Manuscript Appraisal | Editing | Proofreading
“Only one? Really?” When I first started writing this post I had a few points about structure as well, but the more I tried to express these points, the more I realised they applied to the original trilogy as a whole. So yes, there’s only one lesson here, but more will be coming in a … Read more
We’ve learnt some storytelling lessons from A New Hope. What can we learn from The Empire Strikes Back? 1. Meaningless events: boring, confusing, pace killers The Empire Strikes Back starts with Luke being attacked by a wampa. Starting with conflict is great, especially when it prompts other characters to set goals; however, this attack serves no real purpose. When Han … Read more
I’ve always had a problem with criticism of the Star Wars prequel trilogy because what most people think are problems really aren’t, but after reading criticism of Rogue One, I’ve decided to break my silence. Let me preface by saying that I was introduced to Star Wars by my parents when I was a child in the early … Read more
I read the first chapter of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo for #FirstChapterFriday and enjoyed it so much that I decided to read the rest of the book. I loved it and, as I can never turn off my editor brain, I pulled out two great storytelling lessons this book has to teach writers. 1. Don’t … Read more
After reading the first chapter of the Sin Eater’s Daughter by Melinda Salisbury for #FirstChapterFriday, I decided to finish the book. The first chapter started out great, but I noted that the second half of it took a bad turn and hoped that the story would right itself in the following chapters. It didn’t. Here are … Read more
SPOILERS AHEAD I like using examples when writing about storytelling techniques and found a few good ones when watching I Am Legend the other day. Movies and books aren’t the same thing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn anything about storytelling from watching a movie. Here are the lessons I Am Legend has to … Read more