Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
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Compass
WriTing Your WaY from
inspiraTion to publiCaTion
Dan millman
and
sierra prasaDa
H J Kramer
published in a joint venture with
New World Library
Novato, California
An H J Kramer book
published in a joint venture with
New World Library
Page 125: Lyrics from “The Windmills of Your Mind” (from The Thomas Crowne Affair).
Words by Alan and Marilyn Bergman. Music by Michel Legrand. Copyright © 1968
(renewed) by United Artists Music Co., Inc. All rights controlled and administered by
EMI U Catalog Inc. (publishing) and Alfred Music (print). All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, or
other — without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may
quote brief passages in a review.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
contents
beginning
Introduction 3
Dan: Finding My Way 5
Sierra: The Other Side of Anxiety 10
Dream
Introduction 17
Dream a Little Dream 19
Your Stickiest Idea 22
Objective: Define Your Story 26
Get to Know Thyself 31
Dreaming in Dialogue 36
Your Ideal Reader 40
What If. . . ? 45
Dreaming on Deadline 49
Draft
Introduction 57
Objective: Tell Your Story 59
Who Is Your Storyteller? 63
Sense and Sensibility 70
Begin With What You Know 76
Sierra: How to Listen 82
How to Read Writing Books 87
Writing as a Solitary Act 91
Dan: The Will to Write 94
Permit Yourself to Write Badly 97
First Draft, First Layer 101
Develop
Introduction 107
The Missing Link 109
Sweat Trumps Talent 115
Dan: The Cycles and Layers of Learning 119
Your Master Metaphor 124
Sierra: Never Surrender 131
Objective: Follow the Golden Thread 136
Allegiance to Story 142
Your Voice, Your Persona 149
Questions: Help Us Help You 154
When the World Becomes Your Teacher 161
refine
Introduction 169
No Bad Writing, Only Bad Timing 171
Creative Destruction 175
Objective: Choose the Right Words 180
Questions: More to Ask Early Readers 185
Working With an Editor 191
Trust Your Gut 196
Sierra: How I Write Now 200
Dan: My Final Draft 205
share
Introduction 211
Objective: Move Your Readers 213
Your Book in Brief 216
Handling Rejection 220
The Nine-Sale Gauntlet 224
Self-Publishing Pros and Cons 229
Marketing Your Book — and Yourself 233
Sierra: Sharing on the Web 238
Dan: Reflections on the Writing Life 241
xiii
xiv the creative compass