Ksenia Anske's Blog, page 2

Hear your story talk to you

Listening and hearing are not the same things.

You can listen to what your story is trying to tell you, and not hear it.

Every day, when you sit down to write, you’ll go on a rollercoaster of storytelling. Some days will be fantastic. Other days will be awful. Yet others will be dreary and dull.

And in all of those days will come a moment when you’ll stumble and know something is wrong. 

You don’t know what. You only sense it. Your instinct is to either start fixing it, or to ignore it and plod...

Start with the Villain

Our Patreon Hamster Christie asked a really good question. When you’re new to planning your novel instead of pantsing it, how do you even get yourself started on the planning path?

Simple. Start with the Villain.

This might go against everything you’ve ever read anywhere. Doesn’t everyone always start with the Hero? Sure. You can start with the Hero (I did for many years), but unless you know the Villain’s history and motivations, your conflict will be weak.

You need to have a good reason for t...

Summarize your novel on the first page

This came up while talking to one of our Patreon Bears, Leslie.

Here is a 6-year-old blog post I wrote on the subject.

You have to give the reader the three main story components: Hero, Villain, Conflict. 

The readers must know who to root for, who to hate, and what’s at stake. If they don’t, they’ll get confused and put your book down.

You have to give this to the reader as soon as possible. In the first chapter. Better yet, on the first page. Better yet, in the first paragraph. And EVEN better...

Do what makes you happy

Surprised I’d say this? An obvious thing, no? Except we forget. I forget. You forget.

The truth is, if every day, as you go along your life, you allow yourself to be happy, your writing will improve.

You’ll start believing in it.

Your confidence will grow.

You won’t be afraid to have fun and to play (because having fun and playing makes you happy), and as a direct result of this you’ll make better story decisions, and your talent will bloom.

Don’t believe me? It’s happening to me now. And if it c...

Look for patterns

When reading a book or watching a movie, don’t try to break your head over the 12 Parts of the story, the Hero, the Villain, the Conflict, and so on. To be able to do this right off the bat you’d have to have years of experience.

Instead, look for patterns (that’s how I learned and am still learning).

Note down anything that jumps out a you multiple times, and when done reading or watching, analyze the patterns you’ve seen. Try to make sense of them. Read or watch the story again to confirm yo...

Don’t pay attention to time

Oh, this is hard. How is this possible?

It’s possible if you schedule a fat chunk of time for your writing BEFORE you sit down and write, and it’s what will make your writing that much better. Without the pressure of having to stop (and without the pressure of having to produce words) your writing will come easier to you.

How to make it happen if there is no fat chunk of time to do it?

Take one of vacation days, a sick day, a weekend day—whatever day you can tear out of the teeth of your life—a...

Ignore writing tips

Whaaaa…? Yeah, exactly.

Everything you ever read—including this post—may work for you, or it may not.

So ignore all writing tips and create your own writing process that works for YOU.

P.S.: Okay, okay. If a particular writing tip seems enticing, try it. Works? Great! Doesn’t work? Discard it and move on.

Gif by Animated Short Films

Fall in love with planning

I can hear you groaning. Hey, I groaned too. For years, actually. The first time my writing mentor grabbed his head in disbelief when I told him how many drafts a single book takes me (5-6), I couldn’t understand his distress. “Why do you torture yourself?” He asked. I was confused. Torture? Isn’t re-writing part of the writing process? Doesn’t every writer talk about it?

It took me a few years to understand that he was right (no kidding, he had multiple books as bestsellers on the New York T...

Break down one story multiple times

Or I should say, read or watch one story multiple times before setting to the task of breaking down.

This is the only way to learn story structure.

At first it might not be so obvious (it did take me three times of watching American Beauty to finally break it down). So read or watch it again. And again. And again. Set aside plenty of time to do it.

“But I don’t have the time!” I hear you cry.

Neither do I. Neither do any of us. We’re all living life that just keeps happening, no matter what we d...

Drink and think

I don’t mean vodka (though AFTER you’re done writing, why not?). I mean the beverage of your choice that takes a little bit of time to make (like hot coffee or hot tea) and then some more time to drink. It’s a short break, say 5-10 minutes, that you can use to think.

Think about your story, then get back to writing. NO SCREENS.

The simple task of grinding, then brewing coffee, is something that’s ideal for your brain to give you the best idea. Showers are great too, but they take too long and...