Quotes from James Scott Bell

Seek the fellowship of other writers. A writers conference is a great way to meet other scribes. Email makes it easy to keep in touch. Consider forming a circle of such friends.

the main task of the romance writer then––to get us bonded to the characters so we will want to follow them on their journey to amour.  Example 1: Secret Star by Nora Roberts

But somebody told me once you have to write what you know." "Hooey! Write what you burn with, and then find out what you need to know to write it.

the Super Structure Principle may be stated as follows: The power of your story is directly proportional to the readers' experience of it, and the readers' experience is directly proportional to the soundness of the structure.

Psychological death is the key to all romances, isn't it? If the two lovers don't get together, they will each miss out on their soul mate. Their lives will be incurably damaged. Since readers of traditional romances know they're going to end up together, it's all the more important to create this illusion of imminent psychological death.

You don't always have to render the feelings of your characters, but you must know what they are in every scene. That way, the actions and dialogue will have an organic complexity that breathes life into fiction.

Robert Jordan put up his field glasses, shading the lenses carefully with his cupped hands even though there was now no sun to make a glint, and there was the rail of the bridge as clear as though you could reach out and touch it and there was the face of the sentry so clear he could see the sunken cheeks the ash on the cigarette and the greasy shine of the bayonet.

Coffitivity.com.

Are you a real writer? Then keep writing. And don't stop. Ever.

If you up your skill and take more chances, your odds of success increase.

Someone with less talent who works hard often outperforms the gifted.

The Care Package is a relationship the Lead has with someone else, in which he shows his concern, through word or deed, for that character's well being.

The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don't want it badly enough. They're there to stop the other people. – Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Having a Care Package relationship keeps a character from being completely selfish.

But love don't make things nice, it ruins everything, it breaks your heart, it makes things a mess. We're not here to make things perfect. Snowflakes are perfect. The stars are perfect. Not us. We are here to ruin ourselves and break our hearts and love the wrong people and die!

There is one story question per novella, usually in the form: Will X get Y?

Well, all I can tell you is every Jewish man I come across is making a move on me." Not funny. By "curving" this language, the writers came up with a classic line. Who knows how many drafts it took? ELAINE: Well, something's goin' on here, 'cause every able-bodied Israelite in the county is drivin' pretty strong to the hoop.

THE 7 FORMULAS OF HUMOR: 1. POW's -- plays on words 2. Reverses (quick switch in audience point of view) 3. Triples (build to exaggerated finale) 4. Incongruity (pairing two logical but unconventional ideas) 5. Stupidity (so audience feels superior) 6. Paired phrases (using antonyms, homonyms, synonyms) 7. Physical abuse (slapstick)

The ACX program at Amazon has one of the most user-friendly programs in publishing. ACX was created by Audible, the world's leading producer of downloadable media. Audible was subsequently bought by Amazon. Works that are produced via ACX are available on Audible's site, Amazon and the iTunes store. Set up an account at ACX.com (you will be using the same user name and password that you use for your Kindle account).

The woman squeezed Erin's hand in a surprisingly firm way. "Let me tell you a little something. The two best prayers are 'Help me, help me, help me' and 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' Not hard to remember, is it?

You stupid chick ... nun ... whatever. I'm a tenth-degree black belt in Korean Karate!"  "But you don't have the power of God, you uncircumcised philistine!

She arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to illustrate a magazine story. Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.

CHARACTER background and language filtered through the AUTHOR'S heart, and rendered with craft on the PAGE = VOICE

Sir," said the young man in intense excitement, "a mystery has been committed!" "Ha!" said the Great Detective, his eye kindling, "is it such as to completely baffle the police of the entire continent?" "They are so completely baffled with it," said the secretary, "that they are lying collapsed in heaps; many of them have committed suicide.