Rob Parnell's Writing Academy Blog

Topic:   Plotting Fiction for Publication Level:  Beginner to Intermediate Duration:  2 hours approx Delivery:  PDF. Text based Rob Parnell and The Writing Academy present: Plotting Perfect Stories When it comes to writing stories, once you have a good grasp of character creation, you can then move on to the tricky part: creating a great plot for your novel, short story or flash/fan fiction. Plotting is fundamental to story. It can make or break the impact of your writing. A plot is not merely a sequence of events - in the same way that a series of diary entries is not a story. A plot is something much more involved - it implies a coherence that goes way beyond a simple relating of 'story points'. A good plot is a thing of beauty. It has symmetry and a solidity that goes far beyond what most writers even try to accomplish… So what makes a good plot? Here's your chance to find out in Rob Parnell's:  Plotting Perfect Stories Course incl...

I've been getting some lovely feedback recently regarding my Writing Academy. People seem to love it, which pleases me greatly. There's so far almost one thousand students enjoying twenty live courses, two of them free, with eleven more writing courses due up over the next couple of months. After that I'll be making a course about creating a course of your own! (What's the point of learning how to do things unless you can teach others to do the same?) Anyway, a new mini course is out today, This one is specifically about  Character Creation  for fiction. And it's only $7, down from $97.  Go here for that. Keep Writing! Rob Parnell Your Success is my Concern The Writing Academy How the Author Disappears From View ​​​​​​​There's a profound difference between a preacher and a commentator, a politician and a journalist, a spin doctor and a critic. And what is that? One word.  Agenda. ​​​​​​​ The main reas...

Did you get the free course on writing your own autobiography? It's here: http://rob-parnell-writing-academy.thinkific.com/courses/how-to-write-your-memoirs/ Today's article is about how to make your writing more professional-looking. Keep Writing! Rob Parnell Your Success is My Concern The Writing Academy You probably won't be surprised to learn I read a lot of unpublished manuscripts. I also read a lot of published work. Are there some glaring differences between the two? You betcha. The fact is most beginning writers write too much. That's okay for the first draft but when it comes to editing, you need to give that delete key a thorough work out! Good writing is about pacing, about taking the reader on a journey and keeping in step with them along the way. If you get the pacing wrong, the reader will stumble and begin to lose interest because it will seem you are more interested in writing the words th...

I get asked this question all the time. Writers everywhere want to know what's popular, what they should focus on for maximum profit, what sells, what will sell, now, and in the future. They think there might be some great oracle out there who can answer this question - or that maybe publishers and agents on the inside might know this information and are somehow keeping it to themselves. Would that this were true! Think about it. Five years ago, could you have predicted what you are doing now? Most of us don't know where we're going to be living in five years time - and even if we think we do, events conspire to change our plans. Life is organic, some might say unreliable . Even two years ago, is there any way you could have foreseen today's news? Could you have known which celebrities or politicians were going to be in the spotlight? Or which ones had faded from view? Of course not. It doesn't work that...

Become a Freelance Writer in 2017 They say it takes about a month to change a habit. That's why rehab centers use a 28 day program. A month is roughly how long it takes for the body and mind to adjust to a new set of rules and circumstances. There's no real cure for an addiction. The best therapists know that replacing a bad habit with a new obsession is way more effective than simply denying an urge that will no doubt resurface. The reason why most drug addicts go back to taking drugs is that, even though they may have rid themselves physically once, their situations, their daily lives, their friends and influences conspire to get them back on the road to their ingrained obsessions. Our brains are chemically designed to associate pleasure with familiarity. This is why self-destructive behavior can be so frustrating to observe - and counter. This is why too, if you sometimes have a defeatist attitude towards your writing - one that may tell you that you'll never succ...

Visit Rob Parnell's Writing Academy   to get FREE resources for aspiring writers. I recently conducted a survey of certain of my Writing Academy students - via mail. You know, using real post, with stamps!  I did this to find out specifically what OFFLINE writers feel about writing - to see whether their worldview was different from the thoughts and feelings of ONLINE writers. I think you'll be surprised, shocked even, by the results. (Big mega shock: 73% of OFFLINE WRITERS don't use the Internet at all!) Right. The first thing you have to remember about surveys is that the data may not be a totally accurate reflection of reality.  Most surveys are, in fact, just a reflection of the kind of people that fill out surveys! For instance, this survey was sent out to thousands of writers, of whom only 10% responded.  Therefore the views of this other 90% might be completely different from the hundreds that took the time to mail me their ans...

1. Read Like it's Going Out of Fashion You've heard it a million times before. You can't love writing without first loving to read. Read a lot. Read everything. Analyse writing and writers. Study what works, what doesn't, wonder why and learn from it. Realize too that the published writing you see has probably been worked and reworked over and over to appear effortless. Don't assume professional writers get it down perfect every time. They don't. Their work has been analyzed, edited and beaten into shape by themselves and other editors. 2. Study Your Own Writing Study every word, every sentence, every phrase. Are you maximizing the effect of your words? Could you say the same thing a different way? Don't just blindly accept your words as perfect. Professionals know there is always another way of stating something, setting a scene, explaining an emotion. Too many novice writers fall in love with their words, refusing to accept there m...