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Light-bulb moments. Aha moments. Flashes of recognition. Revelations. Call them whatever you like. I like to think of them as clicks.

In the writing life, the best kind of click is that moment something makes you realize exactly what’s been missing from the not-quite-right scene you’ve been working on. Or the instant you put two plot points together and suddenly have a clear view of what’s really beneath your character’s behavior. Or the random tip on plot structure that magically conjures for you a map of how everything in your messy draft might fit together after all.

Clicks. They’re satisfying, exciting, inspiring, invigorating. And they’re the stuff writers live for.

The January 2015 Writer’s Digest—devoted to all things novel writing—releases today, and I’m so excited to finally be able to offer you a preview of what’s inside. We’ve done our best to fill this issue with the types of craft advice and writing techniques that help things click into place. Because whether your own moments of realization are quiet head nods or loud exclamations of triumph, as subtle as the click of a key in a lock or dramatic as a stack of papers launched into the air, we know it’s the bits of advice that resonate that can make all the difference for your novel-in-progress.

First, award-winning novelist David Corbett shares what made his own characters finally click on the page—and how you can paint more effective pictures of the players in your own stories, too. Then, longtime contributor Elizabeth Sims details techniques for mastering one of the most notoriously difficult elements of fiction: dialogue. Bestselling novelist Steven James shows you precisely how to manage the flow of tension and conflict in your story—through multiple plot points, climaxes, subplots and more. Therapist-turned-writer Tracey Barnes Priestley delves into the real reasons “Why So Many Writers Give Up Mid-Novel—and How Not to Be One of Them.” And four bestselling series writers take you behind the scenes with their iconic characters to show you what it is that gives a novel that special something that makes readers want another installment, and another, and another.

We all know that writing a novel isn’t easy. But in those moments that something clicks, suddenly anything seems possible. Here’s to many ahas on the pages—and in the new year—ahead.

Get your copy of our “This Is the Year You Write That Novel!” issue on your favorite newsstand starting today, or download the January 2015 Writer’s Digest and start reading right now.

Happy Writing,
Jessica Strawser
Editor, Writer’s Digest Magazine
Follow me on Twitter @jessicastrawser.

Photo by Jason Dunn, courtesy of a Creative Commons 2.5 License (http://photos.jasondunn.com/Logan/Logans-First-Halloween/10187418_RKHXSx#!i=701471756&k=ZMKnkbp)

This is the first year my 3-year-old has really gotten Halloween, so we’ve spent October seeking out any excuse for him to wear his costume and spend the day yelling “Boo!” As a result, at an array of fall festivals, we’ve collected a countertop full of pumpkins of assorted shapes and sizes; a small glow-in-the-dark bucket of unhealthy snacks; and, for the writer in the household (that would be me), one great reminder about developing characters.

The lesson came at a children’s Halloween parade at a local park. Costumed kids and their parents congregated by the gazebo waiting for the festivities to start. An announcement was made that the kids were to march behind a giant basketball character named “Hoopster” (how or why Hoopster became the recipient of this honor remains unclear) into the center of town, where storefronts were offering trick or treating.

We were surrounded by princesses and Power Rangers, scarecrows and jungle animals. Many of the costumes were homemade, some looking a little haggard or missing accessories, but the kids wearing them were playing their parts. The ballerinas twirled and curtseyed. The transformers stomped and zoomed. The superheroes posed, karate chopped and kicked. My little guy beamed at all of them, his fire chief’s hat on his head and bullhorn in his hand, ready to come to the rescue at the first sign of smoke or a cat stuck in a tree.

And then, at last, the moment we’d been waiting for: Hoopster appeared.

The parade couldn’t start yet, though. The ball portion of his costume was still deflated, and he stood off to the side fiddling with the thing while the kids milled around restlessly. Hoopster couldn’t get his inflating tool to work, and began tapping parents on their shoulders asking if anyone had a coin to help get the thing going. Apparently Hoopster had not done a practice run before game time.

Finally, the giant basketball took its place at the front of the pack, and the children fell into line, excited for the parade. Then, my son looked up at me, frowning for the first time all day. He seemed skeptical.

“Basketballs don’t have legs,” he said.

“True,” I said slowly, looking around. What else was there to say? It hadn’t bothered him that transformers don’t wear sneakers or lions don’t carry blankies or scarecrows don’t lick lollypops. So what had changed?

