Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It!: Barany School of Fiction, #4
    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It!: Barany School of Fiction, #4
    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It!: Barany School of Fiction, #4
    Ebook155 pages1 hour

    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It!: Barany School of Fiction, #4

    By Beth Barany and Ezra Barany

    3/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This book will help you get excited to plan your novel. The tools shared here are designed to spark your muse and give you confidence when you sit down to write your story. Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It! is for organic writers and pansters who want a roadmap to follow, so that they can let their creativity loose.

    "Beth's book is like plotting for pantsers!"--Tess Rider, Science Fantasy Romance Author

    We know that you have other activities in your life besides writing, and that writing your novels is important to you. You can plan your novel in a way that fits into your life. We know, because we've done it, multiple times!

    Based on the popular course, Plan Your Novel: 30-Day Writing Challenge, this book is organized into 4 sections, so that you can do the exercises over a one-month period.

    If you're planning to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) or Camp NaNo, this course will get you ready and give you everything you need to write a novel in 30 days.

    This book is for you if you have never written a novel, have always wanted to, and still feel lost on how to go from brilliant idea to The End, then you will be stretched in new and different ways; or if you're an experienced novelist, with 1 or 2 completed or partially completed novels under your bed, and you're stuck somehow. You may find this course structured in a way that's new to you and yet familiar; or if you have 3 or more unfinished novels sitting in a drawer, and always hit that sagging middle and lose focus or lose interest, this course will help you dream up exciting ways to torture, I mean challenge, your characters all the way to story resolution.

    With this book, you'll be able to believe that you can write a novel; step into a sense of satisfaction and creative accomplishment; cet excited for NaNoWriMo, and of course, plan your novel

    If you want to write novels, novellas, and short stories -- page-turning fiction like mystery, thriller, romance, suspense, fantasy, science fiction, women's fiction, and mash-ups of these -- for the Adult, Young Adult, New Adult, and Middle Grade Reader market.

    Here is the list of chapters:
    Introduction & Essential Tips
    Chapter 1: Essential Character Tips for Fiction Writers
    Chapter 2: Essential Plot Tips for Fiction Writers

    Week One: Elevator Pitch, What-If Pitch & Short Synopsis
    Chapter 3: Elevator Pitch
    Chapter 4: The What-If Pitch by Ezra Barany
    Chapter 5: Your Story Synopsis

    Week Two: Get to Know Your Main Characters
    Chapter 6: Interview Your Characters
    Chapter 7: Uncover Your Characters' Core Beliefs And Identity And How They Change
    Chapter 8: Your Characters' Secrets
    Chapter 9: Draft Your Character's Emotional Core With The Empathy Formula
    Chapter 10: The Character Relationship Map
    Chapter 11: Focusing on What to Write

    Week Three: Story Plot Points & World Building
    Chapter 12: Uncover Your Character's Worst Fears to Discover Your Story Conflicts
    Chapter 13: World Building: Questions to Brainstorm
    Chapter 14: Your Story's Structure
    Chapter 15: The Question Toolbox

    Week Four: Scene-By-Scene Outline And Plotting
    Chapter 16. High-Concept Pitch
    Chapter 17: Design Your Plot with the Problem-Solution Tool
    Chapter 18: Five Essential Stages Of A Scene (And Of Story!)
    Chapter 19: Scene Setup: Storyboarding
    Chapter 20: Scene-by-Scene Outline

    Next Steps: Write Your Novel
    Resources for Further Reading and Study

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWriter's Fun Zone Publishing
    Release dateDec 19, 2018
    ISBN9781944841225
    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It!: Barany School of Fiction, #4
    Author

