Confessions of a Plotser

“‘The king died and then the queen died’ is a story. ‘The king died, and then the queen died of grief’ is a plot.”

—E.M. Forster

Fiction authors have been romanticized in popular culture for so long, the average person likely thinks we sit around all day waiting for inspiration, only to zip over to an old-school typewriter when our muse strikes, banging out a novel in a mad, all-night writing spree.

I. Wish.

The truth is much more mundane. You have to write every day, even when you don’t feel li...