If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ve probably heard me talk about goals once or twice (or more). Yes, I loooooove to talk about goals. I even wrote a blog post called “10 Fixes to the Most Common Plot Problems” (and spoiler! The answer to ALL 10 is GOALS!) Goals give our stories  … Read more

Since January 1st, I’ve been DEEP in revision mode for my NaNoWriMo novel (which as of now is still a secret…sorry!). But I can tell you this. It’s needed a ton of work so far! But I will say I’m having a blast revising it, possibly more so than most of my revisions. As I  … Read more

This year’s NaNoWriMo was the first year (in a long time…maybe forever?) I got to: 1) Start a new novel on November 1 (In past years, due to deadline timing, I was usually having to finish novels or just make 50k words of progress somewhere in the middle of a novel) 2) Draft a novel  … Read more

Maybe you’ve heard your writer friends talking about Save the Cat! and felt yourself nodding a long while secretly wondering, “What the heck is save the cat?” Maybe you read about it on a blog post or saw it mentioned in a Youtube video. Or maybe you were just searching for cute cat pictures and  … Read more

Flashbacks and backstory can be extremely useful storytelling devices that give your reader important information about the history of the world, a character’s past, and why certain characters behave a certain way. When used sparingly and strategically, backstory can provide context and clarity and even create empathy for unlikeable characters. But where do you do  … Read more

“How do you approach the beat sheet?” There’s a question I get asked a lot. Logically, you might think I start with the Opening Image and just work my way through, beat by beat, until I reach the Final Image. But that’s not usually the case. Although all of my novel brainstorm processes are unique,  … Read more

A question I get a lot from novelists following the Save the Cat! plotting method is this: What’s the relationship between beats and chapters? Or in other words, how do the beats break down into chapters and vice versa? The answer, as is usually the case, is: It depends.  Super helpful, right? 😉 Well, let  … Read more

My first piece of advice to anyone who wants to write a novel is to start with an outline. But I know that’s easier said than done. Especially if you’re writing a novel for the first time, or if you’ve always considered yourself a “pantser” (a writer who writes by the seat of their pants)  … Read more