    Beth Barany

    Award winning author, Beth Barany writes in several genres including young adult adventure fantasy, paranormal romance, and soon science fiction mysteries.Inspired by living abroad in France and Quebec, she loves creating magical tales of romance, mystery, and adventure that empower women and girls to be the heroes of their own lives.For fun, Beth enjoys walking her neighborhood, gardening on her patio, and watching movies and traveling with her husband, author Ezra Barany. They live in Oakland, California with a piano, their cats, and over 1,000 books.When not writing or playing, Beth runs her own company helping novelists as a book coach, speaker, and teacher to help them write, market, and publish their books to the delight of their readers.FICTIONCheck out her award-winning sci-fi mystery series, JANEY MCCALLISTER MYSTERY, about intrepid space station investigator. While each book is a standalone murder mystery, it's most fun to be read in order. Because subplots.INTO THE BLACK, Book 1LURED BY LIGHT, Book 2GONE GREEN, Book 3RED RUNNING DEEP, Book 4Check out her series award-winning trilogy, HENRIETTA THE DRAGON SLAYER:HENRIETTA THE DRAGON SLAYER, Book 1HENRIETTA AND THE DRAGON STONE, Book 2HENRIETTA AND THE BATTLE OF THE HORSE MESA, Book 3Check out her Magical Tales of Romance and Mystery in the TOUCHSTONE Series:Touchstone of Love (Touchstone, #1)A Christmas Fling (Touchstone, #2)Parisian Amour (Touchstone, #3)A Labyrinth of Love and Roses (Touchstone, #4)A Cupcake Christmas (Touchstone, #5)"Travel into a novel to come back home to you."READERS START HERE for a free book: https://author.bethbarany.com/free-books/NONFICTION FOR WRITERS: Barany School of Fiction seriesTwitter for Authors: Social Media Book Marketing Strategies for Shy WritersThe Writer's Adventure Guide: 12 Stages to Writing Your Book (for Novelists and Creative Nonfiction Writers)Overcome Writer's Block: A Self-Guided Creative Writing Class to Get You Writing AgainMastering Deep Point of View by Alice Gaines (Publisher)Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It! by Beth and Ezra BaranyConnect with Beth on the social channels:TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/beth_baranyFACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/bethbaranyLINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethbarany/WRITERS, START HERE: Free ebook for writers: 10 Ways To Generate Ideas: https://bethbaranyschooloffiction.teachable.com/p/10-ways-ebook

    Read more from Beth Barany

    Related to Plan Your Novel Like A Pro

    Titles in the series (1)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Composition & Creative Writing For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Set the Hook With Great Beginnings

      Oct 18, 2021

      As a novice fisher, I’ve only caught a few fish, but I’m already thinking about better ways to hook more. Likewise, as a writer, I think a lot about how to write beginnings that will hook readers. Just as fishing advice abounds, so too does writing a

      4 min read

    • Article

      Beat Sheet Or Cheat Sheet?

      May 5, 2022

      If you’ve not yet encountered the Save the Cat! books you will, because the original book Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need (2005) proved so successful it led to a franchise which now includes at least seven volumes, inclu

      8 min read

    • Article

      A New Approach To Outlining

      Oct 29, 2022

      WHEN I WAS ABOUT 12, I PLAYED baseball in the street with a group of neighborhood kids. None of us knew how to play; the point was to have fun. One day while we were playing, a girl who lived in a big house on the corner – Jenny, I distinctly remembe

      5 min read

    • Article

      Trope: My Favorite Dirty Word

      Oct 18, 2021

      Trope: My Favorite Dirty Word
      7 min read

    • Article

      Subplots Aren’t Secondary

      Jun 19, 2019

      Subplots Aren’t Secondary
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Art Of PLOTTING

      Jul 9, 2022

      Writing a novel is a huge challenge. Not only must you create relatable, compelling characters who grab readers, but you also need to nail down a storyline that does the same thing. Readers want adept storytelling, with scenes that move, lives that c

      8 min read

    • Article

      Pantser Or Plotter?

      Jan 29, 2022

      When you write a story or a novel, you’re undoubtedly focused on turning out a good one. That’s the product. But what about the process? Are you a so-called plotter, one who creates summaries and outlines before clicking out your story or novel? Or a

      10 min read

    • Article

      Nonfiction Book Proposals

      Oct 13, 2021

      FOR years journalist Chloé Cooper Jones, who was born with a rare congenital disorder called sacral agenesis that affected the development of her hips and legs, had been filling free moments between assignments by writing journal entries on how stran

      8 min read

    • Article

      Romance Writing Academy

      Dec 18, 2021

      Romance Writing Academy
      3 min read

    • Article

      Mastering Plot Twists

      Dec 12, 2022

      Mastering Plot Twists
      8 min read

    • Article

      12 Foolproof Ways To Fail As A Writer

      Dec 21, 2021

      Whether you’re just now launching into writing or you’re an old pro, here are 12 surefire ways to fail this year as you pursue your dreams within the writing world. You’ll be tempted to compare other authors’ sales figures, reviews, likes, comments,

