Every great story follows a hidden blueprint, and once you discover it, you can’t unsee it. That’s the magic behind this approach for authors. Have you ever noticed how, about 10% into a gripping tale, something significant occurs? Or at 20%, the narrative shifts into a new realm? This is the storytelling code at play, […]
I once sat at my desk for three hours, staring at a cursor. Not a word was written. D.H. Lawrence said the pain of not writing was worse than writing itself. That night, I felt the same way. The blank screen was like a wall, and my ideas were on the other side. The next […]
I was in a coffee shop in Portland, staring at a 120,000-word manuscript. It was a mess. Every chapter was too long. Every character was the same. I’d written for eight months. A stranger, a retired editor from Penguin Random House, saw my screen. She said, “Your story needs less stuff.” She was right. I […]
