Quotes from James Scott Bell

There is a fine line between knowing the stats your self-publishing generates and living your life around them. Some authors check their Amazon rank several times a day. That can only lead to madness and walking the streets talking to yourself.

Whenever I go to a hospital to visit someone, I must confess that half my mind is thinking, Hm, this would make a good detail in a scene….

That is the whole point of the hero's journey. It is our identification with a figure who represents the values of the community, and by mythic exploits inspires the community to fight.

Over the years I've heard some attempts at explanation, and I've jotted them down: • A combination of character, setting, page turning. • A distinctive style, like a Sergio Leone film. • It's who you are. • Personality on the page. • It's something written from your deepest truth. • Your expression as an artist. You'll

It takes about eighteen months, on average, for a book you contract with a publisher to make it to the bookstore shelves.

Why? Because intercharacter conflict works its magic. What Rose (the writer) did was bring together twelve distinct characters, each with his own background, baggage, and personality, and throw them into what is essentially a great, big argument. Therein lies the real untapped secret of creating conflict: orchestration. That means you cast your characters so they have the potential of conflict with every other character.

To create a memorable voice you must first create a memorable character. Of

Most agents and editors, if they are speaking off the cuff, will admit that literary writing is defined as the kind that does not sell. The finalists for the National Book Award each year routinely sell between 2000 ? 5000 copies, and that's it.

We can tell a lot about these two characters just from the dialogue. Who talks like Cairo? Someone of breeding and a certain air of snobbishness.

All that's left for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.

Pulp doesn't bog us down with thematic ambiguity or thick flights of circumlocutory style. (I consulted a thesaurus to get circumlocutory, which is exactly the kind of thing pulp doesn't do.) Pulp is escapist and entertaining. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

A further tip: Delay as much exposition as you can for the first 10 percent of your novel. If you can create a mystery about it, even better. But understand that the readers will wait a long time before getting answers as long as they are caught up in a solid plot.

The great dividend is not necessarily outscoring an opponent. The guaranteed dividend is the complete peace of mind gained in knowing you did everything within your power, physically, mentally, and emotionally, to bring forth your full potential. – John Wooden, legendary UCLA basketball coach

Take a nice, long walk. Don't think about your book. Have a little notebook or recorder with you. You'll find the "boys in the basement" sending stuff up. When they do, write it down, and keep walking. (Note: I love Stephen King's metaphor of the "boys in the basement" from his book

The main thing is to break the shackles of laziness and begin our labors; then, after that, to forget that we are laboring in the sheer joy of creation with which our labor inspires us.

That's what's this is.

Paragraph 2 is the who you are paragraph. Don't gild the lily. Just put down your basic background and any literary awards or training you've received. If you are writing about your specialty (say, a lawyer writing a legal thriller), of course mention that, too.

Finish your novel, because you learn more that way than any other.

Sentence one is character + vocation + current situation. Sentence two starts with "When" and is what I call the Doorway of No Return––the thing that pushes the Lead into the main plot. Sentence three begins with "Now" and the death (physical, professional, or psychological/spiritual) stakes.

Agent Donald Maass, who has written a superb book called Writing the Breakout Novel, is of the opinion

Katniss Everdeen did not think she was good enough to win the Hunger Games. But she had no choice. The writing game is an arena and once you're in, don't waste precious time worrying about how good you are. Gather your weapons and supplies, and fight.

My working definition of a successful novel is this: the emotionally satisfying account of how a character deals with imminent death. Once

There was something life-giving about the sea, as if it were the pulse of God keeping the world alive.

The thing I do at the beginning is a "voice journal," a free form doc that is the character speaking to me. I just work on it until I start to hear different from my own, or the other characters.