Search query: write novel

Product: How to Write a Novel: 49 Rules for Writing a Stupendously Awesome Novel That You Will Love Forever
Description: Read the guide that New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs called "The best how-to-write-a-novel book I've read."

The most important thing to know about writing a novel is this: You can do it. And if you've already written one, you can write an even better one. Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford shares his secrets for creating killer plots, fleshing out your first ideas, crafting compelling characters, and staying sane in the process.

MORE PRAISE FOR 'HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL

"Nathan Bransford's primer is full of thoughtful, time-proven advice on how to write a novel. Nathan can sound both like a reassuring friend and a tough, no-nonsense coach. Whatever kind of novel you're writing, Nathan's insights will make you think about your process and help you find your own way to success."
- Jeff Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of DOWNFALL

"Nathan Bransford is sharp, thoughtful, and a must-read for all aspiring authors. His advice is not only funny and insightful, it's essential for writers at any stage in their careers."
- Tahereh Mafi, New York Times bestselling author of SHATTER ME

"Nathan Bransford's book on how to write a novel is smart, generous and funny as hell. Read it. No matter where you are in your writing life, whether you're on your first book or are a grizzled, multi published veteran, you'll find practical advice to help you through the process -- and plenty of wisdom to inspire you along the journey."
- Lisa Brackmann, author of ROCK PAPER TIGER

"Equal parts encouraging and butt-kicking, hilarious and wise, Nathan Bransford's no-nonsense manifesto talks you through the process of getting the book of your dreams out of your head and onto the page. Whether you've been writing for five minutes or fifty years, this is the guide for you."
- Sarah McCarry, author of ALL OUR PRETTY SONGS
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Product: How to Plan, Outline, and Write Your Novel in Thirty Days
Description: Can you really plan, outline, and write your novel in thirty days?

It may sound unlikely, but if you are determined, can commit two to three hours a day, and follow a structured plan -- yes you can!

This book uses a streamlined process to efficiently guide you in quickly creating the first draft of your novel. It includes how to:

* Create a doable schedule with a weekly day off to complete your novel in as little as one month.

* Copy sample forms to record your progress and keep you on track.* Find an intriguing story idea.

* Include fast tricks to develop your characters.

* Follow easy steps using the Story Template to structure your story.

* Plan for the "secret ingredient" that can make or break your story.

* Plan each scene with a five-minute no-fail trick that *always builds tension.

* Learn fast writing tools, tricks, and techniques that will have you writing 1000 or more words per hour -- really!

* Self-edit without stress.

* Move ahead to finish your book and publish.

Whether you want to participate in the National Novel Writing Month challenge (www.nanowrimo.org) or simply accomplish your long-standing desire to create a novel, you've come to the right place. This book shows you exactly how to get your novel written fast and well. Get this book today and start writing tomorrow!
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Product: Learn How To Write A Novel By Reading Harry Potter
Description: Learn How to Write a Novel by reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone!

Learning how to write a novel is hard, but doing so by studying one of the best-selling, most-beloved novels of all time makes it a lot easier.

In this book, authors and former college professors Scott King and Clark Chamberlain will teach you how to write a novel using Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone as their study guide and example.

Each chapter ends with a collection of take aways. To make everything easier to remember and reference, they are reorganized at the end of the book to serve as the perfect guide for helping you write your novel.

Some of the topics covered in this book include:

Three Act Structure

Character Arcs

World-Building

Creating Conflict

Layering Mysteries

Character Development

Character Voice

Author Voice

Active vs. Passive Characters

Crafting Descriptions

Delve into a deep critical analysis of what makes Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone so special and use the techniques uncovered to craft your own story!

Neither the authors nor the publishers are affiliated with Rowling, Scholastic, or Bloomsbury. This book is a literary analysis of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and does not imply any recommendation or affiliation with the Harry Potter franchise. It is meant to further scholarship and is not a spin-off, companion volume, sequel or prequel to the Harry Potter series.
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Product: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need
Description: The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success.
Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel writing. Revealing the 15 "beats" (plot points) that comprise a successful story--from the opening image to the finale--this book lays out the Ten Story Genres (Monster in the House; Whydunit; Dude with a Problem) alongside quirky, original insights (Save the Cat; Shard of Glass) to help novelists craft a plot that will captivate--and a novel that will sell.
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Product: The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel
Description: The #1 International Bestseller & New York Times Bestseller

This beautiful, illuminating tale of hope and courage is based on interviews that were conducted with Holocaust survivor and Auschwitz-Birkenau tattooist Ludwig (Lale) Sokolov—an unforgettable love story in the midst of atrocity.

