Paper Hearts, Volume 1: Some Writing Advice

408 Pages·2016·2.31 MB·English

by  Revis Beth.

Table of Contents

Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
A Note About Websites
Introduction
1. Who I Am & What This Is
2. A Short Bio of My Writing Life
3. Why Writing Advice Books Suck (Including This One)
4. Let’s Get this Out of the Way First
5. Also This
6. What I Did Right & What I Did Wrong
7. My Personal Writing Philosophy
8. The Role of Luck
9. It’s Not Selfish
10. Why I Write YA
11. There Is Always a Reason to be Jealous
12. What Do I Need to Write a Book?
13. Ten Important Things About Writing & Publishing
14. Pantsers vs. Plotters & Why Those Definitions Don’t Work
15. Word Count Doesn’t Matter…Okay, Fine, It Does. Sometimes.
16. Tools of the Trade
Character, Plot, & World
17. High Concept
18. The Only Two Things You Need for Story
19. Showing vs. Telling: The Basic Idea
20. The Ties that Bind: Fear, Pain, & Identity
21. Making Strong Characters
22. Passion & Apathy
23. Developing Characters: Antagonists & Protagonists
24. Showing vs. Telling: Character Arcs & Development
25. Showing vs. Telling: World Building
26. Showing vs. Telling: Plot
Arguing with Common Advice
27. Write Every Day
28. Write What You Know
29. Write the Popular Trends
30. Words You Can’t Use
31. Make Your Book Age Appropriate
32. There’s Only One Way to get Published
Writing Advice You Actually Should Take
33. Quality
34. Diversity
35. Feminism
36. Fan Fiction
37. Trust Your Readers
38. Don’t Preach
39. Don’t Pander
40. You Don’t Need Permission
Developing a Novel
41. Building a Great First Chapter
42. Where (Not) to Start Your Novel
43. Structure Strategies for Querying
44. Getting Through the Murky Middle
45. Building a Great Last Chapter
Grammar, Style, & Tone
46. Grammatical Definitions
47. The Simple Rules of Grammar
48. How to Use Dialogue: Punctuation & Grammar
49. How to Use Dialogue: Style
50. Tenses: What They Are & How to Use Them
51. Point of View
52. White Space: Avoiding Blocks of Text
53. The Very Best Way to Learn Grammar
54. Bringing English 101 to Your Novel
Story Structure
55. What Story Structure Is & Why Every Story Has It
56. When to Use Story Structure
57. Three Humps Structure
58. Three Humps Template
59. Three Humps Example
60. List Structure
61. List Template
62. List Example
63. Emotional Timeline Structure
64. Emotional Timeline Template
65. Emotional Timeline Example
66. “Spinal Tap” Chart
67. Spinal Tap Chart Template
68. Chart Structure
69. Chart Template
70. Blank Chart Template
71. Chart Example
72. A Closer Look at Act 1: Problems & Processes
73. A Closer Look at Act 2: Complications & Conflict
74. A Closer Look at Act 3: Danger & Death
75. A Closer Look at Act 4: Resilience & Resolution
76. Bare Bones Chart Structure
77. Bare Bones Template
78. Combining the Emotional & Plot Arc in Structure
79. Notes & Resources
Critiques
80. Critique & Revision: Definitions & Practices
81. What is a Critique Partner Relationship?
82. Should You Hire a Professional Editor?
83. What to Look for in a Critique Partner
84. How to Find Critique Partners
85. How to Write a Critique
86. Ten Steps to Giving an Effective Critique
87. How to Read a Critique
Failure
88. The Inevitability of Failure
89. Respect Your Art
90. Sunk Costs and Letting Go
91. Failure is NOT the Enemy
92. The Book of Your Heart
93. When to Stop
94. In the End…
Appendix: What to do if…
95. What to do if…you're not sure where to start the novel, how to get to
the end, or how to end it?
96. What to do if…you get writer’s block?
97. What to do if…you just don’t want to write?
98. What to do if…you’re working on a story and want to start another one?
99. What to do if…the reader can’t get into the first chapters?
100. What to do if…the reader doesn’t care about your main character?
101. What to do if…your main character is unlikeable?
102. What to do if…your main character is too passive?
103. What to do if…all your characters sound the same?
104. What to do if…you disagree with your critique partner or editor?
105. What to do if…your plot is too sequential?
106. What to do if…your pacing is too slow?
107. What to do if…your pacing is too fast?
108. What to do if…you’re not sure how to show the passage of time?
109. What to do if…your reader can easily guess the ending?
110. What to do if…your reader isn’t figuring out the clues you’ve left?