 The best instruction from Writer’s Digest on character development
is now available in a single book! Preview, order or download
Creating Characters: The Complete Guide to Populating Your Fiction now.

Developing Character So Readers Can Suspend Disbelief

Hoopster wasn’t really selling his costume, was he? He’d spent a pretty penny on an outfit that was actually a lot more over-the-top than anyone else’s. He’d probably felt like that was enough. But it wasn’t.

The problem wasn’t so much that Hoopster was having issues—most costumes have issues at some point, right? If he’d made a wisecrack about being left in the garage too long or even half-heartedly called out, “Oh no, how will I bounce now?” he probably could have saved face. But by letting the kids see that he was just a guy who couldn’t figure out how to direct the airflow into a big nylon sphere, he was inhibiting their ability to suspend their disbelief. His legs didn’t kill the authenticity; his lack of commitment to his character did.

What does this teach us about how to develop character? Well, a lot. Your character needs to be comfortable in his outfit from the very first scene. He needs to know how it fits, how it works, and who it makes him look like to everyone around him. And in order for him to pull that off, we as our characters’ creators need to know who they are, inside and out, from Page 1. We can’t let our own voices show through where we’re supposed to be writing as our characters. We need to commit to them, fully. We need them to commit to the story, fully. And only then can our readers commit fully, too.

Whether you’re writing a first draft or revising a complete story, as you work through scene by scene, make sure that your superhero has her mask tied tightly into place. Chapter 1 can’t show her off-kilter to the point that she hasn’t yet figured out that trick to keeping her cape from coming untied. And Chapter 10 can’t catch your cowboy without his hat or spurs because he got tired of messing with them and tossed them aside somewhere along the way.

You don’t want to let readers arrive for the parade to find that you haven’t yet fully inflated your lead characters. Make your characters sell the reality behind those costumes, however flawed they may be. If your characters truly believe that they are princesses, and behave as such, then your readers will be a lot less likely to notice—or care—that they’re wearing the wrong shoes or have lost the rhinestones out of their tiaras.

Happy Halloween!

Jessica Strawser
Editor, Writer’s Digest Magazine
Follow me on Twitter: @jessicastrawser

Image by Beliroz, deviantART, courtesy of a Creative Commons License: http://beliroz.deviantart.com/art/Keyboard-in-the-night-183881657

While I’ll be cheering on NaNoWriMo participants from the sidelines this year rather than joining the race, I am forever looking for ways to expand my own daily word count—not just in November, but all 12 months of the year. My goals may be more modest (while they fluctuate depending on my work-in-progress and what stage it’s in, I currently aim for an average of 1,000 words a day, six days a week), but with a full-time job and a family, they’re not easy to meet.

When people find out I’ve got a novel in progress, they inevitably stop to take in my energetic 3-year-old boy, already-almost-walking 9-month-old girl, and full-time job overseeing Writer’s Digest magazine and say the same thing: Wow, you have your hands full.

I do. Literally. If I’m not in the office, you can often find me with a giggling, hair-pulling baby in my arms, a pot on the stove (or, um, the pizza guy on the phone), and a little boy dressed as a superhero tugging on my pant leg.

So for me, pushing my daily word count is about finding ways to write in between the times when I can actually sit uninterrupted at my laptop. Here are three methods that work for me—and may just work for you, too.

1. Ms. Phone, please take a letter …

On TV commercials, people talk to their phones to find out where the nearest Chinese restaurant is or to remind themselves to buy flowers for their anniversary. I talk to my phone to record ideas for fictional scenes that pop into my head at random moments of the day. Snippets of dialogue, emotional descriptions and plot notes all get recorded to be sure they don’t evaporate before I can get to my keyboard.

On my drive home from work, I have about 15 minutes of quiet time alone in the car until I pull into the daycare. Sure, sometimes I listen to music, or NPR news. But especially if I don’t yet know what scene I’m going to tackle after the kids are in bed that night, I like to use this time to brainstorm. Hands-free, I’ll dictate what comes to me into my phone. I once “wrote” 650 words between quitting time at work and pickup time at daycare. Sure, there were lots of misunderstood words and typos to correct—no voice command app is perfect—but when I do get to the computer, cleaning up the copy is far easier than starting from scratch.

