Stomping Kittens is the long-awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed writing manual 'Punching Babies: a how-to guide' by award-winning and best-selling fantasy author Adron J. Smitley. Inside, the aspiring author will discover everything they need to know on how best to plot their first novel, specifically fantasy, from the spark of an idea to a finished book. Stomping Kittens guides you by the hand with its unique and highly detailed First Fantasy Novel Chapter By Chapter Blueprint Formula while also filled to the brim with writing knowledge that is guaranteed to help you create stories of every genre, providing an entire college worth of writing education in mere hours of reading you are sure to reference over and again throughout your writing career. Stomping Kittens lays out everything for you in detail, from the essentials of great three-dimensional character creation, a plethora of plot formulas and how to apply them, a thorough explanation of the structure of Acts and their essential plot points, the best way to build dramatic story structure architecture, and how to apply the necessary flaw vs. virtue argument as the spine of your story and the soul of its protagonist, all while affording you tons of examples from movies for quick ease of reference which are deconstructed for you while the entire process of writing your first fantasy novel is explained in simple detail.
Also included is Adron's NaNoWriMo Novel Generator.
If
you read only one book on writing . . . this should be that book!
So
grab your high heels and get ready to make writing your novel as easy as
Stomping Kittens!
Adron: "This is, in my opinion, the single greatest book on writing. Ever. Light on plot and character, though heavy on writing technique, Dwight covers a vast array of essential skills from proper scene construction to the selling of your fiction and everything in between. This is a must have book for every writer, especially so the novice who would do well to commit its valuable contents to memory."
No one can teach talent, but the practical skills of the professional writer's craft can certainly be taught. The correct and imaginative use of these kills can shorten any beginner's apprenticeship by years.
This is the book for writers who want to turn rejection slips into cashable checks.
How to make writing a novel (or screenplay, or any story, really) as easy as punching babies. A step-by-step guide for logically plotting your story from beginning to end every exciting step of the way.
T.J. Koker - 5 star Amazon review:
Lee Man - 5 star Amazon review: "My new bible! This book takes all the books I've ever learned from and combines them into an easy, concise doctrine with examples from a well known movie. I love how he took elements from the snowflake method, Save the Cat, Dwight Swain's motivation/reaction units, Joseph Campbell's Hero Journey and much more and united it with concrete examples from the movie The Matrix."
Daniel Wadsworth - 5 star Amazon review: "Fantastic and useful. Clear, simple, to the point and helped me organize my thoughts. Best book on structure I've seen."
Adron: "Writer's block is a myth, and this book proves it. Containing full explanations of 55 dramatic situations, you have access to a bountiful variety of ideas to inject logical conflict throughout your story along your characters' harrowing journeys or even to base the plot of your entire novel around."
Story Structure Architect is your comprehensive reference to the classic recurring story structures used by every great author throughout the ages. You'll find master models for characters, plots, and complication motifs, along with guidelines for combining them to create unique short stories, novels, scripts, or plays. You'll also learn how to:
• Build compelling stories that don't get bogged down in the middle
• Select character journeys and create conflicts
• Devise subplots and plan dramatic situations
• Develop the supporting characters you need to make your story work
Especially featured are the standard dramatic situations inspire by Georges Polti's well-known 19th century work, The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. But author Victoria Schmidt puts a 21st-century spin on these timeless classics and offers fifty-five situations to inspire your creativity and allow you even more writing freedom. Story Structure Architect will give you the mold and then help you break it.
This browsable and interactive book offers everything you need to craft a complete, original, and satisfying story sure to keep readers hooked!
Adron: "An excellent teaching resource on how to craft and more importantly develop fantastic three-dimensional characters as well progress them through their satisfying arcs of change and growth."
Have you written a story with an exciting concept and interesting characters—but it just isn’t grabbing the attention of readers or agents? It’s time to look deeper into the story beats that create realistic and compelling character arcs. Internationally published, award-winning novelist K.M. Weiland shares her acclaimed method for achieving memorable and moving character arcs in every book you write.
By applying the foundation of the Three-Act Story Structure and then delving even deeper into the psychology of realistic and dynamic human change, Weiland offers a beat-by-beat checklist of character arc guidelines that flexes to fit any type of story.
This comprehensive book will teach you:
- How to determine which arc—positive, negative, or flat—is right for your character.
- Why you should NEVER pit plot against character. Instead, learn how to blend story structure and character development.
- How to recognize and avoid the worst pitfalls of writing novels without character arcs.
- How to hack the secret to using overarching character arcs to create amazing trilogies and series.
- And much more!
From the world’s #1 body language expert* comes the essential book for decoding human behavior
Joe Navarro has spent a lifetime observing others. For 25 years, as a Special Agent for the FBI, he conducted and supervised interrogations of spies and other dangerous criminals, honing his mastery of nonverbal communication. After retiring from the bureau, he has become a sought-after public speaker and consultant, and an internationally bestselling author. Now, a decade after his groundbreaking book What Every BODY is Saying, Navarro returns with his most ambitious work yet. The Dictionary of Body Language is a pioneering “field guide” to nonverbal communication, describing and explaining the more than 400 behaviors that will allow you to gauge anyone’s true intentions.
Moving from the head down to the feet, Navarro reveals the hidden meanings behind the many conscious and subconscious things we do. Readers will learn how to tell a person’s actual feelings from subtle changes in their pupils; the lip behaviors that betray concerns or hidden information; the many different varieties of arm posturing, and what each one means; how the position of our thumbs when we stand akimbo reflects our mental state; and many other fascinating insights to help you both read others and change their perceptions of you.
Readers will turn to The Dictionary Body Language again and again—a body language bible for anyone looking to understand what their boss really means, interpret whether a potential romantic partner is interested or not, and learn how to put themselves forward in the most favorable light.
Progressive overload is the #1 key factor to training success regardless the lifter. The formula for building a bigger, stronger, better you is very simple: squat, push, pull, done. And the recipe for achieving it is even simpler: train hard and brief, rest long and easy, repeat.
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Designing your training routine is a work of beauty when you get it right, and a labor of frustration when you get it wrong. Fortunately for you, Basement Strong is chock-full of proven minimalist strength training routines coupled with 20+ years of hard-earned weightlifting knowledge to help guide you to achieving a 300lb Bench Press, a 400lb Squat, and a 500lb Deadlift . . . or much, much higher!
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