111. What to do if…your character is coming off as stupid?
112. What to do if…your descriptions are off?
113. What to do if…your reader is more focused on the subplots than the
main story?
114. What to do if…your dialogue doesn’t sound realistic?
115. What to do if…it’s “all talk?”
116. What to do if…your reader doesn’t believe something that’s based on
reality?
117. What to do if…the reader is getting a different meaning from the book
than what you intended?
118. What to do if…your story is too short or too long?
119. What to do if…your book sounds too similar to something already
published?
120. What to do if…you have to start all over?
121. Finally…
122. Praise for Beth’s Novels
123. Complete Your Collection
About the Author
Also by Beth Revis
PAPER HEARTS
Some Writing Advice
BETH REVIS
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
A Note About Websites
Introduction
1. Who I Am & What This Is
2. A Short Bio of My Writing Life
3. Why Writing Advice Books Suck (Including This One)
4. Let’s Get this Out of the Way First
5. Also This
6. What I Did Right & What I Did Wrong
7. My Personal Writing Philosophy
8. The Role of Luck
9. It’s Not Selfish
10. Why I Write YA
11. There Is Always a Reason to be Jealous
12. What Do I Need to Write a Book?
13. Ten Important Things About Writing & Publishing
14. Pantsers vs. Plotters & Why Those Definitions Don’t Work
15. Word Count Doesn’t Matter…Okay, Fine, It Does. Sometimes.
16. Tools of the Trade
Character, Plot, & World
17. High Concept
18. The Only Two Things You Need for Story
19. Showing vs. Telling: The Basic Idea
20. The Ties that Bind: Fear, Pain, & Identity
21. Making Strong Characters
22. Passion & Apathy
23. Developing Characters: Antagonists & Protagonists
24. Showing vs. Telling: Character Arcs & Development
25. Showing vs. Telling: World Building
26. Showing vs. Telling: Plot
Arguing with Common Advice
27. Write Every Day
28. Write What You Know
29. Write the Popular Trends
30. Words You Can’t Use
31. Make Your Book Age Appropriate
32. There’s Only One Way to get Published
Writing Advice You Actually Should Take
33. Quality
34. Diversity
35. Feminism
36. Fan Fiction
37. Trust Your Readers
38. Don’t Preach
39. Don’t Pander
40. You Don’t Need Permission
Developing a Novel
41. Building a Great First Chapter
42. Where (Not) to Start Your Novel
43. Structure Strategies for Querying
44. Getting Through the Murky Middle
45. Building a Great Last Chapter
Grammar, Style, & Tone
46. Grammatical Definitions
47. The Simple Rules of Grammar
48. How to Use Dialogue: Punctuation & Grammar
49. How to Use Dialogue: Style
50. Tenses: What They Are & How to Use Them
51. Point of View
52. White Space: Avoiding Blocks of Text
53. The Very Best Way to Learn Grammar
54. Bringing English 101 to Your Novel
Story Structure
55. What Story Structure Is & Why Every Story Has It
56. When to Use Story Structure
57. Three Humps Structure
58. Three Humps Template
59. Three Humps Example
60. List Structure
61. List Template
62. List Example
63. Emotional Timeline Structure
64. Emotional Timeline Template
65. Emotional Timeline Example
66. “Spinal Tap” Chart
67. Spinal Tap Chart Template
68. Chart Structure
69. Chart Template
70. Blank Chart Template
71. Chart Example
72. A Closer Look at Act 1: Problems & Processes
73. A Closer Look at Act 2: Complications & Conflict
74. A Closer Look at Act 3: Danger & Death
75. A Closer Look at Act 4: Resilience & Resolution
76. Bare Bones Chart Structure
77. Bare Bones Template
78. Combining the Emotional & Plot Arc in Structure
79. Notes & Resources
Critiques
80. Critique & Revision: Definitions & Practices
81. What is a Critique Partner Relationship?
82. Should You Hire a Professional Editor?
83. What to Look for in a Critique Partner
84. How to Find Critique Partners
85. How to Write a Critique
86. Ten Steps to Giving an Effective Critique
87. How to Read a Critique
Failure
88. The Inevitability of Failure
89. Respect Your Art
90. Sunk Costs and Letting Go
91. Failure is NOT the Enemy
92. The Book of Your Heart
93. When to Stop
94. In the End…
Appendix: What to do if…
95. What to do if…you're not sure where to start the novel, how to get to
the end, or how to end it?
96. What to do if…you get writer’s block?
97. What to do if…you just don’t want to write?
98. What to do if…you’re working on a story and want to start another
one?