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Writer’s Bookshelf

      Aug 17, 2022

      As you find your path as a writer, there may be no better support than the wisdom of your fellow travelers. Let these twelve recent and forthcoming books by some of contemporary literature’s most insightful and generous luminaries guide you on your w

      4 min read

    • Article

      Building The Bildungsroman

      Nov 4, 2021

      Building The Bildungsroman
      5 min read

    • Article

      Storm Cellar

      Oct 16, 2021

      Storm Cellar
      3 min read

    • Article

      How Surrealism Can Bring A Spark To Your Writing

      Oct 18, 2021

      In one of my first undergraduate writing workshops, our professor informed us that she was only interested in “normal” fiction. When we asked her to specify, her response boiled down to “no orcs.” I have deep sympathy for my professors’ fears of rece

      6 min read

    • Article

      Character, Know Thyself: The Essentials Of Character Awareness

      May 8, 2019

      Early drafts are an exercise in getting to know your character and her story—you are, in essence, telling the story to yourself first so that you can figure out what to add or omit when fine-tuning the story for readers. I encourage you to pen more p

      8 min read

    • Article

      So You’ve Decided to Write: Advice from a Great and Notorious Editor

      Jul 11, 2017

      There is nothing finer than deciding to write. Depending on how well you write and how often you publish or change jobs or assignments, other writers come in and out of your life. Some of them are already famous and others will be soon, but celebrit

      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Plan Your Novel Like A Pro

    3/5

    1 rating1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I came close to buying the book, and instead of doing that, I read it here. I am glad I didn't waste my money. It's a bit like the Internet joke where you start drawing circles as the base for drawing an owl, it's a question mark, and then you have a full owl with lovely detail. That's what this book is like.

    Book preview

    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro - Beth Barany

    PLAN YOUR NOVEL LIKE A PRO

    And Have Fun Doing It!

    BETH BARANY

    EZRA BARANY

    Writer’s Fun Zone Publishing Writer’s Fun Zone Publishing

    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro: And Have Fun Doing It!

    c. 2018 Beth Barany and Ezra Barany

    Writer’s Fun Zone Publishing

    771 Kingston Ave., #108

    Piedmont, CA 94611

    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

    ISBN 978-1-944841-21-8 1st Edition Print

    ISBN 978-1-944841-22-5 1st Edition E-Book

    Barany School of Fiction series

    More Barany School of Fiction resources at BaranySchoolofFiction.com

    For bulk orders, contact orders@writersfunzonepublishing.com.

    Vellum flower icon Created with Vellum

    Contents

    Introduction & Essential Tips

    Introduction

    1. Essential Character Tips for Fiction Writers

    Tip #1: What Does Your Main Character Want? Their Goals

    Tip #2: Why Does Your Character Want What They Want? Their Motivation

    Tip #3: What Stands in Your Character’s Way: Conflict

    To Recap

    Go Deeper

    For Further Reading

    Next

    2. Essential Plot Tips for Fiction Writers

    Tip #1: The Most Important Part of Your Story—The End

    Tip #2: The Second Most Important Part of Your Story: The Beginning

    Tip #3: No deus ex machina

    Tip #4: Your Story’s Dénouement

    Tip #5: Explode That Bomb

    To Recap

    Bonus Tip: Write crap.

    NEXT

    Week One: Elevator Pitch, What-If Pitch & Short Synopsis

    3. Elevator Pitch

    ELEVATOR PITCH

    Genre: Start here

    Five Parts of an Elevator Pitch (or Story Summary)

    4. The What-If Pitch by Ezra Barany

    How to Craft Your What-If Pitch

    5. Your Story Synopsis

    Your Story’s Theme

    STORY SYNOPSIS IN 7 STEPS

    Week Two: Get to Know Your Main Characters

    6. Interview Your Characters

    Interview Your Characters

    INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

    7. Uncover Your Characters’ Core Beliefs And Identity And How They Change

    BELIEFS

    IDENTITY

    ABOUT THE EXERCISE

    DEEP DIVE EXERCISE FOR YOU AND YOUR CHARACTER

    Your Character

    8. Your Characters' Secrets

    9. Draft Your Character’s Emotional Core With The Empathy Formula

    How To Get Your Readers To Connect With Your Characters By Ezra Barany

    Emotional Core

    EMOTIONAL STAKES

    10. The Character Relationship Map

    11. Focusing on What to Write

    Your Sweet Spot

    BRING IT ALL TOGETHER

    SUMMARY

    Week Three: Story Plot Points & World Building

    12. Uncover Your Character's Worst Fears to Discover Your Story Conflicts

    Uncover Your Character's Worst Fears to Discover Your Story Conflicts

    13. World Building: Questions to Brainstorm

    Overwhelmed with World Building? Let's Break it Down

    Research is Fun...

