Are you unsure which series structure is best for you? Or are you several books into a series, but you’re stuck? Do you want to expand your literary universe but aren’t sure how to do it? Perhaps you have a series languishing in your backlist, and you need ideas on how to market it.  Get the knowledge you need to make smart decisions about your series with How to Write a Series.  You’ll learn:  The three basic types of series The benefits and drawbacks of writing each type of series Tips for extending your series beyond your original plan Ideas for creating spinoffs and expanding your literary universe How to know when it’s time to end a series How to save time writing your series and how to keep track of details How to deal with the problems that result from being locked into a story world  How to refresh your interest in a series if you’ve grown bored Creative ways to market your series I’ve been writing for fifteen years as both a hybrid and independent author. I’ve published over twenty-five fiction books in four different series. Everything I’ve learned about writing a series has been through trial and error. I hope my lessons-learned will give you a shortcut when it comes to writing your series plus tips for troubleshooting problems and ideas for promoting your series. Unlock the power of a series in your author career with How To Write a Series.

    A LIST OF 1,000 ADJECTIVES Indie Author Resources Book 3 Are boring adjectives leaving your writing dull, bland, and yawn-inducing? If so, this book is for you! Broken down into easy-to-navigate categories like "texture," "height," and "brightness," these adjectives will help you pack your writing with descriptions that will leave your readers asking for more!

    To join the elite ranks of those who write consistently, you need to learn how to stay prolific over the long term. And for that, the number one ingredient is self-discipline. In Self-Discipline for Writers, bestselling author Martin Meadows shares his philosophy and strategies on how to build self-discipline as a writer and how to keep writing over the long term. Here are some of the most important ideas you’ll discover: - 3 foundations of self-discipline for writers (avoid a common mistake that almost always leads to failure), - 3 steps to a strong work ethic as a writer (learn how to develop a strategy for consistently hitting your word counts), - 5 types of self-doubt common among writers and how to overcome them (if you don’t believe in yourself as a writer, how are your readers supposed to believe in you?), - 7 tips on how to manage your energy as a writer—including not only the most fundamental advice, but also intricacies like discussing your projects with other people, capturing fleeting ideas, and reading your reviews (learn why optimizing your energy is key to consistent results), - why control is essential for any writer (and how to claim it), - 5 good business practices for more self-discipline (this includes some surprising thoughts on how to run your writing business to reduce frustration and increase productivity). Writing doesn’t have to be burdensome. You too can write with more ease, and most importantly, write and publish consistently so that you can enjoy a flourishing writing career. Let’s learn together how to accomplish this exciting goal.

    Because if you can write one terrific scene, you can write a hundred. And that’s a novel. This is a short book, with just one goal—to teach you the simple principles you can use right now to design a powerful scene before you write it. If you’ve already written your novel, you can use these same principles to make each scene better. About the Book How to Write a Dynamite Scene Using the Snowflake Method will give you the power tools you need to write scenes that move your reader’s emotions. You’ll learn: The one thing your reader most desperately wants. And why. How to decide which character should have the point of view. The 2 kinds of scenes designed to give your reader a powerful emotional experience—and how to know which to use. 5 ways to test that your lead character’s goal in each scene is perfect. How to end every scene so it leaves your reader wanting more. Why dilemmas are good, and how to know when they’re ruining your story. 4 ways to know that your character’s decision will drive your story forward. How to know when a scene is broken—and how to fix it. Excerpt from Chapter 1: Your reader desperately wants one thing. You have it in your power to give your reader that one thing. And what is that one thing? I could tell you what that one thing is, and you would nod and agree that yes, that one thing is clearly something all readers want. But telling you that one thing wouldn’t make it stick in your mind forever. I want it to stick. I’d rather show you that one thing. Once you’ve seen it, once you’ve lived it, you’ll never forget it. That one thing will be inside you, fueling everything you write. So let me tell you a quick story about one of our ancestors who lived many thousands of years ago in a small village on this planet we call home. When I say he’s our ancestor, I mean it literally—he’s your ancestor and he’s my ancestor and he’s every human’s ancestor. That ancestor of ours was once a thirteen-year-old boy, the newest man in the village, and the smallest. Imagine you’re that boy on the day when word comes to the village that there’s a killer tiger ravaging the village’s herd of goats. The Tale of the Tiger You’re furious. A drought has been burning the land for many months. That herd of goats is all that keeps your village from starvation. You’re also terrified. There’s only one way to get rid of a killer tiger. The village has to organize a hunt, find the tiger, and kill it. But that won’t be easy, because there’s nothing more dangerous in your world than a killer tiger. The village headman sends word around to the whole village. All men meet in the village square, and bring your spear. When the messenger comes to your hut, he shakes his head and frowns. He thinks you’re too young to go. In your heart, you’re afraid he’s right.