2. Go go Gadget keyboard …

There are other times—say, if a baby is napping on my shoulder—that I can get my hands free but not balance a full-sized laptop on my lap. And we’ve all had those moments when we don’t have our computers in reach when inspiration strikes—but we do happen to have a tablet or smartphone with us, so we try to peck out the words on our touch screens as fast as we can, all the while grumbling that our fingers can’t catch up to our brains.

That’s where my Bluetooth keyboard comes in. I got one for my birthday back in August, and my husband is still pretty proud of himself for how much I rave about it. For only about $30, it came with a slim case and slips easily into my purse. No matter where you are, simply pair it with whatever device you have on hand, and voila! You can actually type out a scene or notes at full speed. When I have my Bluetooth keyboard along, I no longer mind if a friend is late to meet me for lunch, or if my dentist leaves me in the waiting room. In fact, sometimes I’m secretly glad.

3. Note to self …

It is one of the stranger side effects of the writing life that I email myself perhaps more than I send messages to anyone else. But every day, no matter how busy I am, whether I’m using one of the methods above or another, I try to at the very least send myself the briefest of notes regarding what my next scene will be.

At worst, when I sit down at my keyboard later, I’ll have some kind of starting point, rather than a blank screen (and a blank brain). At best, if I’ve gotten a little carried away with my note taking, my scene might already be half-written.

What I’ve found is this: Whether you’re a “pantser” or a plotter (or, in my case, a little of both), when you sit down to write with SOME kind of notes in front of you, you’ll spend less time getting in the groove and more time churning out words.

The November/December Writer’s Digest magazine is filled with Tips and Inspiration to Write a Book in a Month, including advice for developing a write-a-thon strategy and keeping the words coming. If you’re looking to increase your productivity or planning for NaNoWriMo, check out a preview in the Writer’s Digest Shop, download it instantly, or find it on a newsstand near you.

What about you? How do you increase your daily word count? From one hands-full writer to another, I invite you to leave your own tips in a comment below—we can all use all the help we can get!

Happy Writing,
Jessica Strawser
Editor, Writer’s Digest Magazine
Follow me on Twitter: @jessicastrawser

From Sylvia Day’s Bared to You to Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster, new adult fiction has arrived—and it’s hotter than ever. But there’s more to this category than its 18- to 26-year-old characters: The success of your story depends on authentically depicting the transition of your young protagonists from teenhood into adulthood.

With Deborah Halverson’s Writing New Adult Fiction, you’ll learn how to capture the spirit of freedom, self-discovery, and romance that defines the new adult experience. To celebrate the book’s release, Deborah has organized a blog tour that runs through the end of the month—complete with book giveaways and prizes! If you’re curious about writing a novel for the new adult category, you’ll want to join in on the fun and learn more about crafting a story that’s fresh, unique, and wholly new adult!

Here’s what authors and reviewers are saying:

“This book is more than a marketing guide, more than a writing manual, more than a compilation of stories about successful authors. For the writer who wants to become a new adult author, or the new adult author who seeks to enrich her craftsmanship and stand out from the herd, this book has an abundance of information.” —Tammara Webber, New York Times best-selling author of Easy and Breakable

“With her conversational, engaging style, Halverson demystifies the process of plotting, writing, and marketing a NA novel…. If you’re serious about writing a NA novel you can be proud of, one that is also marketable, you’ll add this indispensable title to your permanent reference shelf.” —Blogcritics

Deborah is offering a FREE FULL MANUSCRIPT EDIT to one lucky blog tour participant. The more stops you make on the tour, the more chances to win! 

October 6: Christy Herself!

October 7: Country Gals Sexy Reads

October 8: Writing Belle

October 9: Book Bumblings

October 10: Prone to Crushes on Boys in Books

October 13: My Book Fairy

October 14: A One-click Addict’s Book Blog

October 15: A Book Addict’s Delight

October 16: The Phantom Paragrapher

October 17: deal sharing aunt

October 20: Hot Guys in Books

October 21: Julie Hedlund

October 22: Short and Sassy Book Blurbs

October 23: NA Alley

October 24: akiiKOMORI reading

October 27: KIDLIT411

October 28: eBook Addict

October 29: Pretty Girls Read Books

October 30: Coffee and characters

October 31: Quirk And Quill

October 31: Book Worms and Couch Potatoes

Rachel Randall is the managing editor for Writer’s Digest Books.

