In this episode we talk about ground-breaking science fiction novels, ramping up the conflict in our stories, and sharing stories family stories with StoryWorth.
Works in Progress
[00:00:35] Eric is adding scenes to Prince of Pigeon Hill. The primary arc of the story takes place in a 24-hour period. Eric is interspersing cut scenes that go back further and further in time.
Mike didn’t do a lot of writing as he was in Denver for the week and was outrunning the weather.
John is working on Crimson Eyes, a short story inspired by a writing prompt. He’s also plotting another novel.
Reading Spotlight
[00:02:44] Mike’s is making his way through The Queen’s Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler. Mike has also picked up On Fire by John O’Leary.
John is still reading The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson
What’s happening online
21 Sci-Fi Books
[00:04:56] 21 Books that Changed Science Fiction and Fantasy Forever
Nabokov the unappreciated scientific genius
[00:07:43] Vladimir Nabokov, Scientific Genius discusses the thousands of sketches of butterflies made by Lolita author Vladimir Nabokov.
What Sounds Like?
[00:08:42] What Sounds Like is a great little site for finding words or phrases that rhyme or sound alike. Mike’s going to use it to kickstart his puppet rap career.
6 Great Tools for Writing a Book
[00:10:22] Writer software: 6 great tools for writing a book
The article that
* Scrivener
* Word
* Google Docs
* Evernote
* FocusWriter
* Calibre
Tech Focus – StoryWorth
[00:15:04] StoryWorth is an app for families to tell stories to each other. Given a prompt, you write a response and they’re collected together.
Craft Talk – Pump up the Conflicts
[00:20:32] Eric has been building up Prince of Pigeon Hill with scenes that provide more depth into his characters. Do the scenes he’s adding add to the overall story? Does it create conflict? If it doesn’t have any conflict, it won’t be interesting to read. He’s struggling to know where the balance is. Does your character have everything to lose?
…Like a snail crawling along the edge of a razor blade.
It’s a sawtooth, where you’ve got a conflict, a breather, then a bigger conflict that peaks a little higher than the previous one.
Writing that Pays
[00:33:51]
Win a publishing offer from Inkitt! No submission fees!
Submit your finished novel, 40,000 words or more – no fan fiction, no other limitations on genre! It’s time for you to bring your manuscript into the light and show it off to the world. We are looking for tomorrow’s best-sellers!
The “Grand Novel Contest Winner” is going to be determined by Inkitt based on reader engagement, the winner of the “Readers Choice Award” will be determined by the vote count.
Terms:
- By entering the contest authors will retain all rights to their submitted works.
- The contest winner will get a publishing offer with the following terms:
- The author receives 85% of net earnings if the license is sold to an A-list publisher (e.g. Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, MacMillan or HarperCollins)
- In case the A-list publishers don’t pick it up, Inkitt will publish the novel and the author will receive 50% of Inkitt’s net earnings.
- Submission Period: March 7th – June 7th
- Voting Period: March 7th – June 14th