    "You need tools, not rules." His book distills decades of experience into 50 tools that will help any writer become more fluent and effective. WRITING TOOLS covers everything from the most basic ("Tool 5: Watch those adverbs") to the more complex ("Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera") and provides more than 200 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists, and writers of memos, e-mails, PowerPoint presentations, and love letters, here are 50 indispensable, memorable, and usable tools. "Pull out a favorite novel or short story, and read it with the guidance of Clark's ideas. . . . Readers will find new worlds in familiar places. And writers will be inspired to pick up their pens." -Boston Globe"For all the aspiring writers out there-whether you're writing a novel or a technical report-a respected scholar pulls back the curtain on the art." -Atlanta Journal-Constitution"This is a useful tool for writers at all levels of experience, and it's entertainingly written, with plenty of helpful examples." -Booklist

    Along the way, it’ll help you form the foundation you need to write a novel you’re proud of. You’ll learn to:• Strengthen the ideas you have and discover new ones, even when inspiration seems far away.• Expand your original idea into a fully fledged story.• Develop a fleshed-out cast of characters, without overwhelming yourself with complex formulas and “best-practices."• Apply structure to your story in a way that honors and refines your original idea. • Bring it all together in a final Master Outline, designed to guide you through every stage of writing your novel.Each day of this outlining challenge comes with easy to follow prompts and intuitive goals, streamlining the outlining process. By the end, The Ten Day Outline will have taken the stress out of planning a novel, so you’ll be ready to set out on your own epic writing journey!

    Your villain is.Are you fed up of drowning in two-dimensional villains? Frustrated with creating clichés? And failing to get your reader to root for your villain?In 13 Steps to Evil, you’ll discover: • How to develop a villain’s mindset• A step-by-step guide to creating your villain from the ground up• Why getting to the core of a villain’s personality is essential to make them credible • What pitfalls and clichés to avoid as well as the tropes your story needsFinally, there is a comprehensive writing guide to help you create superbad villains. Whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned writer, this book will help power up your bad guy and give them that extra edge.These lessons will help you master and control your villainous minions, navigate and gain the perfect balance of good and evil, as well as strengthening your villain to give your story the tension and punch it needs.

     When you are planning to write a new story, all you need to focus on are the characters, and how they are going to change during the course of the romance as a result of the relationship. That is what will make your story both unique and compelling. Advanced story craft techniques are very handy at the editing and revision stage when you shape your story for the reader – but not here! Instead, we use the power of character arc and emotional conflict to create a simple but effective emotional story map for your romance novel. As you write your romance, your characters will come to life on the page, and reveal their true personalities through what they say and do. But first you have to get those characters onto the page and interacting with one another – fast! This is the six-step writing process professional romance authors use to develop their novels – and stay motivated and excited by their story. Now you can do the same. And keep your pants on! Find out how to outline your romance novel when you don’t know a thing about story structure and the whole ideas of pre-planning your story freezes you. And enjoy doing it!

    But when properly understood and correctly wielded, the outline is one of the most powerful weapons in a writer’s arsenal. Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Success will: Help you choose the right type of outline for youGuide you in brainstorming plot ideasAid you in discovering your charactersShow you how to structure your scenesExplain how to format your finished outlineInstruct you in how to use your outlineReveal the benefits:Ensures cohesion and balancePrevents dead-end ideasProvides foreshadowingOffers assurance and motivationDispel misconceptions:Requires formal formattingLimits creativityRobs the joy of discoveryTakes too much timeEven if you're certain outlining isn't for you, the book offers all kinds of important tips on plot, structure, and character. Includes exclusive interviews with Larry Brooks, Elizabeth Spann Craig, Lisa Grace, Dan L. Hays, Jody Hedlund, Carolyn Kaufman, Becky Levine, Roz Morris, John Robinson, and Aggie Villanueva, answering important questions:Can you describe your outlining process?What is the greatest benefit of outlining?What is the biggest potential pitfall of outlining?Do you recommend "pantsing" for certain situations and outlining for others?What's the most important contributing factor to a successful outline?