2013 GradeReading.NET Summer Reading Lists

It’s a question I often hear: Can you help me write a book?

Yes. Absolutely.

Here are ten books that will help you write a novel or a picture book. Some are my books, some are other author’s.

1. Help with Basic Writing Skills–how to write a sentence.The Art of Styling Sentences
2. Help Understanding Basic Story Structure: The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller
3. Help Writing a Picture Book: How to Write a Children’s Picture Book
4. Help Writing a Memoir: Old Friends From Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir
5. Help Writing a Mystery: How to Write a Damn Good Mystery
6. Help Writing a First ChapterStart Your Novel
7. Help Writing a Young Adult: Writing Young Adult Fiction for Dummies
8. Help Writing a Screenplay: Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting
9. Help Revising a Novel: Novel Metamorphosis: Uncommon Ways to Revise
10. Help Writing a Blockbuster Novel: The Blockbuster Novel

Other Writing Resources on This Website

• 30 Days to a Stronger Novel
• 30 Days to a Stronger Character
• 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book
• 30 Days to Stronger Scenes
• 30 Days to Think Like a Writer

By Candy Gourlay So aside from watching lots of Making Of documentaries while waiting for comments on my manuscript, I've also been binging on podcasts. Listening to a podcast about the making of Les Miserables the movie, I kept discovering things that resonated with writing. The cinematic version of The Glums, as people fondly call it here in England, is not everybody's cup of tea - on the

By Candy Gourlay First, let us all take a moment to gaze upon Harrison Ford in his prime. I've been watching a lot of Making Of videos recently and was struck by director Steven Spielberg's negativity when discussing MY favourite Indiana Jones film, The Temple of Doom. I loved that film, but googling around I discovered long discourses about how it was too dark and interviews with

This excerpt is from Make a Scene by Jordan E. Rosenfeld. It’s worth checking out if you’re writing fiction!

Let’s talk about an issue that’s sure to rise up in your mind: scene length. One of the benefits of writing in scene form is that the ending of a scene provides a place for the reader to comfortably take a pause. You may wonder when to use a short scene versus a long scene. Once again, the decision rests with you, but we’ll take a quick look at the benefits of using either kind.

Long Scenes

Generally speaking, if a scene runs to more than fifteen pages, it’s on the long side. A scene can be picked up, read, and put back down (though not too easily!), leaving the reader with more information than he had before. Even the most avid reader wants to pause eventually, and scene and chapter breaks offer them chances to do so.

Long scenes don’t need to be avoided, but they should be peppered in sparingly. Too many long scenes in a row will cause your narrative to drag.

Use long scenes in the novel when you want to:

• Intentionally slow down the pace after lots of action or intense dialogue to allow the protagonist and the reader to digest what has happened, and to build new tension and suspense
• Include a lot of big action in a given scene (fights, chases, explosions)—so the scene doesn’t hinge on action alone
• Add a dialogue scene that, in order to feel realistic, needs to run long

Short Scenes

A scene that takes place in ten or fewer pages can comfortably be considered short. Some scenes are as short as a couple of pages. Short scenes often make readers hungry for more. But remember that too many short scenes in a row can make the flow of the plot feel choppy, and disrupt the continuity that John Gardner said creates a dream for the reader.

A short scene has to achieve the same goals as a longer scene, and in less time. It must still contain main characters engaging in actions based upon scene intentions. New information must be revealed that drives the plot forward. The setting must be clear. In the short scene, you have even less room for narrative summary.

You’re best using short scenes when you need to:

• Differentiate one character from another (a secretive, shy, or withdrawn character, for instance, might only get short scenes, while an outspoken character may get longer scenes)
• Pick up the pace right after a long scene
• Leave the reader hungry for more or breathless with suspense
• Include multiple scenes within a chapter
• Create a sense of urgency by dropping bits of information one by one, forcing the reader to keep reading

Whether you go long or short depends on your own stylistic preferences. Just keep in mind that length affects pacing as you decide what kind of flow you want for your manuscript.

Did you enjoy this excerpt? Buy the book!

Today’s tip comes from chapter one of The Breakout Novelist by Donald Maass. Learn about premise in this excerpt.

A ton of craft goes into any novel, much more so, I suspect, with a work that can grip the imaginations of millions of readers. At a certain point in the process, even the process of organic writers, choices are made: Story paths are selected, scenes are tossed out, new layers are added. Those choices can make a story larger, deeper, more memorable, or not. You may experience that process as outlining or revision, but whatever you call it, it is planning your story.

