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Backstory: The Untold Story
One of my favorite things about being a writing coach is that I get to come up with my own terminology, and I can make it as serious or as frivolous as I like. My unofficial list of rules of writing,...
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Love in an Elevator
We’ve had the pleasure of targeting (or, to be more realistic, eliminating) the largest swathe of readers with BISAC. We’ve also re-visited how cover and promotional copy will hook specific readers...
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What a Bunch of Characters!
Happy Monday, y’all! On today’s episode of Prewriting with Courtney, you get to see me balance a beach ball on my nose– No, wait. That’s Tuesdays. Today, we’re going to talk about the lovely people who...
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What’s in a Focal Point?
When you see a book, a photo, or a webpage, your eyes seem to instantly see it all. In reality, there’s always something you look at first before moving onto the next object a millisecond later. Often...
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Backstory: A Case Study (Koontz)
Last week I introduced the Biographical Priority Index. It’s the handy-dandy system we can use to rate elements of a character’s backstory based on whether and when to introduce them. Priority 1...
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C.R.E.A.M.
With special assistance from the Wu Tang Clan, I’m going to try and address one of the weirdest, most all-over-the-place topics in the ongoing, evolving mess that is indie and self publishing. What the...
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Writing, (W)romance, and Wraiths
Greetings, O Fair and Lovely Ones! A few weeks back, we talked how-tos, wherefores, and what-nots of writing romance and chick lit. This week, it’s all about taking those sighs and heaving bosoms and...
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Researching Your Setting
In two words: Do it. Real World If your fiction is set in the real world, you’ll want to include setting details that give your story color and depth–verisimilitude. The best way to create that is to...
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Backstory: A Case Study (Cline vs. King)
I’m a picky reader. I’m not shy about it. If I start a book and it doesn’t grab me quickly, I’ll put it down. I don’t know where I get it from ; my dad feels duty bound to finish any book he picks up....
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Re: Write – Backstory Exercise
We’ve been discussing backstory these last few weeks, and we’ll be wrapping it up today. I hope that I’ve shown you how important backstory is and how carefully you need to handle it. We’ll finish...
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