    You can jump-start your plot and bring your characters and scenes vibrantly alive on the page - by watching your favorite movies and learning from the storytelling tricks of great filmmakers.With this workbook, based on award-winning author/ screenwriter Alexandra Sokoloff’s internationally acclaimed Screenwriting Tricks For Authors blog and workshops, you'll learn how to use techniques of film writing such as:- the High Concept Premise- the Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure- the Storyboard Grid- the Index Card Method of Plotting- as well as tricks of film pacing and suspense, character arc and drive, visual storytelling, and building image systems - to structure and color your novel for maximum emotional impact, unbearable suspense and riveting pacing, no matter what genre you're writing in.You'll create your own personalized workbook of genre tricks based on your favorite books and movies and tailored to your own brand of storytelling, and a collage book to build visual image systems. And the emphasis on premise is invaluable for crafting that all-important query and pitch.In this rapidly changing world of publishing, more and more agents and editors are looking for novels that have the pacing, emotional excitement, and big, unique, "high concept" premises of Hollywood movies (and the potential for that movie or TV sale!). And if you're indie publishing, it's even more important to craft and polish your book to stand out from the crowd.Whether you're just starting to develop a book or script, or rewriting for maximum impact, this workbook will guide you through an easy, effective and fun process to help you make your book or script the best it can be.Includes detailed film breakdowns and analysis as well as chapters and resources on how to get a literary agent, writing a query letter, professional networking, and screenwriting contests.For sample chapters please visit http://screenwritingtricks.comTABLE OF CONTENTSIntroductionPART ONE: STORY STRUCTURE1. The Master List2. What's Your Premise?3. What is "High Concept"?4. The Three-Act, Eight-Sequence Structure5. The Index Card Method and Story Elements Checklist6. Elements of Act I7. Hero/ine, Protagonist, Main Character8. Protagonist Case Study: Jake Gittes9. What Makes a Great Villain?10. Villains, Part 2: The Forces of Antagonism11. Elements of Act Two12. Elements of Act Two, Part 213. Elements of Act Three14. What Makes a Great Climax?15. Visual Storytelling16. Creating Suspense17. Plants and Payoffs18. The Big Twist19. Character Introductions20. Fairy Tale Structure21. Meta Structure22. Your First Draft is Always Going to Suck23. Top Ten Things I Know About Editing24. Life is a Pitch MeetingPART TWO: STORY BREAKDOWNS25. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone26. Romancing the Stone27. Chinatown28. The Mist29. Act Climaxes and Turning PointsPART THREE: THE BUSINESS30. How Do I Get a Literary Agent?31. Internet Resources for Writers32. So You Want to Know About Screenwriting33. Recommended ReadingFigure 1: Story Grid

    The reader's experience must be an emotional journey of its own, one as involving as your characters' struggles, discoveries, and triumphs are for you.That's where The Emotional Craft of Fiction comes in. Veteran literary agent and expert fiction instructor Donald Maass shows you how to use story to provoke a visceral and emotional experience in readers. Topics covered include: emotional modes of writing beyond showing versus telling your story's emotional world moral stakes connecting the inner and outer journeys plot as emotional opportunities invoking higher emotions, symbols, and emotional language cascading change story as emotional mirror positive spirit and magnanimous writing the hidden current that makes stories move Readers can simply read a novel...or they can experience it. The Emotional Craft of Fiction shows you how to make that happen.

    5,000 Words Per Hour also has a companion app available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch! The fastest way to succeed as an author is to write more books. How do you do that with a day job, family, school or all your other time commitments? The secret is efficiency. 5K WPH will help you maximize your writing time by building effective habits that both measure and increase your writing speed. - Create an effective writing habit - Track and improve your Words Per Hour - Stop the endless editing and tinkering so you can finish your draft - Use voice dictation software to dramatically increase words per hour. It’s time to shift your writing into high gear.

    And while there are hundreds of books, podcasts, and blog posts that teach aspiring authors how to structure scenes and plot out a solid story, none implement the most intuitive and effective method for success.What is that method? Layering. Novels are made up of dozens of scenes, and regardless of genre, time-tested structure dictates what key scenes are needed and where. Most writers are familiar with some of those scenes: the Inciting Incident, the Midpoint, and the Climax, to name a few.But novelists need more than a few landmarks to find their way across the tricky terrain of novel plotting. They need a surefire method to organizing all their scenes. In Layer Your Novel, you’ll be introduced to an innovative, intuitive method for arranging your scenes and crafting a beautifully structured story.First, you construct the ten most important scenes as a foundation.From there, you choose from one of three methods to craft a second layer of scenes: the action-reaction layer, the subplot layer, or the romance layer.Once your second layer is integrated, next comes the third layer: the processing scenes that the glue your plot together.In Layer Your Novel, you’ll learn: What the 5 major turning points are and where they’re placed in your novel How to know exactly where to start your story and how to set up your premise What the ten key scenes are that serve as the framework for your novel What pinch points are and why you need them How to craft those essential twists and where they’re placed in your story for greatest impact Why your protagonist’s goal is the key to great storytelling How to come up with a meaningful subplot that will showcase your story’s themes How a romance novel is structured and how to plot out the romance story line How to analyze best sellers in your genre to identify and learn from the layers evident in their plots How to apply this layering method to novellas Special bonus analyses! In Layer Your Novel, you’ll dig into deconstructions of best-selling novels across genres to see how successful authors have their key scenes in all the right places, which gives credence to this practical layering method. In contrast, examples of best sellers are dissected to show the structural flaws due to the lack of the needed foundational framework that this layering method advocates. Don’t guess what scenes you need in your novel. Don’t guess where your scenes go. Guessing usually leads to novel failure. With the method you’ll learn in Layer Your Novel, you’ll guess no more. You can write terrific novels, every time, if you layer your novel following this blueprint!

    It’s great to know that – but while you’re reading about it you’re not writing your book.And what these books don’t tell you is how to use this learning and get the job done.Nail Your Novel is a writing buddy – and mentor - in a book.In 10 easy steps it will tell you:*how to shape your big idea and make a novel out of it*how to do your research and how to use it*how to organise your time*how to plot and build characters*when you’re going to hit problems and what to do about them*how to write on the days you don’t feel inspired*how to reread what you’ve written and polish it.Along the way, Thumbnail Notes give tutorials about storytelling and storycraft – strictly when you need them. The author has written nearly a dozen novels that have made it into print – and this is how she did it.You don’t even need to read the whole book before you get started. You read a section, then do as it says. And, once you’re finally satisfied, Nail Your Novel will tell you how to sell it to publishers and agents.

    But what if the stories you love to write aren’t the kind that are selling like ice water in July? How do you create a career in writing that you both love and hits the financial success you need to justify the hours spent at the keyboard? For Love or Money talks about writing for love (and how to sell that) as well as writing for money (and how to love it). It contains serious strategies about making money with your books, living the freedom of indie publishing, and stretching yourself creatively in your career. For authors willing to take a hard look at themselves and the market, this book will lay out the necessary steps to create your dream writing career. For Love or Money is meant to be used in tandem with The Indie Author Survival Guide (Second Edition), the first book in the Crafting a Self-Publishing Career series. Together, these two books will set you on a path of turning your love for storytelling into a career. **JOIN THE FOR LOVE OR MONEY FACEBOOK GROUP** Connect with your fellow self-published authors and share information about writing and publishing. Susan hosts monthly consultation giveaways and shares updates on the constantly evolving publishing landscape. JOIN HERE: http://smarturl.it/LoveOrMoneyGroup **Table of Contents** Author's Note Crafting Your Dream Writer Life 1.1 Choosing Your Mountain 1.2 Park Your Biases At The Curb 1.3 Embrace Your Freedom 1.4 My Journey 1.5 Decide For Yourself 1.6 Bite-Sized Summary Writing For Love 2.1 Writing Challenges Me 2.2 Forget About Readers 2.3 Joyful Writing 2.4 Take Your Craft Up A Level 2.5 It Will Always Be Hard 2.6 Bite-Sized Summary Turning Love Into Money 3.1 Don't Give Up Too Soon 3.2 All The Marketing Tricks 3.3 Making What You Love More Commercial 3.4 My Biggest Failure/Learning Experience 3.5 Why Isn't My Book Selling 3.6 Build Your Backlist 3.7 Bite-Sized Summary Writing For Money 4.1 Writing What Sells 4.2 What's In Your Wheelhouse 4.3 Don't Try This At Home 4.4 Bite-Sized Summary Balancing Writing And Life 5.1 Staying Sane in a Crazy (Indie Publishing) World Managing Your Career Appendix: Your Self-Publishing Toolkit