Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

The other day, a writer friend of mine told me her publisher recommended she read a certain book to get the flavor of what they liked to publish.  Eager to know, my author friend rushed to find the book and devour it... only to feel slightly disappointed - and confused. She wondered what it was about this book the publisher liked.  The story wasn't great.  The writing was average.  Some of the pacing seemed awkward.  Then it hit her.  It was the ATTITUDE of the protagonist that gave the book its appeal.  The hero was feisty, quick to anger, even spiteful and yet somehow lovable. It's no secret that I believe the key to good story telling is 'character'.  It should come before everything else - before plotting, before story, even before putting pen to paper.  If your characters aren't real to you, their stories will never work. And while I've spent much time elsewhere talking about the imp...

Dear Fellow Writer, In case you missed it, you have one last chance to participate in my new video lecture course - The Easy Way to Write Short Stories That Sell - at the introductory price. The special discount ends on the 31 st August! Go here to secure your place in class . Don’t forget, as well as the video lectures, you also get four downloadable courses on character development, plotting, The Art of Story and The Hero’s Journey in Fiction. Plus you get access to my personal mentoring for as long as you’re on the course. Keep Writing! Writing - QED Writing good fiction is about maintaining forward thrust. It's your job to propel the reader through your story without having them feel they are wading through your writing . In fact, your ultimate aim is somehow make the reader feel they're not actually reading at all. It's what I call   transparency   - the idea that there is nothing between your reader's mind and you...

Dear Fellow Writer, Been a busy week putting together the last few modules of my new video lecture course. If you saw my email last Friday, I invited you to join the Early Bird list for "The Easy Way to Write Short Stories That Sell - The Udemy Course." Thanks to everyone who has already registered their interest! If you haven't already done so, it's not too late to get on the Early Bird List.  Enter your email here and now: http://easywaytowrite.com/Udemy_Course.html The course launches next week, but only to the Early Bird participants. You'll receive early access AND over 50% off the minimal registration fee.  I'm doing this so you have the opportunity to improve your writing skills immediately and get writing for profit within days - if that's what you want!. As well as fifty-two video lectures - YES, 52! - you also get numerous text-based writing courses and dozens of pre-designed templates that wil...

Dear Fellow Writer,  Would you like to start making money writing and selling short stories? And SOON? If so, I’m inviting you to join my new Video Lecture Course, which launches in the next couple of weeks. It’s called “The Easy Way to Write Short Stories That Sell” – and is an information and feature packed writing resource like no other! If you want EARLY ACCESS, enter your email here, right now: SIGN UP   In this special course – my first ever VIDEO Lecture Series - offered exclusively through Udemy - I’ll be covering: ·         How to come up with original ideas instantly ·         How to plot a story in less than ten minutes ·         How to write a short story in an hour ·         How to sell short stories to the marketplace ·         How to make money from s...

During some recent Easy Way to Write chat sessions I've been banging on about building novel templates assuming everyone knows what I’m talking about! I sometimes forget that not everyone has read  The Easy Way to Write a Novel That Sells. Seriously, for the benefit of those who want to know how to construct simple plans for their novels, here's a simplified version of what's in the book. First, know your characters inside out, work through a rough story outline either in your head or on paper, making sure it's your characters that define the story and not the other way round. Okay, so that's the tough bit. Now for the easy bit. Get a piece of paper and write 1 to 10 down the left hand side with plenty of space for writing in between. Next to No 1, write Intro. Next to No 10, write Finale At No 1, write one sentence, no more, describing your opening scene. At No 10, write one sentence describing the last scene in your book. For instance, if you were wri...