensable, life-affirming handbook for anyone authentically called to the profession. "A miraculously detailed account of the creative process."—Anne Tyler, Baltimore Sun

    The Portable MFA gives you all of the essential information you would learn in the MFA program in one book. Covering fiction, memoirs, personal essays, magazine articles, poetry, and playwriting, this book provides you with:Inspiration and tips on revision, stamina, and productivityClear instruction on the craft behind the artDetailed reading lists to expand your literary horizonsExercises to improve your writing endeavorsBy heeding the advice in The Portable MFA, you will gain the wisdom and experience of some of today's greatest teachers, all for just the price of a book.

    Her exuberant, critically acclaimed teaching guide takes instructors, writers, and general readers into the very heart and intensity of life and the craft of expressing what one feels through the written word.

    Now, for the first time ever, bestselling author and writing teacher, Jessica Brody, takes the beloved Save the Cat! plotting principals and applies them to the craft of novel writing in this exciting new “workshop style” guide, featuring over 20 full beat sheets from popular novels throughout time.Whether you’re writing your first novel or your seventeenth, Save the Cat! breaks down plot in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step method so you can write stories that resonate! This book can help you with any of the following:Outlining a new novelRevising an existing novelBreaking out of the dreaded “writer’s block”Fixing a “broken” novelReviewing a completed novelFleshing out/test driving a new idea to see if it “has legs”Implementing feedback from agents and/or editorsHelping give constructive feedback to other writersBut above all else, SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL will help you better understand the fundamentals and mechanics of plot, character transformation, and what makes a story work!

    Some novelists write with the goal of becoming a best seller, hoping for wealth and fame. Some just want to write novels that earn them a steady income so they can feed their families and pay their bills. Some write to express their creativity and don’t care if anyone ever reads their books. Then there are the other writers. They want to write an unforgettable novel—the kind of book that gets called a classic, that endures the ravages of time, that stays long in readers’ hearts and changes their lives. These writers want to know the secret of how to reach the heart of their readers. If you are one of those writers, Writing the Heart of Your Story is the book you’ve been waiting for. Inside, you’ll learn: what the most important key elements are that must be in the very first scene of your novel—and some in the first paragraph. how to tap into the heart of your story, characters, setting, plot, and themes by employing specific writing exercises. ways to brainstorm ideas for plot, themes, motifs, setting, and rich characters through asking a series of questions that will take you deeper below the surface of your story. what the most important question is that must be asked in the opening scene in order to write an unforgettable novel. what three things each character must be asked for them to become truly believable and compelling. the secrets to structuring powerful scenes by focusing on the “high moment.” Don’t just write a good novel. Write a great one—by mining the heart of your story! Here's what the best writing instructors and bloggers have to say about this essential writing craft book: “A fresh and motivating take on conventional wisdom, but with unconventional heart. This is highly accessible teaching that transcends ‘how to’ and goes deep into ‘why to’ in a way that will force you to choose between reading it again and jumping on your own project. Bravo.” —Larry Brooks, best-selling author of Story Engineering and Story Physics “As authors, our job is to make people feel, and to do this we need to connect with our own deepest selves in the hope that we can meet the reader where they are. This book will teach you how to delve into your own heart in order to impact those who read your words.” —Joanna Penn, author of From Idea to Book “A veritable compendium of sound writing advice and technique. Written in a style that is both accessible and fun, Lakin's book will be a welcome companion on your writing journey.” —James Scott Bell, best-selling author of Conflict and Suspense and Plot and Structure “I read dozens of writing craft books every year. All too many of them are ho-hum, been-there-done-that. This one is absotively posolutely not. Lakin offers a refreshingly structured—and yet freeing—approach to not just creating a solidly entertaining story but to crafting a tale of emotional resonance and resilience.