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is an extraordinary document, a story about the extremes of human behavior existing side by side: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I find it hard to imagine anyone who would not be drawn in, confronted and moved. I would recommend it unreservedly to anyone, whether they’d read a hundred Holocaust stories or none.”—Graeme Simsion, internationally-bestselling author of The Rosie Project

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own life, he uses his privileged position to exchange jewels and money from murdered Jews for food to keep his fellow prisoners alive.

One day in July 1942, Lale, prisoner 32407, comforts a trembling young woman waiting in line to have the number 34902 tattooed onto her arm. Her name is Gita, and in that first encounter, Lale vows to somehow survive the camp and marry her.

A vivid, harrowing, and ultimately hopeful re-creation of Lale Sokolov's experiences as the man who tattooed the arms of thousands of prisoners with what would become one of the most potent symbols of the Holocaust, The Tattooist of Auschwitz is also a testament to the endurance of love and humanity under the darkest possible conditions.
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Product: How To Write An Autobiographical Novel: Essays
Description: Named a Best Book of 2018 by New York Magazine, the Washington Post, Publisher's Weekly, NPR, and Time, among many others, this essay collection from the author of The Queen of the Night explores how we form identities in life and in art.
As a novelist, Alexander Chee has been described as “masterful” by Roxane Gay, “incendiary” by the New York Times, and "brilliant" by the Washington Post. With his first collection of nonfiction, he’s sure to secure his place as one of the finest essayists of his generation as well.
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is the author’s manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him. In these essays, he grows from student to teacher, reader to writer, and reckons with his identities as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, and a friend. He examines some of the most formative experiences of his life and the nation’s history, including his father’s death, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the jobs that supported his writing ​— ​Tarot-reading, bookselling, cater-waiting for William F. Buckley ​— ​the writing of his first novel, Edinburgh, and the election of Donald Trump.
By turns commanding, heartbreaking, and wry, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel asks questions about how we create ourselves in life and in art, and how to fight when our dearest truths are under attack.
Named a Best Book by: Time, Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Wired, Esquire, Buzzfeed, New York Public Library, Boston Globe, Paris Review, Mother Jones,The A.V. Club, Out Magazine, Book Riot, Electric Literature, PopSugar, The Rumpus, My Republica, Paste, Bitch, Library Journal, Flavorwire, Bustle, Christian Science Monitor, Shelf Awareness, Tor.com, Entertainment Cheat Sheet, Roads and Kingdoms, Chicago Public Library, Hyphen Magazine, Entropy Magazine, Chicago Review of Books, The Coil, iBooks, and Washington Independent Review of Books
Winner of the Publishing Triangle's Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction * Recipient of the Lambda Literary Trustees' Award *
Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay * Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award for Gay Memoir/Biography
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Product: Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels (How to Write Kissing Books Book 1)
Description: What makes a romance novel a romance? How do you write a kissing book?

Writing a well-structured romance isn’t the same as writing any other genre—something the popular novel and screenwriting guides don’t address. The romance arc is made up of its own story beats, and the external plot and theme need to be braided to the romance arc—not the other way around.

Told in conversational (and often irreverent) prose, Romancing the Beat can be read like you are sitting down to coffee with romance editor and author Gwen Hayes while she explains story structure. The way she does with her clients. Some of whom are regular inhabitants of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.

Romancing the Beat is a recipe, not a rigid system. The beats don’t care if you plot or outline before you write, or if you pants your way through the drafts and do a “beat check” when you’re revising. Pantsers and plotters are both welcome. So sit down, grab a cuppa, and let’s talk about kissing books.
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Product: How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method (Advanced Fiction Writing Book 1)
Description: A Magical Key to Unlock Your Creative Wizard

Are you writing a novel, but having trouble getting your first draft written? You’ve heard of “outlining,” but that sounds too rigid for you. You’ve heard of “organic writing,” but that seems a bit squishy to you.

Take a look at the wildly popular Snowflake Method—a battle-tested series of ten steps that jump-start your creativity and help you quickly map out your story. All around the world, novelists are using the Snowflake Method right now to ignite their imaginations and get their first drafts down on paper.

In this book, you’ll follow the story of a fictitious novelist as she learns to tap into the amazing power of the Snowflake Method. Almost magically, she finds her story growing from a simple idea into a deep and powerful novel. And she finds her novel changing her—turning her into a stronger, more courageous person.

Zany, Over the Top, and Just Plain Fun

How to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method is a “business parable”—a how-to guide written in story form. It’s zany. It’s over the top. It’s just plain fun. Most important, it’s effective, because it shows you, rather than telling you.

You’ll learn by example how to grow your story idea into a sizzling first draft.

