LAURENCE MACNAUGHTON

Tag: how to write

  • Want to Get Published? Know Your Genre!

    You can write a novel in any genre you want, as long as you know what it is.  To me, a “genre” is anything that comes with a certain set of expectations.  If you tell me your story is a hard-boiled mystery, then I’ll know what to expect.  If you tell me it’s a time-travel…

  • Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, Now Featuring Yours Truly

    If you’re a Colorado writer, you owe it to yourself to check out Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, a source of news, inspiration, critique groups, conferences and the occasional bestselling author.  Editor extraordinaire Carly Willis puts together an excellent newsletter every month.  If you’re a member (or thinking of becoming one), check out the March newsletter,…

  • Feel the Invisible Robot Love

    These days, most of our precious writing usually ends up online, where it is relentlessly scrutinized by robots.  Not the sparky “Danger, Will Robinson, danger!” kind of robots, but invisible little computer gremlins that furrow through the internet, looking for text to gnaw on.  That way, if you go to Google and search for —…

  • Transform Your Hero and Get Published

    I was just listening to a fantastic interview with the late, great Blake Snyder, author of the Save the Cat! books.  One of the many insightful things he said was, “Tell me a story about a hero who transforms over the course of an adventure.” That’s something that I struggle with in my own writing. …

  • I’m in Writers’ Journal again

    I’m happy to report that I sold another piece to the fine folks at Writers’ Journal.  This one’s just a small piece, but it was fun to write.  If you haven’t checked out Writers’ Journal yet, I recommend picking up a copy today!  It’s chock full of writing advice on how to get published, where…

  • Why Editors Are Just Not That Into You

    Whenever I hear a writer complain that editors just aren’t “getting” her latest story, I suspect what they’re actually not getting out of it is emotion.  As human beings, we like to sit around the campfire, literally or metaphorically, and tell each other stories.  Stories enlighten us, inspire us, gift us with a new perspective. …

  • Today’s Writing Prompt: Kill Your Character!

    You’re not killing her, not really.  Just bear with me for a minute.  This is one of my crazy creative writing exercises. First, write a short scene where a major character gets killed.  Show it from the perspective of another viewpoint character.  How it happens is up to you, but it should be directly connected…

  • I Want to Teach You How to Write a Novel

    Over the last few years, I’ve met and interviewed a bunch of authors at different stages in their career, from the very beginning to the very top.  In one case, I had the privilege of hanging out with a debut author the same day he discovered he’d hit the New York Times bestseller list.  As…