    How to Start Your World Building

    A Note on Fantasy versus Science Fiction and Making Up Stuff

    Questions to Ask While World Building

    A Special Note About Time Travel

    14. Your Story’s Structure

    ROMANCE

    THRILLER

    MYSTERY

    THE TWIST

    15. The Question Toolbox

    THE 5 Ws + HOW

    Week Four: Scene-By-Scene Outline And Plotting

    16. High-Concept Pitch

    High-Concept Pitch by Ezra Barany

    17. Design Your Plot with the Problem-Solution Tool

    18. Five Essential Stages Of A Scene (And Of Story!)

    19. Scene Setup: Storyboarding

    Storyboarding Elements

    20. Scene-by-Scene Outline

    Start

    Next Steps: Write Your Novel

    Resources for Further Reading & Study

    Acknowledgments

    Also by Beth Barany

    About the Authors

    This book is for all writers who want to bring their stories out into the world.

    Introduction & Essential Tips

    Introduction

    Writing a novel isn’t easy. If it were, everyone would be doing it. —Anonymous

    It’s your dream to be a novelist, to touch readers’ hearts and minds, to excite and wow them, to transport them. And to build a career with your books.

    But you don’t know where to begin. Starting is hard. Things like creating an outline, scenes, or conflict may be confusing or strange or no fun at all. Perhaps crafting compelling three-dimensional characters stumps you.

    Or maybe you’ve been stuck in the middle of writing your first novel (or fifth) for way too long.

    That’s hard.

    We know. As working novelists, we’ve been there many, many times.

    But there is hope.

    Who This Book is For

    This book is for you if you want to work on your novel while managing the rest of your life. We know you have other activities and people you are committed to. Your life doesn’t stop just because you want to create art. You may feel like your daily life is an obstacle, but it can enhance your storytelling.

    This book is also for you if you have tried writing without any guidelines but didn’t get very far. It can be hard to write when you don’t know what you’re writing about, how to develop a story, or why your writing means so much to you.

    You may have tried planning your novel by following rules set out by other writing teachers and found that they didn’t work for you. Some writing instructors insist that their way is the only way, the best way, but in fact, there is no best way. There is only the way that gets you writing and that is different for every writer.

    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro is designed to help you discover your very own creative process for planning your novel. The only way you’ll uncover what works for you is to experiment with different tools. Try everything, discard what doesn’t work for you, and keep what does. We offer plenty of strategies and tools in this book. Above all, this book is for you if you’re looking for a way to listen to yourself, whether that’s listening to the whispers of your gut, your heart, your intuition, or some other creative part of you.

    Plan Your Novel Like A Pro focuses on genre fiction, genres such as romance, mystery, thrillers, science fiction, and fantasy. We focus on these types of stories since they are the kind both of us (Beth and Ezra) write and know the most about, but we imagine that writers of other kinds of stories will find helpful exercises and advice among these pages.

    The Creative Process

    Creating art can be hard and frustrating. It may require you to stretch in ways you never have before. We all start in a place of not knowing. Yet, we humans have been creating art for more than 100,000 years, the age of the oldest art found. (Painted on cave walls in Spain. See citation in the Resources section.)

    There is hope.

    The friction between the desire to create and the challenge of creating assists our art making and is often what allows us to create our best work.

    Start with breathing and noticing what you are feeling, whatever those feelings are. It can be healing to allow yourself to notice and feel whatever it is. Feelings are not good or bad, but rivers of energy that flow through our bodies. We can harness those feelings for our storytelling, but only if we feel them first.

    Next, take a breath, or several, and appreciate all the work you’ve done to get to this place. Appreciate your passion, your focus, and your love of story, and whatever else excites you about writing a novel.

    Likewise, appreciate the pain, frustration, disappointment, and even hopelessness you’ve experienced to get to this point. Without the effort, how would you know if the work was worthwhile?

    When we

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1