2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
Act III is what the complications of Act II lead up to.
Rachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
You're not just writing a story anymore. You are crafting an experience that you are going to share with each person who picks up your book. It is your job to make sure your story decisions and world work not just within the context of the novel, but within the mind of the reader. Your job to make sure your characters are engrossing, not just
... See moreRachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
Your writer mind might consider a scene necessary for plot reasons, but if your reader mind is bored, it’ll skip right over that scene to get back to the good stuff. This is a giant red flag. I don't want my readers to skip over anything I write, and I don't want to waste my time writing boring crap no matter how nicely it fits into the plot.
Rachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
Write out a scene list. This one is a little odd. Here, I take that plot I wrote out at the end of step 3 and break the action down into scenes. Next, I group these scenes into chapters to make a nice little list. For example, the first chapter of The Spirit Thief would look like this: Chapter 1 Eli charms his way out of prison The king of Mellinor
... See moreRachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
when I talked about how I fill the parts of my plot that I don’t know yet by asking “What comes next?” or “How did this happen?” Well, most of the time the answers to those questions come from my characters, and in a circular turn, these answers serve to develop the characters who give them. This is how plot and character development go hand in
... See moreRachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
Ch 1 (7452) D gets Caldswell tip from Anthony D goes to starport, checks the tip, sees the Fool D has her interview, impressive, gets the job Basil takes D on the tour, we meet R, job is laid out
Rachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
Every day, while I was writing out my description of what I was going to write for the knowledge component of the triangle, I would play the scene through in my mind and try to get excited about it. I'd look for all the cool little hooks, the parts that interested me most, and focus on those since they were obviously what made the scene cool. If I
... See moreRachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
This means I can pick one problem to solve and then jump to every place where it occurs. This way, I’m treating each instance as part of a cohesive whole, a single narrative line, rather than islands separated by thousands of words.
Rachel Aaron • 2k to 10k: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love
You’re creating something you want others to enjoy, but if you aren’t enjoying yourself while making it…Well, you can see the disconnect.