My Pseudo-2Q Newsletter Update With a Few Gratuitous But Nonetheless Valuable Tips
“Story Physics” has shipped.
If you’ve pre-ordered my new writing book, “Story Physics,” chances are you have it in hand. The official pub date is still three weeks out, so the Kindle version is just around the corner.
First reader feedback: “I read the Introduction and experienced a shift in attitude toward writing, a clarification of my relationship to my own work, so please, teeter no more. If the Introduction can do that … I find myself torn between wanting to read the rest of the book in a single gulp, and a more leisurely pace, to allow further shifts to occur and be integrated. Scary good, Larry.”
Good to get that first one under the belt.
Conference/Workshop Update
Writers Digest has invited me to teach as session as their annual Writers Digest West Writing Conference, September 27-29 in Los Angeles. Will forward website info on that when available.
I’m also teaching three sessions at the Willamette Writers Conference, August 1-4 in Portland, OR. Click HERE for more on that one, it’s a massive conference with killer breakouts and an entire wing full of agents taking pitches. Great for screenwriters, too, with dedicated sessions and Hollywood pitches. Manuscript reviews, too.
Art Holcomb Update
Our favorite Storyfix guest blogger, Art Holcomb, is teaching a session at The Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference (“greater” because Art is there, IMO), June 14-16. Click HERE for more on that… and HERE for more on Art. Use the Search function to the right to find his killer posts here on Storyfix.
Best Concept Definition Ever
The recent posts on concept — what it is, and what it isn’t… what it isn’t being your story’s premise — have stirred up some interesting and valuable feedback. The definition is imprecise, and often leans into premise itself.
A Concept is simply something conceptual at the heart of your premise. A compelling notion or proposition. Something that stands alone as a source of energy that fuels the story.
A premise is the dramatic story, with a protagonist, that evolves from the concept, that seizes that energy, that builds a story upon that conceptual stage.
If your “concept” sounds more like a book jacket synopsis, then it’s probably a premise. If it comes off as a killer idea or notion that could inspire any number of stories, because it’s that cool or scary or original or heavy… that’s a concept.
Trust me, I’m as tired of writing about this as you may be of reading about it. But, based on what I see in the story evals I do… more focus and depth on this issue is necessary. Four out of five writers get this wrong, and in doing so miss a great opportunity.
Story Coaching Update
Effective June 15, I’ll be raising the price on my $100-level story coaching service. It’ll be $150 after that, with a revised Questionnaire that drills deeper into the concept vs. premise issue… AND, all submissions will be a one-week turnaround (an upcharge to $180 will get you a 48-hour turnaround).
Why? Because I’m over-delivering. And, this process can save your story, even before you write a word. It’s worth ten times the fee.
Get your order in at $100 before June 15 if you’d like to take advantage of the price break.
For now the $35 Kick Start Conceptual Analysis remains just that. More on this soon.
My Pseudo-2Q Newsletter Update With a Few Gratuitous But Nonetheless Valuable Tips is a post from: Larry Brooks at storyfix.com
