Masterclass Notes: James Patterson – Part 4 – Drafting

James Patterson Masterclass notes on drafting.

Lesson 5: Research Male readers usually prefer realism. Women are more likely to suspend disbelief. So depending on your target audience, it's important to get the details right. If it's incorrect, it can bring the discerning reader out of the story. Try experiencing the settings yourself. Taking it in with all your senses may trigger …

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Book Notes: “Succeed: How We Can Reach Our Goals” by Heidi Grant Halvorson, Ph.D. – Part 1 – Introduction: Willpower & Habits

A water droplet with ripple effect and text overlay of "your willpower reserve"

Note: Book Notes = summary of current book+ insights/personal interpretations + incorporation of prior knowledge Introduction: Willpower & Habits According to James Clear in Atomic Habits, goals aren't what separate successful people from unsuccessful—it's habits. But if you think about it, setting up a habit is a goal in itself. So we still need to …

Masterclass Notes: James Patterson – Part 3 – Plotting

A picture of a hand drawing a line through a maze with text overlay that says, "Plotting"

Lesson 4: Plot Story is about revealing character and causality (i.e., when one event leads to the next, which leads to the next and so on and so forth until the inevitable end).“Try to write every chapter as if it’s the first chapter of the book - try to write every chapter as if it’s …

Masterclass Notes: James Patterson – Part 2 – Ideation

A well in the middle of a desert with the text overlay of "Raw Ideas"

Part one of this series can be found here. It's important to note that the points below are a combination of what was viewed & the insights it stirred. Lesson 3: Raw Ideas Patterson doesn’t write realism, he writes whatever interests or excites him. His stories are usually the opposite of what you would expect. …

Masterclass Notes: James Patterson – Part 1 – Passion & Habit

Mountain landscape with a small lake in the middle, bordered by a road and beautiful trees. Text overlay is "Passion & Habit"

James Patterson is a bestselling author of more than 100 books. Though he follows a unique ‘business model’ where a lot of his books are co-authored (or ghostwritten), his original works seem to have been penned solely by him. His dual approach to authorship piqued my interest and so I thought I would take a …

12 Tips for Finishing Your Novel

Picture of funky colored leaves (pink and purple) with the text "Write a Novel" overlaid on top of it.

In honor of Preptober, below is a list of solutions to the major problems writers face while drafting: Choose one story. Working on one story cuts down on the time needed to refocus and makes it easier to achieve depth. To choose the right story, freefall write (i.e., stream of conscious) your thoughts on all …

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