In this week’s video, Chris talks about a book that every author should read, Line by Line. Line by Line teaches writers how to edit their own writing. To hear Chris’s thoughts on it, check out the video below:
Quick Tip: But I Tried That
In today’s video, Chris talks about re-examining your author checklist and really making sure that you spend enough time on each item. If you take your time to complete your tasks well, you’ll make more progress than rushing through the steps. Watch the video below for more details from Chris:
Are Writer’s Conferences Worth It?
Chris is back with a new video today. He just returned from the Novelists INC conference in Floria, and in this video he talks about how to determine whether or not going to writer’s conferences is worth it for you. To hear more, check out the video below: As an aside, Chris and I live…
Motivation: The Ugly Secret to Success
In today’s video, Chris talks about his secret to success. Spoilers: it’s consistent action. Chris’s goal is one craft improvement and one marketing improvement every day. All of these actions add up, and though there is no single trick that will lead you to success, it’s the culmination of a thousand tiny actions that will….
Craft: Emergency Plot Surgery
What happens when you need last minute plot surgery on a preorder? Chris recently encountered this exact problem with his upcoming book, Tech Mage. In this video, he talks about how his beta readers revealed massive problems with his beta draft and what exactly you can do when you run into this situation. Check out…
Quick Tips: How to Find Beta Readers
Have you struggled with how to find beta readers that will actually read your books and provide useful feedback? In this Quick Tips video, Chris gives some tips on how to find these readers to help you improve your books before publishing. Check out the video below for details! Sign up to the YouTube mailing…
Write to Market: The #1 Mistake I See Authors Make
In this Write to Market video, Chris discusses the #1 mistake authors make when writing to market. The quick version? The authors that are succeeding at writing to market approach it like a chef, mixing familiar ingredients together in new and interesting ways. The authors who are struggling are often approaching it like line order…
Worldbuilding #4- How to Construct a Fictional Language
In today’s video, Chris talks about some methods you can use to create your own fictional language (or way of speaking), discussing things like word patterns, suffixes, sounds, etc. He gives some great examples using existing languages as well as speech patterns and accents in his own writing. Check out the video below for more!
Worldbuilding #3- How Does Your Magic System Work?
Chris’s worldbuilding video this week discusses magic systems. He asks a series of questions that can help you determine how your magic system works. Using common examples like Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, he explains how the answers to these basic questions can affect things like how many magic users there are, how…
Story Works Round Table #13: Plotting Science Fiction with Chris Fox
Chris was recently interviewed at SWRT about plotting science fiction stories. Highlights include: How important is the science to science fiction? Does the science need to be integral to the plot? Conventions in sub-genre’s of science fiction. What are reader expectations for characters and subplots? More conventions of other sub-genres. How can you break with…