Tap into Psyche

Tap into Psyche

by | Craft

WELCOME TO THE ID. The Oxford dictionary defines the id as “the part of the mind in which innate instinctive impulses and primary processes are manifest.” In a nutshell, the id is all about subconscious instincts, drives, desires. We might not think about them, but...
Assumptions & Requirements

Assumptions & Requirements

by | Craft, Writing Life

  We discussed looking at your goals, asking yourself what you wanted, why you wanted it, and then the last bit: what do you think you’ll need to do to get it. The thing is, often times what we think we need to do, and what we actually need to do, are not...
Playing to Win

Playing to Win

by | Craft, Promotion, Writing Life

What does “playing to win” mean?   This one’s gonna be a rough one, gang. But it’s important. I love the movie The Replacements. (Largely due to Keanu Reaves, not gonna lie.) But there is a great line in it, where the coach played by Gene...
Torture for Fun and Profit

Torture for Fun and Profit

by | Craft, Writing Life

  As part of both my coaching service and my critique service, I get to see the framework of a lot of stories in progress. When it comes to conflict in general, and Hopeless Moments in the third act in particular, there’s one thing I notice, over and over...
Show, don’t tell… but how?

Show, don’t tell… but how?

by | Craft

When asking for topics, this came up, and it’s one of my favorite things. If you’ve been studying writing for any period of time, you’ve probably gotten this little chestnut of wisdom: show, don’t tell. As it happens, I’ve already blogged...
From a certain point of view…

From a certain point of view…

by | Craft

  First, a basic overview, just in case people are unfamiliar: POV stands for Point of View. This is the perspective from which the story/scene is told. Omniscient POV is told from the perspective of an all-seeing, all-knowing narrator. As a result, a lot of...