Unraveling the Mystery (Holly Schindler)

When I started writing, the process seemed a complete mystery. And the only way to get from first sentence to final, publishable manuscript was to endure a somewhat (okay, really) painful process of going through draft after draft after draft, pushing myself to complete 5K writing days, rarely knowing where I was going, seeking feedback, submitting, revising, resubmitting...

You get the idea. 

But times are totally different than they were when I started my writing journey.

There are so many really incredible online resources available. I mean incredible. A few of my faves:

Lisa Cron: Wired for Story Okay, not so much an online resource as a nonfiction book. But this was my very first plotting or structure read, and with this book, I was absolutely hooked.

Writers Helping Writers If you don't have a few copies of the Writers Helping Writers series (really recommend the emotion and conflict thesauruses), you need them. Now. They're great rescue devices when you find yourself needing a lift from writer's block.

Save the Cat I'll admit, I haven't used this one nearly as much as the others mentioned here, but I know soooo many authors who've said this was their intro to plotting theory. Great starting place.

K.M. Weiland If you've never visited Weiland's site--or listened to her podcast--or read any of her structure books--or taken any of her courses--you are missing out. Period. Anyone interested in writing and in learning to outline or become a plotter needs to become acquainted with Weiland. Period.

John Truby Anatomy of Story. So good. Also, Anatomy of Genre is another great writing desk go-to resource.

Donald Maas Writing the Breakout Novel: a classic for a reason.

Michael Hauge His 6-Stage Plot Structure offers a fantastic plotting foundation. The first time I tried to implement specific beats into a book, I was actually using Michael Hauge's 6-Stages. 

I know how important such writing instruction is--so I wanted to offer a bit of my own.

 

I've decided I'm also going to start teaching online. I've got several ideas for courses. The first will be a plotting tutorial--specifically, on plotting an entire novel through backstory. 

(Yes! The entire thing. It's totally possible. Your entire book can be plotted using a character's backstory. I discovered that's what I was doing to plot this year's Ruby's Place Christmas installment. This is perfect for writers of character-driven work.)

But people all learn differently. So I decided I need to put my plotting-through-backstory tutorials up in as many different forms as possible. Right now, it's going up in small chunks, week-by-week, on my Substack. Once the Substack serial wraps, it will be available as an e-book and also as a video course. 

I also think it's incredibly important to offer tutorials online for the most affordable price possible. Price shouldn't be a barrier to creativity. It should be about your willingness to put in the work. Right now, my Substack posts are going up for all subscribers--including free subscribers--with nothing behind the paywall. If you'd like to support my work, though, I also decided to put my Substack on a kind of perma-sale. $15 for an entire year. 

I hope you'll decide to check it out: Subscribe

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Holly Schindler is the author of The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky.