Edie Roones

If you're struggling with your writing, head over the Writers Ink Services for the recent blog on the 7 Types of Plot. All of us struggle with some element of story construction, whether it's characters or genre tropes or setting or plot. Plot is the foundation of story, or as M.A. Lee says, it's the most important structural element.  Just like a house's foundation, the plot has to be right. Writers Ink is working through the manual Think like a Pro:  New Advent for Writers , and Plot is the third chapter, the One Guiding Decision. Lee says it may take five separate blogs to get everything about plot said, and she's updating the manual as she goes, preparing for a Revised Edition. But for now, to learn about the 7 Types of Plot, click this link .

Writers Ink, my own publisher, is putting out two books right now.  Both are exclusively available on Amazon as Kindle ebooks. The first is by my friend Remi Black, who likes fantasy with a bit of a harder edge.  (I like my fantasy light, as you can tell from my More than a Wizard .  I'm currently working on a sequel to that book.  I gave you a sneak peek a couple of weeks ago.  Look for more sneak peeks later.) Remi Black is writing the Enclave series:  wizards against sorcerers, wyre against Rhoghieri, Fae against dragons. The first book dealt with the wizards and Fae fighting a sorcerer and wyre:  Weave a Wizardry Web . This story has dual protagonists:  A minor wizard Camisse finds herself attracted to a Fae in disguise while the great wizard Alstera struggles alone against the temptations of darker power. The second book Dream a Deadly Dream  picks up with Alstera, one of Web's protagonists, trying to help a countess-in-hid...

Over at Writers Ink Books,  the publishing cooperative that's my tribe, we're promoting a little writing manual called Think like a Pro , by M.A. Lee. In that little book are Seven Lessons designed to turn a hobbyist mindset into a professional mindset. Chapter One: Set Deadlines  turned into four blogs: the introductory blog for the chapter,  3 Tricks for Working with Deadlines,  M.A. Lee's successful journey in working through the Seven Lessons,  and a "Knowing Where to Start and How to Start: Turning Dreams into Reality" blog that talks about the Three Sevens:  7 Characters, Plot 7, and 7 Work Procedures. I'm a pantster who tries to be a plotter.  Truly, I would rather plot--at least I tell myself that.  Then I find myself launching into a new book with little more than a few ideas.  Or I plot out where I want my story to go then abandon the outline. Maybe the outline helps me write. I don't know.  When life interferes...