Novel Writing Courses and "Novel Writing on Edge" Work and Study Forums
From Concept to Query
Welcome to Algonkian Author Connect. Our Novel Writing Program's course methodology, editorial consults, and sell sheet approach, when coupled with the "Novel Writing on Edge" maxims and essays, as well as other AAC content, creates for aspiring fiction authors the perfect online location for the conception, writing, test marketing, and overall production of very good, if not brilliant, genre and literary novels. Click on "About Author Connect" to learn more about the mission, and on the AAC Development and Pitch Sitemap for the big picture.
Early stage novel writers are the most content, blissfully unaware of all they do not know. Middle stage novel writers are anxious, each day awakening to a state of ever-diminishing certainty. The more pitiable though are the late stagers, wisely understanding that even a small portion of remaining ignorance might yet be their undoing.
You might well ask, for starters, what is the best approach for utilizing the four forums below as efficiently as possible? If you are new to AAC, or a member and not an Algonkian alum, the single best approach is to begin with the forum, "Novel Writing on Edge." Read the introduction and the novel writing topics arrayed in the forum, and once done, proceed to the more inclusive NWOE novel writing and development guide which is broken into three major sections, all of them crucial, and linked to the NWOE main website.
However, if you are an alum, the best course of action is to obtain a login to the Algonkian Novel Writing Program (at no cost - request from AAC admin via the contact form), then proceed with the course modules while also absorbing the NWOE guide on a parallel track.
It is also advisable to learn from a "negative" by paying close attention to the forum that focuses on bad novel writing advice. The next forum is a great overview by writers that covers four of the best books on novel writing. Don't neglect. It's worth a close look, i.e, if you're truly serious about writing a good novel.
On a parallel track we would be remiss not to remind you to also examine and reflect upon the AAC content in other forum sections (e.g. Kara's Cabinet). All contain valuable and often fascinating insights and advice regarding the world of books, novel pitching, and even reviews of novel writing videos.
Forums
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Novel Writing on Edge - Necessary Nuance, Strong Bewares, and Actual Results
Platitudes, entitled amateurism, popular delusions, and erroneous information are all conspicuously absent from this collection of detailed novel writing guides and maxims. From concept to query, the goal is to provide you, the aspiring novel author, with the skills and knowledge it takes to realistically compete in today's novel market.
Labors, Sins, and Six Acts - The NWOE Novel Writing Guide
Best Ten Steps For Starting the Novel - All Genres
Writing Novel Scenes - Drama, Sex, and Sass
Most Important Character? ANTAGONIST, No Question.
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Art and Life in Novel Writing
Writer takeaways on craft learned from the best books on plot and technique utilized in the commercial novel writing program including "The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner, "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass, "Write Away" by Elizabeth George, and "The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard. For more art and life in novel writing, the links below are stimulating selections from AAC forum stars:
Cara's Cabinet and Audrey's Corner.
Writing and the Disquiet of Self Doubt
Red Rising - A Study in Trilogy Arcs
Are You Ready to Get Published Part I
Interview With Blake "Save the Cat" Snyder
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Novel Writing Program - Modules And Consults
- NOVEL WRITING PROGRAM INTRO - Where to Begin?
- Commercial Novel Writing Part I - (enter password)
- Commercial Novel Writing Part II - Modules 1 to 8
- Emerging Author Interview Series
- Novel Audit Checklist
Updated narrative, developmental, and editorial courses that compose the Algonkian Novel Writing Program. Crucial elements analyzed and applied include high-concept premise, counter-trait characters, Six Act Two-Goal Novel, core wounds, set cinema, and more. All genres. Program concludes with faculty video-consults and querying. See topics below for more info.
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Bad Novel Writing Advice - "Novel Writing On Edge"
The best "bad novel writing advice" articles culled from Novel Writing on Edge. The point isn't to axe grind, rather to warn writers about the many horrid and writer-crippling viruses that float about like asteroids of doom in the novel writing universe. From conferences to writer groups to chat boards, they never cease to threaten extinction.
Top Worst "Worst Writer Advice"
Are Writer Groups a Really Bad Idea?
Should Workshop Leaders Give Poor Writers False Hope?
