Scene Ahead Approach

ACFWAdvice, Authors and writing, Outlines, Plotting/Outlines, tips, writing 9 Comments

by B.D. Lawrence @BDLawrence3 Some writers are plotters. They write a detailed outline of the entire story before writing a scene. Some writers are pantsers. They write with no outline and no idea where they are going. I started as a plotter. I wrote a wonderful ten-chapter outline for my first book.  But when the book ended up being thirty …

Seven Components Required to Create a Compelling Character

ACFWAdvice, Authors and writing, Characters, Conflict/Tension, Encouragement, Plotting/Outlines, tips, writing, writing 6 Comments

by Rachel Hauck  @RachelHauck This August I’ve been writing full time for twenty years. I quit my job—cutting our household income by two-thirds—with one little $2,500 contract and a big deposit of dreams. While other contracts followed, my books didn’t fly off the shelf, win awards, or create buzz at my publisher. In many ways, I had a wrong idea …

Do You Outline, or Do You Write into the Dark?

ACFWAdvice, Authors and writing, Brainstorming, Characters, Outlines, Plots, Plotting/Outlines, tips, writing 11 Comments

By Glynn Young @ gyoung9751 A problem developed while I was writing my fifth novel. The problem had to do with what I conceived as a minor character – a four-year-old boy who would grow to adulthood during the story. But he wasn’t the main character; far from it, in fact. He was supposed to have a bit role. Unfortunately, …

Plotter or “Pantser” – Is One Better than the Other?

ACFWAdvice, Authors and writing, Brainstorming, Friends of ACFW, Outlines, Plots, Plotting/Outlines, writing Leave a Comment

By Lori Domingo @LoriDomingo22 If someone had asked me that question a year ago, I would have proudly declared, “I’m a pantser. I never write from a plot outline. It’s too confining.” I had managed to complete one manuscript without it, and was hard-pressed when I was required to write one for one of my MA classes. It was something …