You’ll discover:

How to define your “target audience” the right way, so you know exactly how your ideal readers think and feel. Forget what the experts tell you about “demographics.”
How to create a dynamite selling tool that will instantly tell people whether they’ll love your story or hate it. And you want them to either love it or hate it.
How to get inside the skin of every one of your characters—even your villain. Especially your villain.
How to find a deep, emotively powerful theme for your story. Do you know the one best point in your novel to unveil your theme—when your reader is most eager to hear it?
How to know when to backtrack, and why backtracking is essential to writing great fiction.
How to fire-test each scene to guarantee it’ll be high-impact—before you write it.

Excerpt from Chapter 1:

Goldilocks had always wanted to write a novel.

She learned to read before she went to kindergarten.

In grade school, she always had her nose in a book.

In junior high, the other kids thought she was weird, because she actually liked reading those dusty old novels in literature class.

All through high school, Goldilocks dreamed of writing a book of her own someday.

But when she went to college, her parents persuaded her to study something practical.

Goldilocks hated practical, and secretly she kept reading novels. But she was a very obedient girl, so she did what her parents told her. She got a very practical degree in marketing.

After college, she got a job that bored her to tears—but at least it was practical.

Then she got married, and within a few years, she had two children, a girl and then a boy. She quit her job to devote full time to them.
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Product: Write Your Novel in a Month: How to Complete a First Draft in 30 Days and What to Do Next
Description: One of these days, I'm going to sit down and write that novel....
Everyone thinks about doing it, yet most people who do start a novel end up stalling after a few chapters. Where do these would-be novelists go wrong? Are the characters dull and cliched? Did the story arc collapse? Did they succumb to a dreaded bout of "writer's block"? Or maybe it was all just taking too long?
These problems used to stop writers in their tracks, but nothing will get in your way after reading Write Your Novel in a Month. Author and instructor Jeff Gerke has created the perfect tool to show you how to prepare yourself to write your first draft in as little as 30 days. With Jeff's help, you will learn how to organize your ideas, create dynamic stories, develop believable characters, and flesh out the idea narrative for your novel--and not just for the rapid-fire first draft. Jeff walks you through the entire process, from initial idea to the important revision stage, and even explains what to do with your novel once you've finished.
Whether you are participating in National Novel Writing Month or you're simply hoping to complete a draft over winter break or your vacation, this book covers the entire scope of writing a novel and lays out exactly what you need to know to get it done fast and right.
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Product: How to Write a Damn Good Novel: A Step-by-Step No Nonsense Guide to Dramatic Storytelling
Description: Written in a clear, crisp, accessible style, this book is perfect for beginners as well as professional writers who need a crash course in the down-to-earth basics of storytelling. Talent and inspiration can't be taught, but Frey does provide scores of helpful suggestions and sensible rules and principles.
An international bestseller, How to Write a Damn Good Novel will enable all writers to face that intimidating first page, keep them on track when they falter, and help them recognize, analyze, and correct the problems in their own work.
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Product: The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel: All the tools you need to write and sell your first novel (Everything®)
Description: For an aspiring novelist, nothing is more intimidating than a blank page or computer screen. This step-by-step guide helps you get past that hurdle, start writing, and cross the finish line to first draft in only twenty-six weeks! This guide covers the entire novel-writing process--from polishing an idea to finding an agent and submitting to publishers.
This practical guide takes you through the ins and outs of writing and publishing your first book, including how to:

Create authentic characters, engaging plotlines, and believable settings
Edit for tone, structure, and pacing
Find the right agent
Market and sell your work to publishers
Build a career as a novelist

Complete with writing exercises, inspiring examples, and expert advice from bestselling novelists, this book is an excellent starting place for anyone interested in the art, craft, and business of writing fiction.
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Product: Writing Fiction For Dummies
Description: A complete guide to writing and selling your novel

So you want to write a novel? Great! That’s a worthy goal, no matter what your reason. But don’t settle for just writing a novel. Aim high. Write a novel that you intend to sell to a publisher. Writing Fiction for Dummies is a complete guide designed to coach you every step along the path from beginning writer to royalty-earning author. Here are some things you’ll learn in Writing Fiction for Dummies:

Strategic Planning: Pinpoint where you are on the roadmap to publication; discover what every reader desperately wants from a story; home in on a marketable category; choose from among the four most common creative styles; and learn the self-management methods of professional writers.

Writing Powerful Fiction: Construct a story world that rings true; create believable, unpredictable characters; build a strong plot with all six layers of complexity of a modern novel; and infuse it all with a strong theme.

Self-Editing Your Novel: Psychoanalyze your characters to bring them fully to life; edit your story structure from the top down; fix broken scenes; and polish your action and dialogue.

Finding An Agent and Getting Published: Write a query letter, a synopsis, and a proposal; pitch your work to agents and editors without fear.

Writing Fiction For Dummies takes you from being a writer to being an author. It can happen—if you have the talent and persistence to do what you need to do.
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Product: How Not to Write a Novel: 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them--A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide
Description: "What do you think of my fiction book writing?" the aspiring novelist extorted.

"Darn," the editor hectored, in turn. "I can not publish your novel! It is full of what we in the business call 'really awful writing.'"

"But how shall I absolve this dilemma? I have already read every tome available on how to write well and get published!" The writer tossed his head about, wildly.

"It might help," opined the blonde editor, helpfully, "to ponder how NOT to write a novel, so you might avoid the very thing!"

Many writing books offer sound advice on how to write well. This is not one of those books. On the contrary, this is a collection of terrible, awkward, and laughably unreadable excerpts that will teach you what to avoid—at all costs—if you ever want your novel published.

In How Not to Write a Novel, authors Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman distill their 30 years combined experience in teaching, editing, writing, and reviewing fiction to bring you real advice from the other side of the query letter. Rather than telling you how or what to write, they identify the 200 most common mistakes unconsciously made by writers and teach you to recognize, avoid, and amend them. With hilarious "mis-examples" to demonstrate each manuscript-mangling error, they'll help you troubleshoot your beginnings and endings, bad guys, love interests, style, jokes, perspective, voice, and more. As funny as it is useful, this essential how-NOT-to guide will help you get your manuscript out of the slush pile and into the bookstore.
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Product: This Year You Write Your Novel
Description: "A straightforward, friendly guide for aspiring writers" (Los Angeles Times): No more excuses. With award-winning author Walter Mosley as your guide, you can write a novel now.
"Let the lawn get shaggy and the paint peel from the walls," bestselling novelist Walter Mosley advises. In this invaluable book of tips, practical advice, and wisdom, Mosley promises that the writer-in-waiting can finish their novel in one year.
Intended as both inspiration and instruction, this book provides the tools to turn out a first draft painlessly and then revise it into something finer. Mosley teaches you how to:

Create a daily writing regimen to fit any writer's needs -- and how to stick to it.
Determine the narrative voice that's right for every writer's style.
Hook readers with dynamic characters.
Get past those first challenging sentences and into the heart of a story.
And much more.

"No-nonsense advice that is sure to set beginning writers along the righteous path to real authorhood." --Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Product: On Writing: A Memoir Of The Craft (A Memoir of the Craft (Reissue))
Description: Twentieth Anniversary Edition with Contributions from Joe Hill and Owen King
ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE’S TOP 100 NONFICTION BOOKS OF ALL TIME

Immensely helpful and illuminating to any aspiring writer, this special edition of Stephen King’s critically lauded, million-copy bestseller shares the experiences, habits, and convictions that have shaped him and his work.

“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery. Brilliantly structured, friendly and inspiring, On Writing will empower and entertain everyone who reads it—fans, writers, and anyone who loves a great story well told.
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Product: Write Your Novel From The Middle: A New Approach for Plotters, Pantsers and Everyone in Between (Bell on Writing Book 1)
Description: "This book revolutionized my writing! I use it for every novel I write. Highly recommended!" — Colleen Coble, USA Today Bestselling Author

The reviews are in! See what thousands of writers have discovered in this ground-breaking approach to writing a novel:

"I love, love, love this book. It's to the point and explains things in a way that anyone can understand." – K. A.

"The best book for organizing your thoughts and getting from A to Z without freaking out." – S. K.

"This book, more than any other, brought to me the insight of what happens in the middle of a story." – L. W.

A powerful secret and a fresh approach to writing fiction that sells!

What's the best way to write a "next level" novel? Some writers start at the beginning and let the story unfold without a plan. They are called "pantsers," because they write by the "seat of the pants."

Other writers plan and outline and know the ending before they start. These are the "plotters."

The two sides never seem to agree with each other on the best approach.

But what if it's not the beginning or the end that is the key to a successful book? What if, amazing as it may seem, the place to begin writing your novel is in the very middle of the story?

According to #1 bestselling writing teacher James Scott Bell, that's exactly where you'll find your story's heart and heat. Bell's "Mirror Moment" is the secret, and its power is available to any writer, at any stage of the writing process.

Bringing together years of craft study and personal discovery, Bell presents a truly unique approach to writing a novel, one that will stand the test of time and serve you all your writing life.

"I need three things before I tackle a new novel: Diet Coke, a laptop, and my dog-eared copies of James Scott Bell's books on writing craft!” - Kami Garcia, #1 NYT Times & International Bestselling author
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