Jared Dees's Blog: The Latest from Jared Dees, page 39

Shawn Coyne’s Five Elements of a Story

Every writer should read Shawn Coyne’s The Story Grid.

Of the many things I gained from the book, the one take-away that stands out a few years later is his five elements of a story. I have used these five elements to write articles, tell stories in keynote speeches, and plan out short stories. Once you get to know these elements, you start to look for them in TV shows and movies as well as books.

Here is a simple practice that has helped me. Before you write or plan anything you will share w...

Give Your Characters an Immediate Motivation

“When I used to teach creative writing, I would tell the students to make their characters want something right away – even if it’s only a glass of water. Characters paralyzed by the meaninglessness of modern life still have to drink water from time to time.”

Kurt Vonnegut (source)

I’m still learning to write good stories, but a character’s motivation seems to be the most important element to keeping the reader’s attention. While many writers try to use the beginning of stories to build up th...

Will my book still sell a decade from now?

In Zero to One Peter Thiel asks a really valuable question for entrepreneurs to ask about their businesses:

Will this business still be around a decade from now?

The corollary question an author must ask is:

Will this book still be in print a decade from now?

Will this book still sell a decade from now?

My first book was meant to be pretty timeless. Religious educators will always want to get better and there will always be roughly 31 days in a month.

My next writing project, however, was tim...

The Ten Person Test

The other day someone asked me how they could get published. That’s a big question! There are so many different ways to get published today.

Further into the conversation she asked, “So, should I get an agent?” That’s getting ahead of herself.

Before you get an agent or an editor, get feedback on your writing.

I shared with her a piece of advice that Seth Godin has shared frequently for authors.

Let’s call it Seth Godin’s Ten Person Test.

The idea is pretty simple.

Write your book, novel, or...

You Choose Your Reaction

Yesterday was the longest day of travel I’ve ever had.

After a foggy morning drive to Midway airport, I received a notification that my flight had been delayed by more than three hours. By the time I got to the desk to change my connecting flight, every flight out of Chicago had been cancelled.

Some people chose to be angry.

Some people chose to be sad.

Some people chose determination.

My keynote presentation in Albuquerque began at 9:00 a.m. the  next day so any flight the next morning wasn’...

The Lent Trap

I almost didn’t buy flowers for my wife on Valentine’s Day.

Since it was also Ash Wednesday, we decided to defer the celebration of Valentine’s Day until the following Sunday. That way, we could focus on the fasting required on Ash Wednesday.

I spent most of the day thinking about what I was doing for Lent.

Was it enough?

Did I give up enough?

Did I plan to pray enough?

Was I ready to give more money to charity?

I, I, I . . .

Lent is a time of sacrifice offered up in unity with Christ. It is...

Ash Wednesday and Memento Mori

Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.

With the rise in popularity of Stoicism (mostly thanks to Ryan Holiday) among many people today, so too has come the increase in awareness of the Latin phrase memento mori, which means “remember your death.”

The phrase has seen a resurgence among Catholics today, too. Sr. Theresa Aletheia has kept a skull on her desk to meditate on memento mori. For more than 200 days straight she has posted a brief meditation on Twitter about the experience...

Nonfiction Writing Technique: Compare Classes

The authors of some of the most memorable works of nonfiction establish the problem and solution proposed in their works by classifying people into two opposing groups.

Most of the time these groups are arbitrary. The people in them, including the reader, do not intentionally identify with a certain group. The author, however, points out the dangers and deception of falling into the trap of the group of people experiencing pain.

Here are a few examples off the top of my head:

Zero to One: Mon...

How To Become an Olympic Athlete

The Olympics were on in the TV in the background. My daughter was working on a painting project in the adjacent room.

“Can I play in the Olympics when I get older?” she asked.

The answer came pretty easy. Just moments before, one of the winners shared the secret to his success in an interview.

He said he loved what he was doing. He loved waking up early. He loved the practices. He loved the hard work that went into getting better each day and staying so good that he remained one of the best i...

Narrow Your Niche, Narrow Your Competition

I have a goal to publish one work of fiction this year.

I have barely written any fiction let alone published anything professionally. So, I’ve spent some time during the last few weeks researching the fiction landscape.

As I’m doing the research, it is hard not to get discouraged. There are so many people already doing this! They have years more experience than me!

Compared to every writer of fiction on the planet, I am nothing. I can’t compete with them.

So, I won’t.

Here is some advice I h...