Fans of Fiction. Purveyors of Dodgy Writing Advice.
Inciting incidents: what they are and how to effectively choose one. Kristen, Cameron, and Caitlin discuss their own writerly inciting incidents (how they started writing) and then talk about they ways inciting incidents affect the rest of the story, specifically using examples from RED RISING by Pierce Brown, THE HATE U GIVE by Angie Thomas, ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr, ILLUMINAE by Amie Kaufman and Jay Krisoff, LAST STAR BURNING by Caitlin Sangster, and JURASSIC PARK the old and fabulous movie that Cameron has been fixated on for a few episodes now
Romantic Subplots! The best AND the worst! How do you keep your romantic subplot from feeling like...a plot point? We talk about building relationships in books and how to help your characters come together instead of shoving them together.
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We talk exhaustively about the relationships in Maggie Steifvater's THE RAVEN BOYS, Leigh Bardugo's THE SIX OF CROWS, THE WINNER'S CRIME, by Marie Rutkoski, Stranger Things, Firefly and lots of other awesome books and TV shows
Want to know where your book fits on a bookshelf? We do too, and so do the agents and editors reviewing your query letters. With guest Kate Watson, we chat about why it's important to know where you fit into your genre and how it can help your writing.
You can find out more about Kate Watson and her books here: http://www.katewatsonbooks.com/
If you're interested in Blake Snyder's Save the Cat beat sheets, you can find them here: http://www.savethecat.com/beat-sheets-alpha
If you'd like to see Jami Gold's beat sheets adapted for different genres, they're here: https://jamigold.com/for-writers/worksheets-for-writers/
With special guest McKelle George, the Literary WIP team talks about how to make a story move forward by establishing stakes and motivation.
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We had some technical difficulties on the recording for this week...so, sorry in advance.
Caitlin and Cameron talk tropes with Emily R. King, author of THE HUNDREDTH QUEEN and Karen M. McManus, author of ONE OF US IS LYING.
This is our first submission which has officially SURVIVED THE QUERY PROCESS. If you'd like to follow the author's journey now that she's agented, you can follow her on Twitter here: @CassaCassaCassa or check out her website: https://ginger-and-sage.org/
We discuss our own approaches to world building during the planning process as well as thoughts on how to keep things consistent and thought out if you are a discovery writer.
Caitlin is up to no good, Cameron works too hard, Kristen makes a mean sweet potato fry and Tracey will not fold laundry for a kingdom. Tracey Neithercott joins the Literary WIP team to discuss what it means to make promises in your first chapters and how to make sure you're making the right ones.
Find out much more about Cameron Harris than he wants you to know! Caitlin, Kristen, Dan, and Cameron chat about why grounding your reader is so important and how to do it with concrete details. We then critique a submission about a boy who has a little trouble with hallucinations.
Caitlin, Kristen, Cameron, Dan, and Tricia discuss how to make characters sympathetic (and why that's a thing you want to have happen), then critique a submission about a girl who isn't too fussed about super villians destroying her city.
Caitlin, Kristen, Cameron, and Dan discuss why writing groups are so helpful, and ways you can avoid having a toxic experience. They then critique a submission about a young man who runs away from home to develop his illegal Lakewalking talent.
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Bestselling author Emily R. King chats with us about how to show instead of tell. We then critique a submission in which a young lady stows away on a train only to find it's a circus train and the circus's knife-thrower is in need of a new assistant.
We chat with #1 NYT Bestseller Aprilynne Pike about the do's and don'ts of pacing. We then critique a submission about a girl who has a perfect life, but something terrible is about to happen to her.
We discuss different kinds of point of view and how to stick to them. We then critique a submission about a world where going out in sunlight after you turn sixteen means you get eaten by ghosts.
We discuss how to decide where to start your novel. We then critique a first chapter about a monk who discovers she isn't quite what she thought she was.