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MYC: Two Approaches to World Building for Science Fiction

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series with Two Approaches to Fantasy World Building. Today we continue with world building by looking at two approaches to science fiction world building. After reading Julie and Gabby’s post last week, we actually considered not writing this post. … Continue reading MYC: Two Approaches to World Building for Science Fiction

Rebecca J. AllenJune 28, 2017June 2, 2019Leave a comment

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC – Two Approaches to Fantasy World Building

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series with Welcome to World Building. Today we continue to examine the humongous topic by looking at two approaches to fantasy world building. When Gabby & I started talking fantasy world building, we figured out quickly that, while … Continue reading MYC – Two Approaches to Fantasy World Building

Julie ArtzJune 21, 2017May 1, 20191 Comment

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Welcome to World Building

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series with Setting as a Character. For the next few weeks, we will be talking about the humongous and intimidating topic of world building. Today we start by looking at the topic as a whole and how it … Continue reading MYC: Welcome to World Building

Halli GomezJune 14, 2017May 1, 20191 Comment

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Setting as a Character

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series on research with Notes from a Time Traveler This week we are talking about setting, but not just as a background for your character. We’re going to look at setting as a character in itself.We move … Continue reading MYC: Setting as a Character

Halli GomezJune 7, 2017May 1, 20191 Comment

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

Writing Historical Fiction, or, Notes from a Time Traveler

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series with an introductory post on research. This week, we’ll share our thoughts on digging into historical research. For years I was haunted by a dream of a young woman walking through long grass. I couldn’t see her face, … Continue reading Writing Historical Fiction, or, Notes from a Time Traveler

Gita TreleaseMay 31, 2017May 1, 201910 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Research – Make Your Story Believable

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series with a post on voice. This week, we’ll share our thoughts on research. Research can mean different things depending on the type of book you’re writing. Rebecca writes science fiction based in contemporary settings. Gita writes historical fantasy. You … Continue reading MYC: Research – Make Your Story Believable

Gita TreleaseMay 24, 2017May 1, 20192 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Finding Your Voice

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series on character development with a warning to not let our friends write bad books!! This week we’ll tackle the ever-elusive craft of VOICE! Some of you may ask: Why is voice part of character development? Well, friend, I’m soooo … Continue reading MYC: Finding Your Voice

Kristi WientgeMay 17, 2017October 5, 20189 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Friends Don’t Let Friends Write Bad Books

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series on character development with a Pantser’s Guide to Character Development. This week, we’ll share a method of using a long-form, messy synopsis to get early feedback from your critique partners. Because friends don’t let friends write … Continue reading MYC: Friends Don’t Let Friends Write Bad Books

Julie ArtzMay 10, 2017May 1, 20193 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: A Reformed Pantser’s Guide to Character Development

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series on character development with a post on supporting characters. This week, I’ll share tips on fleshing out characters using my three favorite craft books. A lot of writers start out writing by the seat of their … Continue reading MYC: A Reformed Pantser’s Guide to Character Development

Julie ArtzMay 3, 2017May 1, 20195 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Developing Supporting Characters

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we covered Developing Main Characters. This week, I’ll discuss Developing Supporting Characters. The Supporting Characters’ Job The purpose of a supporting character is to add depth to the protagonist by helping the reader understand how the main character interacts with others and … Continue reading MYC: Developing Supporting Characters

Michelle LeonardApril 26, 2017May 1, 20192 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Build Your Main Character

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the Big Idea to Querying. Last week, we covered the Big Idea and using Creativity to help you Create Loglines. This week, I’ll discuss Developing Main Characters. Character development is critical to your story’s success and one of your most important pre-writing activities. You can probably begin … Continue reading MYC: Build Your Main Character

Michelle LeonardApril 19, 2017May 1, 201910 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

Creativity to the Rescue: Finding BIG Ideas

As a piggyback to last week’s BIG IDEAS post in our Master Your Craft Series, it occurred to me that many of our readers may still be struggling with their concept not being quite BIG enough to commit months or maybe years to writing a story. Or maybe you’ve only got a small nugget of an idea. So what do you do? First let’s break … Continue reading Creativity to the Rescue: Finding BIG Ideas

Michelle LeonardApril 17, 2017May 1, 20194 Comments