Planning a breakout-level novel sounds like magic. It’s not. Notions for stories come to everyone, all over the place, all the time. The trick is not in having a flash of inspiration but in knowing how to develop that scrap into a solid story premise, and, as important, in recognizing when to discard a weak premise that will not support the mighty structure of a breakout novel.

Breakout premises can be built. It is a matter of having the right tools and knowing how to use them. A breakout premise need not be narrative; that is, a mini outline. It can be something smaller, but if so, it must have the energy of a uranium isotope.

It could be the cold bright light of a November afternoon, the feel of a black-edged telegram in a mother’s hand, the putrid smell of a week-old corpse in the trunk of a BMW, a woman’s sworn oath before God that she will never go hungry again. In short, a premise is any single image, moment, feeling, or belief that has enough power and personal meaning for the author to set her story on fire, and propel it like a rocket for hundreds of pages.

Buy The Breakout Novelist now!

What's everyone chasing, doing, after? What's all the action about? 

The answers to these questions may feel murky to you, even in the second and third drafts. Every time you stand back from the words and ask yourself these big picture questions, the clearer your story becomes to you. The clearer your story is to you, the more clearly you can convey the story to your readers.

The writer is writing a geo-political thriller from three points of view. Each point-of-view character represents the sensibilities of his/her own country of origin. When the end of the beginning scene explodes from a bomb, the reader is shown the carnage and impressions of the dastardly deed from each point of view, providing individual insight into the three different customs, beliefs, rules and regulations, politics, and reactions based on the influence of each individual country on each character.

Because of this presentation, the nations and politics take on characteristics of actual characters in the story and contributes to the bigger picture coming into view.

Giving input from different points of view allows for a much broader sense of a much bigger picture beyond the moment-by-moment scene and links the scenes beyond the actual setting into the psyche of the world around the characters. This adds a depth and richness to the piece and is, of course, vitally important to this particular writer and her geo-political thriller story.

What's New!
You're invited to the book launch party on 8/28 -- the PWWorkbook coming out party. Bookshop Santa Cruz 7:30p.m.

Blog tour with a mega-book giveaway. Tour the week of August 20th with us and travel to some awesome sites. Juicy plot posts.

Another mega-workbook give-away, using FaceBook and Twitter coming soon. More later...

Plot your story step-by-step with the help of The Plot Whisperer Workbook: Step-by-step Exercises to Help You Create Compelling Stories

More Plot Tips:
1) Read The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Master

2) Watch the Plot Series: How Do I Plot a Novel, Memoir, Screenplay? on YouTube. Scroll down on the left of this post for a directory of all the steps to the series. 27-step tutorial on Youtube

3) Watch the Monday Morning Plot Book Group Series on YouTube. Scroll down on the right of this post for a directory the book examples and plot elements discussed.

For additional tips and information about the Universal Story and plotting a novel, memoir or screenplay, visit:
Blockbuster Plots for Writers
Plot Whisperer on Facebook
Plot Whisperer on Twitter

Today’s tip of the day comes from Setting and Keeping Goals, a chapter in Book in a Month by Victoria Lynn Schmidt. Here she discusses how to write the book you were meant to write.

If you are aware ahead of time that you may be working on a story that is not in line with who you are as a writer—say, if you’ve been contracted to write in a genre you’re unfamiliar with—then you can compensate for it not only by giving yourself more time to complete the story, but also by recognizing blocks and resistance as they come up. That way, you will understand why you feel blocked, and you can then either write the story anyway or give yourself permission to shape your storyline so it fits better with who you are as a writer. It’s called slanting your project, tweaking it a bit to get more of “you” into it. Many writers who work for hire do this. They will take any writing job they are offered, but they immediately pick through the idea and inject their own ideas and themes into it. This is what makes us unique, what adds style to our work. Knowing what projects not to become involved in, as well as what projects to pursue, is the biggest key to a fabulous writing career.

Do you think Nora Roberts and Barbara Cartland would have been so prolific if they wrote in a vastly different genre and topic area? Most likely, they would have slanted any book they wrote into the mold of who they were as writers. This is why you can take any story idea, give it to ten different writers, and get back ten different versions of it! Who you are as a writer will always come through your work. Accept and embrace that.

