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Resource Review: George Saunders' Story Club Substack
May 06, 2022
Comments are supportive and personable and warm; it truly does feel as though we’re all in a giant MFA cohort together, and remarkably, I often fall into thinking Saunders is speaking directly to me.
- On the craft
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Five Things to Do in Preparation for Working with an Editor
April 26, 2022
Getting your book professionally edited is crucial if you want to be able to compete with other titles in the market, but it can also be daunting when you’re doing it for the first time.
- On the craft
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Story Skeleton: Stargirl
April 11, 2022
We don’t particularly need subplots or B-stories or great complexity because the character of Stargirl herself is so compelling, so glowingly fresh and well-drawn, we are charmed into turning each page.
- On the craft
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Story Skeleton: The Bear Came Over the Mountain
March 14, 2022
I am sometimes asked if there is a difference in structure between the novel and the short story. There is no difference, in my opinion, except in terms of energy.
- On the craft
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Showing IS Telling, but with Style
February 07, 2022
We’ve all read novels that swallow us whole. Hours pass, and we suddenly realize it’s lunchtime and we still haven’t showered.
- On the craft
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The Devil's in the Details
January 17, 2022
Writing description is like wielding a zoom lens. You, the author, need to decide what’s worth zooming in on and what can be left to blend into the background.
- On the craft
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Story Skeleton: Little Women
December 27, 2021
It’s interesting to consider how Alcott may have completed Jo’s arc were she given artistic freedom to write as she pleased.
- On the craft
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Write What You Know—And What You Don't
December 18, 2021
Yes, we’re creators, storytellers, fabricators extraordinaire, and hopefully, empaths, but we’re not body snatchers—or soul snatchers for that matter.
- On the craft
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Slushpile Standouts: episode five
November 24, 2021
What snags and red flags will land your work in the bin rather than on the shortlist?
- On the craft
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Story Skeleton: The Shining
November 02, 2021
Probably the most important (and difficult) part of writing any novel is figuring out what the protagonist’s main goal will be.
- On the craft
- Story Skeleton
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Story Skeleton: The Secret Garden
September 22, 2021
Children’s books can provide a master class in how to tell a complex story in a short space.
- On the craft
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Story Skeleton: Pride & Prejudice
July 30, 2021
The plot of Jane Austen’s most famous novel of manners, Pride and Prejudice, is remarkably intricate for a book that has been described as “just a bunch of people going to each other’s houses.”
- On the craft
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