Book Spotlight: Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook

I recently was told about Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Mass and decided to order a copy and give it a shot. Wow! What a difference it has made in the way I approach a story. This book is a wonderful way to help work out the character and plot kinks of a novel, but it is also very helpful with short stories as well.

This book is sectioned off into three parts Part 1: Character Development, Part 2: Plot Development, and Part 3: General Story Techniques. Each part then goes into great detail about each element within the categories. I love that Donal Mass has included a little "lesson" and follows up with exercises where I can input my own information, depending on the story I want to work on.

Johnathan Maberry’s Workshop

Yesterday I had the distinct privilege of meeting horror and thriller writer Jonathan Maberry. Two of my writing friends and I took a trip to Baltimore to attend a workshop he did at the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. The topic up for discussion was the full process of the story. For four hours a room full of writers were able to listen to his experience and pick his brain for information.