Ryan Lanz's Blog, page 28

3 Things That Make a Great 1st Line

The title of this sounds pretty lofty, doesn’t it? For those of you who don’t have a finished manuscript, though, this might not be so useful. Write your novel, edit it, then see if you can cut the first chapter. Don’t count the writing as a waste, YOU needed to know what was going on […]

How the Seven-Point Story Structure Can Help Your Writing

I still remember the day I started writing my first novel. I felt a little lost. I knew the basic concept of the story I wanted to tell, but the endless sea of possibilities on how to get there was overwhelming. I kept wondering if there was a blueprint, of sorts, for the structure of […]

Writing Authentic Battle Scenes

If you write historical novels, you may end up having to handle battles, and the question is, how to do it? The simplest way is to focus on one or more persons on the front line. You may be able to write some important character aspect of the protagonist, and this is good, but if […]

Historical Research for Writers

Researching is, believe it or not, a skill that not everyone has. If you do have it you should definitely put it on your C.V.; good research is often the thing you do not see, but the want of it is blindingly obvious, especially when you write historic fiction, or you’re writing about cultures and […]

Five Things Authors Can Learn From Drama Classes

We’ve all read those wordy introductions to a character, the type that run “ever since she’d suffered the two miscarriages and had failed to conceive since…” or one of the characters conveniently filling in the reader on a back story, “how long is it now since your wife died? Four years? I still can’t believe […]

How to Make a Storyboard

Here’s an awesome idea that I have stuck with since day one of writing my novel. Storyboards. Sometimes we writers need inspiration. What a better way than to look at a storyboard that was made by YOU! It’s amazing because it serves as a blue-print for your story. It helps you to “get in the mood”, […]

What Happens After You Get a Literary Agent

Earlier this year, I announced that I’d finally gotten a literary agent, and since then people have been asking me how things are going. The answer is … Things are going well! BUT Not exactly as I’d expected. What I mean by that is, mostly, that I didn’t expect that I’d still be revising my […]

From Slush Pile to Editor’s Desk: Build Urgency from the Beginning

While you can’t predict exactly what an editor will or will not like, there are a couple things you can do to ensure that your story has a fighting chance when you submit it to a literary magazine (and won’t cause anyone to scream and/or tear their hair out in frustration).   Build Urgency From […]

5 Similarities Between Running and Writing

  First step (or sentence) is the hardest Imagine this: it’s cold outside, and all you want to do is stay indoors and drink a nice cup of tea. But you know better than crushing on the couch: you put your running shoes on, and start your training, even when every inch of your body […]

Creativity Without an Outline

Even though people have been creative for most of our existence, yet most creatives don’t have an idea of how the creative process actually works. Pretty ironic for someone who works so much inside the mind. Take this into regards to everyone who calls themselves creative. I think it’s neat and would like the field […]