Now that you know who you are as a writer and what is important to you, take that information and turn it into an overall career goal in first or third person. For example:

• I want to write X stories with Y and Z. (I want write sensual stories with suspense and intrigue.)
• X and Y are what writer Z is all about. (Spunky heroines and slapstick comedy are what writer Jack Doe is all about.)

Does any of this sound familiar? It should! You have all been told that you need to boil your ideas down into a one-sentence pitch. Well, this is the one-sentence pitch of yourself. It is just as important to pitch
yourself as it is to pitch your story. You don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. Pitching yourself tells people about your career; pitching your book just tells them about that one book.

Now you try writing a one sentence pitch.

If Jack Doe is hired to write a horror novel, he can create a spunky heroine with one or two slapstick moments and make the story his own.  He won’t struggle as much in the beginning to write this horror book because he knows what he likes to write about. He knows what will make this an enjoyable experience for him. Can you imagine how he might struggle if he couldn’t put his finger on what he didn’t like about this horror project? Instead, he can jump right in with suggestions and ideas for the publisher. (Remember, this statement about who you are as a writ

If your goal is to write, revise, and ultimately sell a novel, watch and listen to one of Writer’s Digest’s newest tutorials: Crafting and Selling a Page-Turner. No matter if you are just starting to brainstorm novel ideas, are in the middle of writing one, or are revising and editing a novel, you’ll need to know what it takes to keep your readers attention from page one till the end.

In this 65-minute video, you’ll listen to Hallie Ephron, an award-winning author of mysteries and thrillers including Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel, explain how to write a thrilling novel that is full of suspense and compelling to readers. After all, a well-written novel that keeps readers turning page after page is the key to attracting the attention of agents, editors, and readers.

When you watch and listen to this online tutorial video, Ephron will teach you tips on planning your story, developing plot twists, and writing surprising endings. Learn how to create good and bad characters and engage every reader, regardless of genre. You’ll also learn how to revise a novel, techniques for sharpening your characters, and pacing your novel. And if your novel is a mystery or thriller, you’ll learn the art of deceiving and revealing and guidelines for writing credible investigations, and creating spine-tingling suspense and dramatic action.

Subscribe to Writer’s Digest Tutorials today & watch Crafting and Selling a Page-Turner now!

Do you want to write a novel? In addition to creating a solid plot, you are also going to need a strong concept for your novel. Wondering how to conceptualize your story? Todd A. Stone, author of the Novelist’s Boot Camp, shares essential elements for developing a story’s concept.

Developing A Story’s Concept

One common civilian technique for developing an idea for a novel is fairly straightforward: Start with a bit of information that piques your interest, then ask What if? But the answers to the What if? questions you asked in the civilian world of writing just aren’t strong enough to base a novel on. Instead, you need something stronger—you need to move from What if? to a comprehensive concept.

A comprehensive concept is a foundation builder. It is a short statement that combines the following four essential elements to form a strong base for your complex novel: (1) genre, (2) main character, (3) opposition, and (4) macro setting. You can arrange these elements, in any order.

Examples of Story Concepts From Popular Novels

Here are some example comprehensive concept statements formulated from popular novels.

In a mystery [genre] set in modern Los Angeles [macro setting], a female
bomb squad technician [main character] pursues a mad bomber [opposition]
who killed her partner.
—Demolition Angel by Robert Crais

A by-the-book Army officer and a break-the-rules Green Beret [main
characters] battle a new Nazi Fourth Reich [opposition] in a techno-thriller
[genre] set a newly united Germany [macro setting].
—Kriegspiel by Todd A. Stone

Now, to go from What if? to comprehensive concept, you need to leverage the what in What if? That is, begin with your scrap of information—idea, person, place, thing, tidbit of news, slice of history, scientific observation, or whatever else that sticks and inspires you—then ask specific What if? questions designed to formulate each of the four elements of your comprehensive concept.

For example, start with this fictional news item: Private plan crashes. No pilot found. Now, instead of asking yourself random What if? questions and allowing your train of thought to pick its own destination, focus and direct your What if? questions to determine genre, initial main character, opposition, and macro setting. You can address these four elements in any order.

• Genre: What role could this fact play in a horror story? What role could this fact play in a spy novel?
• Opposition: In a horror story, what kind of monster might be involved? What could that monster do to make planes crash and pilots vanish?
• Main Character: What if the protagonist was the missing pilot? What could be his reason for disappearing? What role could his disappearance play in his discovery and pursuit of the monster? What would the main character do to track and kill this kind of monster?
• Macro Setting: What kind of setting might be interesting for this story?

Arrange your answers to form a comprehensive concept statement. As long as you focus your questions on genre, main character, opposition, and macro setting, your novel concept will be strong enough that you can confidently mo

No matter what type of novel you want to write–horror, romance, science fiction, mystery, or fantasy–we have bundled some of the best books, webinars, and workshops together to help you write a novel. When you buy this month’s premium collection, 10 Essentials for Writing a Kick-Ass Novel, you will learn how to structure your novel and tell your story effectively, get the essential tools you need to start and finish a novel, and learn what editors and agents look for.

Learn How to Write A Fiction Novel With These Resources On Novel Writing

If your goal is to write a novel in a month, finish a novel, or simply learn how to write one, you’ll find the best advice and tips on novel writing in this premium collection which includes:

• The Writer’s Compass: You’ll learn how to organize your story’s ideas and events through story mapping and the seven stages of writing. You’ll also receive tips on writing a novel, including, building your story’s structure, creating memorable characters, and developing crucial scenes.

• The Plot Thickens: Write a novel that catches the attention of agents and editors! In this online writing webinar, author, editor, and literary agent Andrea Hurst discusses plot methods and story structure. She also explains the reasons why manuscripts are rejected and what agents look for in a story.

• From First Draft to Finished Novel: Discover what it takes to write a novel from start to finish. You’ll learn the fundamentals of writing, including the basics of developing characters and plot, strategies for self-editing, and general guidelines for submitting your novel.

• Start Your Story Right: When writing a story, it’s essential to craft a strong beginning that grabs the attention of readers and agents. Guest speaker and literary agent Sara Megibow discusses how to write strong opening scenes, examines common clichés and problems, and shares insight into what agents and editors look for.

• Novel Shortcuts: Develop your story and turn an idea into an amazing novel—fast! Whether you are pressed for time or simply want to write a novel faster, you’ll explore time-saving strategies and tools for writing your first draft. You’ll also find practical exercises and comprehensive checklists to help you tackle the writing process.

• Story Structure Architect: Author Victoria Lynn Schmidt explains how to struc
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One of the challenges writers face when writing a novel is balancing scene with summary. Today’s tip of the day focuses on what you should not include when summarizing a scene or event. Plus, try your hand at writing summary with a free exercise from Novel Shortcuts.

When To Write Summaries Versus Scenes

Writing summary does not mean starting at the moment the last scene ended and covering everything that happens up to the moment the next scene begins. You only need to include those things that are significant to [the story]. There is a lot the readers will assume.

5 Things You Don’t Need To Include When Writing Summaries

1. Uneventful travel. People walking out of rooms or riding, walking, or flying to a new location. Unless there’s something important about the way they got to the next place, leave it out.
2. Home-life maintenance. If you don’t say what happened the rest of the night, readers will assume that normal things took place: sleeping, reading, and watching television.
3. Workday maintenance. We know that the lawyer will probably have meetings, take phone calls, and read briefs. We’ll assume the teacher will give lessons, grade papers, and have coffee in the staff lounge. No need to even skim over that stuff unless doing so helps your story.
4. Relationship maintenance. If you skip how your hero kisses his wife and kids when he gets home, what he says to them, and the look on this face during dinner, readers will assume that his relationships are rolling along as before.
5. Ongoing emotions already stated. If you describe your protagonist being depressed and skip telling us her frame of mind between breakfast and dinner, readers will assume she continued to act depressed. No need to repeat or fortify this idea unless it helps the story.

Try This: A Summary Writing Exercise

Take a year of your life and try summarizing it into one paragraph. See if you find the most significant aspects to highlight. What changed that year? What would someone need to know in order for the next year of your life to make sense? Read it to someone else and see if they get a sense of that shortened journey through time. If you have trouble with a year of your own life, try summarizing a year of someone else’s life, a season of your favorite TV drama or comedy, a season for your favorite sports team. Repeat until ease sets in.

This excerpt comes from Laura Whitcomb’s book, Novel Shortcuts. Learn more about her book on novel writing and read an exclusive author interview. Plus, don’t miss out on these online writing workshops that focus on the novel:

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