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AAC Content Stream
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Vision Boards... and the Wisdom of 8th Graders
The other day my 8th graders and I were brainstorming emotions for possible memoir stories. We were coming up with ideas like "incredibly excited--when my team won the soccer tournament." The idea was to jot down just a few words to jog our memory, so later, we could write some rough drafts and then even later, we could decide which story we wanted to invest some time in as we revised and edited and shared. image by Pixabay I was sharing my memoir ideas because in my class, I write right alongside my students. To get them s -
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Links: Board Games, Photography, & More
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Depositphotos_52671211_original-300x200.jpgHey hey! It’s Wednesday! I personally can’t believe it. The days are going by rather quickly, at least for me. This Saturday, I’m getting my third tattoo based on one of my favorite horror movies, The Witch. I am more nervous about having to rent a car in Boston to make it to the shop, which is a couple hours out of the city. Wish me luck! I also feel like we’re beginning the slow, miserable march to the holiday season. Not my fave. … I am obsessed with this artist on TikTok. She use -
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Illuminate I Could: On Lucille Clifton
Caroline and son. Courtesy of the Clifton family. What is our relationship to history? Do we belong to it, or is it ours? Are we in it? Does it run through us, spilling out like water, or blood? I think the answers to those questions, at least in America, depend upon who you are—or rather, on who you’ve been taught to believe that you are. If the history you descend from has been mapped, adapted, mythologized, reenacted, and broadcast as though it is the central defining story of a continent, perhaps you can be forgiven (up to a point) for having succumbed to a collective distortion. But wh -
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A Freebie, a Gothic Thriller, & More
The Lady and Her Monsters The Lady and Her Monsters by Roseanne Montillo is $1.99! This is part biography and part sciene, as Montillo weaves in Mary Shelley’s experience working on Dr. Frankenstein and the science behind it. Carrie mentioned it her Mary Shelley birthday post, but warns of animal cruelty. The Lady and Her Monsters by Roseanne Motillo brings to life the fascinating times, startling science, and real-life horrors behind Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein. Monti -
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New York Pitch Conference - September 2021
Assignment 4 - Approaching Comparables - Sixty Eight by Brian Freeman Sixty Eight is a speculative, historical fiction novel that is written in the first person. Because of the respect and admiration I have for Lyndon Johnson, I chose to have him narrate the story in order to give him the literary voice that he deserves. One book that my story compares to in terms of perspective and depth of character is Claudius the God by Robert Graves. Written in the first person, Claudius the God is about a Roman emperor who deals with his own handicaps as he reigns on the throne during a political m -
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New York Pitch Conference - September 2021
Assignment 3 - Breakout Title - Sixty Eight by Brian Freeman Sixty Eight is a trilogy of books spanning across 38 chapters, 80,000 words apiece and divided into even thirds. Because of this, I am not sure whether there needs to be a separate title for each book under the Sixty Eight moniker, similar to the Lord of The Rings (Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, Return of The King), or simply a numbered volume collection of three books. Considering the book centers more on 1968 than the narrator and main character Lyndon Johnson (the story is written in the first person), Sixty Eight, s -
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BEASTS AND BEAUTY: DANGEROUS TALES by Soman Chainani (BOOK REVIEW)
Content warnings: Traditional fairy tale grimness, including violence, death and murder, child abuse, forced marriage, and so on; racism and colourism. Nothing is graphically described. You think you know these stories, don’t you? You are wrong. You don’t know them at all. Twelve tales, twelve dangerous tales of mystery, magic, and rebellious hearts. Each twists like a spindle to reveal truths full of warning and triumph, truths that capture hearts long kept tame and set them free, truths that explore life . . . and death. A prince has a surprising awakening . . . -
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Three Aspects of “Revision:” Reworking, Refining, and Revisioning
Revision. We all do it … and do it … and do it. Writers have had a lot to say on the subject. There’s Vladimir Nabokov, who boasted that his pencils outlasted their erasers. Dorothy Parker, who claimed that she couldn’t write five words without changing seven. Robert Cormier, who quipped: “The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.” One of the clearest statements about revision comes from the always-brilliant Neil Gaiman: “When you’re ready, pick [your manuscript] up and read it, as if you’ve never read it before. If the -
