It’s a two for one blog post this week, with more analysis on the video game, The Last of Us. Main Points • Segmenting the main plot is good. Four part method is (1) introduction; (2) first journey; (3) everything terrible happens; (4) beginning of hope/new plan, biggest battle and conclusion. • Main emotional conflicts should be established early on and come to a head often (a big middle event and the big final event). • Every segment needs an emotional…

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Main Points • Make the setting unique and make it it’s own character. • Take common ideas and tweak them just a bit. • Prologues can have a huge emotional impact on readers. • We care most about characters who care about each other, are proactive, and have loving relationships. This can be established quickly if executed well. • Every major character needs a character arc, where they grow or face their own conflict. • Four part structure can provide…

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    Main Points • Video games can tell great stories with some crossover techniques for writing. • Video games excel in immersion; accountability; giving small rewards; tutorials; and quick starts into action. • Emphasize what books can do that video games (and other mediums) can’t, such as taking time; using additional senses including touch, taste, and smell; interior dialogue; and having independent characters who each have their own character arcs. Intro I love playing video games. It’s one of…

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Main Points • Play to your strengths. • Begin with a secondary conflict. • Show the character being proactive. • Prologues can help. • Above all, DO NOT BE BORING. Intro The beginning of a book is the most important part of a book. If the beginning is boring, people aren’t going to read it. They’ll never make it to the really cool and awesome stuff you wrote later on. Also, you typically submit the first few pages or chapters…

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  Main Points • The War of Art is a masterpiece everyone should read. Buy it! • We all have to overcome ‘resistance,’ the tendency to resist doing our life’s work. • We overcome resistance by becoming a pro, treating our art as if it were a professional career. • We can rely on Muses for inspiration and help, whether that’s something divine or something innate. Introduction The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative…

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Main points • Stagecrafting is creating just enough in your world to make the book work. • Stagecrafting is faster and focuses on storytelling more than setting. But it can feel shallow. • Worldbuilding is creating the entire world: cultures, religions, languages, histories, etc. • Worldbuilding immerses readers, but takes a lot of time, and can lead to worldbuilding paralysis (not writing because you’re developing/researching), and tourism (showcasing irrelevant things you’ve developed that detracts from the story). • Try both…

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