    Musicians practice. As a writer you need to do the same. Whether you have dreams of writing a novel or a memoir or a collection of poems, or you simply want to improve your everyday writing, this innovative book will show you how to build your skills by way of practice.Through playful and purposeful exercises, you'll develop your natural aptitude for communication, strengthening your ability to come up with things to say, and your ability to get those things into the minds (and the hearts) of readers. You'll learn to:- Train and develop your writer's powers--creativity, memory, observation, imagination, curiosity, and the subconscious - Understand the true nature of the relationship between you and your readers - Find your writer's voice - Get required writing projects done so you have more time for the writing you want to do - And much more Empowering and down-to-earth, How to Be a Writer gives you the tools you need, and tells you what (and how) to practice so that you can become the writer you want to be.

    Now the celebrated producer, lecturer, teacher, and bestselling author has updated his classic guide for a new generation of filmmakers, offering a fresh insider’s perspective on the film industry today. From concept to character, from opening scene to finished script, here are easily understood guidelines to help aspiring screenwriters—from novices to practiced writers—hone their craft. Filled with updated material—including all-new personal anecdotes and insights, guidelines on marketing and collaboration, plus analyses of recent films, from American Beauty to Lord of the Rings—Screenplay presents a step-by-step, comprehensive technique for writing the screenplay that will succeed in Hollywood. Discover:•Why the first ten pages of your script are crucially important•How to visually “grab” the reader from page one, word one •Why structure and character are the essential foundation of your screenplay•How to adapt a novel, a play, or an article into a screenplay•Tips on protecting your work—three legal ways to claim ownership of your screenplay•The essentials of writing great dialogue, creating character, building a story line, overcoming writer’s block, getting an agent, and much more.With this newly updated edition of his bestselling classic, Syd Field proves yet again why he is revered as the master of the screenplay—and why his celebrated guide has become the industry’s gold standard for successful screenwriting.

    Complete with self-critique questions to help you assess your work, these exercises challenge you to experiment with the diverse writing styles as you clarify your own.Make the most of Josip Novakovich's insightful, mind-expanding workshop and come away with a stronger voice, a broader perspective and better fiction.

    Lajos Egri's classic, The Art of Dramatic Writing, does just that, with instruction that can be applied equally well to a short story, novel, or screenplay. Examining a play from the inside out, Egri starts with the heart of any drama: its characters. All good dramatic writing hinges on people and their relationships, which serve to move the story forward and give it life, as well as an understanding of human motives - why people act the way that they do. Using examples from everything from William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet to Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, Egri shows how it is essential for the author to have a basic premise - a thesis, demonstrated in terms of human behavior - and to develop the dramatic conflict on the basis of that behavior.Using Egri's ABCs of premise, character, and conflict, The Art of Dramatic Writing is a direct, jargon-free approach to the problem of achieving truth in writing.

    This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published.In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious "mis-examples" to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they'll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.

    Discover techniques and strategies for generating ideas, connecting with readers emotionally, and finding inspiration you need to finish your work. This fully revised edition includes an updated marketing section for navigating the unique challenges and possibilities of the evolving literary marketplace. Inside you'll find new essays from dozens of best-selling authors and publishing professionals detailing how to:—Master the elements of fiction, from plot and character to dialogue and point of view—Develop a unique voice and sensibility in your writing—Manage the practical aspects of writing, from overcoming writer's block to revising your work—Determine the key elements for success in every genre—Find an agent, market your work, and get published—or self-publish—successfullyYou'll also find interviews with some of the world's finest and most popular writers, including David Baldacci, Lee Child, Robert Crais, Khaled Hosseini, Hugh Howey, Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, George R.R. Martin, Jojo Moyes, Anne Rice, Jane Smiley, and Garth Stein. Their insights on the craft and business of fiction will provide you with invaluable mentorship as you embark on your writing journey.The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing is your go-to guide for every aspect of creating a bestseller.

    It is a book for everybody who wants to learn how to write or who needs to do some writing to get through the day, as almost everybody does in the age of e-mail and the Internet. Whether you want to write about people or places, science and technology, business, sports, the arts or about yourself in the increasingly popular memoir genre, On Writing Well offers you fundamental priciples as well as the insights of a distinguished writer and teacher. With more than a million copies sold, this volume has stood the test of time and remains a valuable resource for writers and would-be writers.