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The Real Through Line from The Godfather to The Sopranos Is the American Family
Like all of my mob-drama-obsessed brethren, I anxiously awaited The Sopranos prequel, Many Saints of Newark, which aired on HBO on October 1. Not for the blood or the body count but for what has elevated the mob canon of books, film and television since Mario Puzo published his novel The Godfather in 1969: Family. Sopranos creator David Chase became transfixed with the Corleones while studying for his master’s degree in film at Stanford. “I was just ready for that book,” he would tell Stanford magazine of Mario Puzo’s Biblical novel. Decades later, battle-scarred from toiling on TV shows li -
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10 New Horror Novels Perfect For Crime Fans
You may be thinking, lately, “what’s with all the horror content on CrimeReads? This is a crime fiction site!” And yet, like obscenity, genre fiction struggles to mold itself to any particular definitions, instead resting on the principal of “I know it when I see it.” I organized a roundtable discussion with some of the many horror fiction writers crossing over into thriller territory (to be posted next week) and many of the respondents described horror not as a genre, but as a feeling. And as well they might, for horror seems particularly difficult to *ahem* nail down. The following list is c -
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Five Great Novels Immersed in Music Scenes and the Lives of Musicians
The punk rock scene I came up in never had much in common with an English village. But the nocturnal world of basement clubs and backstage passes has long proved rich territory for crime writers examining themes of community, creativity, and fame. As I’ve turned from my usual cat cozies to psychological suspense, the mix of inspiration, ambition, alcohol, and passion that fuels this gut-level music has proved irresistible. And while there are wonderful mysteries set in the various musical universes, from the famed La Fenice opera house (Donna Leon, Death at La Fenice) to the brothels of Storyv -
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Murder in the Stacks: Mysteries That Take Place In Bookstores
As a voracious reader since age seven (Nancy Drew), bookstores call me as if magnetized. There’s something magical about rows of crisp colorful bindings and the scent of fresh ink. Used bookshops are especially intriguing, often offering bargains and rarities. On lazy Sunday afternoons years ago, my parents used to load us into the station wagon and drive to a magnificent used bookstore in Hallowell, Maine. The building was old and quaint, with peeling paint and creaky wood floors. Books were piled in the window. Stacked on the floor. Crammed into cases. I still remember my held breath when -
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Stuff We Like: Pins, Patches, and Decorative Adorableness
It’s time for another edition of Stuff We Like! http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SWL-Pins.png We love pins, and we love lots of different pins, and I’m sorry in advance for this one. It’s temptation in the extreme! Want to see? Just click that image above or click right here, and come shop with us! And if you’d like to browse some more, we have a complete Stuff We Like archive, including past Gift Guides and other posts of our favorite items. View the full article -
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Redux: The Subway Back and Forth
Every week, the editors of The Paris Review lift the paywall on a selection of interviews, stories, poems, and more from the magazine’s archive. You can have these unlocked pieces delivered straight to your inbox every Sunday by signing up for the Redux newsletter. Welty, ca. 1962, Wikimedia Commons This week at The Paris Review, we’re waiting for the bus and descending into the subway. Read on for Eudora Welty’s Art of Fiction interview, Gish Jen’s short story “Amaryllis,” and Frank O’Hara’s poem “Corresponding Foreignly,” paired with a portfolio of photographs by G. M. B. Akash. If you en -
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Non-Fiction, Dystopian Romance, & More
Holiday Fakeout Holiday Fakeout is 99c! This anthology just dropped and features over 20 romances with fake dating during the holidays. Talk about catnip! If I did my math correctly with the listed page count, each story is 100 pages or slightly more. Need a date for the holidays? Oh joy…We’ve got you covered with 22 fake holidates to heat up your season! Travel from small towns to cosmopolitan cities, snow covered mountains to gorgeous mansions. You’ll meet sexy billionaires, brainy tech -
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FLAMES OF MIRA by Clay Harmon (COVER REVEAL)
Today we’re thrilled to host a cover reveal for Clay Harmon’s debut novel, Flames Of Mira. Described as an epic new fantasy series set in a world of ice, fire and magic, this is a tale of redemption with a magic system to rival that of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series. Want to know more? We got you covered, here’s the official blurb: People like Ig are born from life-threatening trials that bind periodic elements to the human body, forged in the boiling volcanoes and subterranean passages under Mira’s frozen lands. One of the most powerful known elementals, he is forced to work as an
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