If you've had difficulty plotting fiction, this book provides a simple system for creating a framework for your novel. It includes: how to test your premise, some easy steps to develop your character and define your story question from that character, how to hit your major plot points, and how to write a scene outline. Concise, clear, and action-oriented, this book is all about plotting, simplified.

Do you feel overwhelmed trying to revise your novel? Faced with a hot mess of rough draft, maybe you feel confused, unsure of what to fix—or rather, what to fix first! Editing fiction takes a slightly different mindset than writing the first rough pass of a novel. There are a lot of moving parts in a work of fiction. The trick is to not try and tackle everything at once. ROCK YOUR REVISIONS: A Simple System for Revising Your Novel will show you a clear, easy-to-follow process for editing a novel. It will help you: - Test for story structure on a macro level, providing detailed checklists for character and plot arcs. - Test for story structure at the scene level, making sure each serves a purpose in the novel (and hopefully more than one!) - Gain insight on the mechanics of the novel—checking POV choice, dialogue, exposition vs. detail (showing versus telling), and more, with a systematic scene-by-scene approach. This book goes straight to the point, putting theory in plain language, adding illustrative examples, and finishing each section with exercises designed to help you see how to not only edit a novel, but improve your reader's enjoyment of your book.

Fiction editors and agents get hundreds of queries a day. How do you stand out? How do you go from the slush pile to a contract? First, you need to understand that the fiction proposal package of query and synopsis isn't about your novel. It's about showing how well you know your target audience, either editor or agent, and how well you're able to address his or her specific needs. A great query letter gets them to read your synopsis. A comprehensive, thoughtful synopsis then shows your next skill: not only do you know what an editor or agent needs, you know how to identify and showcase a complete story arc with escalating conflict and clear GMC. A solid synopsis gets them to read your manuscript. Your manuscript will be what gets you the contract. But how do you write a great query letter and solid synopsis? By researching specific targets, and writing a focused query that incorporates pertinent details that show that you've done your homework. By writing a mini-synopsis for your novel that only hits what the target wants to know: who is this story about, what are they doing, and why do I care? By writing a full synopsis that shows you understand what drives a story, and that has all pertinent plot points. You also show that you know how to be succinct enough to focus on the plot points only, and leave any extraneous details out, not wasting your target's time. This book gives you specific instructions. In step by step detail, with simple templates, this book shows you what you need to do to create a fiction proposal package of query letter and synopsis that will get you out of the slush pile... and gets your novel in the hands of agents and editors.

Do you want to write more novels? Maybe you’re having trouble finding time to write in a busy, jam-packed week. Maybe you’re exhausted when you do manage to carve out some time to write. Or maybe, when you’ve got the time and energy, you either waste time and then wonder where the day went… or you face a blank page, unable to type “anything decent.” Pinpoint what’s stopping you – and find real solutions. WRITE EVERY DAY is specifically geared for fiction authors who are juggling busy home lives, work lives, and the new pressures to “build a platform” while simultaneously producing more books. Instead of rote advice (i.e. “just get your butt in the chair and write”) it gives clear instructions for zeroing in on what’s really preventing you from writing, and then offers a selection of simple suggested solutions to carve out more time, get more focus, and gently dissolve writer’s block. Similar to other books in the Rock Your Writing series, WRITE EVERY DAY takes a wealth of resource material and distills it down into one clear, helpful approach.