Are you frustrated by writing craft books that give examples referencing “the classics,” books or movies you haven't read or seen? Then these books are for you. They’re filled with examples from modern day movie and TV shows that help you develop characters and their character journey (plot!).

Not sure if these books for you? Scroll down for links to free samples.

Frankly, my dear…Creating Unforgettable Characters

It doesn't matter if your writing style is planned, spontaneous, or somewhere in between--it's the character and conflict that sells! Character and conflict hook in studio execs, hold an editor’s attention, and draw in readers, compelling them to turn the page. So what is the secret sauce? How can you hack into believable and compelling characters? By using a tried and true psychological principle adapted for writers by Melinda Curtis, an award-winning, USA Today bestseller of over 35 books and novellas.

In this book, you’ll find the basics of character and conflict, along with a multi-faceted psychological principle that can be used to create characters who need to grow and change. Inside are numerous tips to create and deepen character and conflict from the beginning of your story to the end. You’ll discover hacks to give your characters depth and provide them with behavioral bumpers so they act consistently throughout your story, until they grow and change in an emotionally satisfying finale. As an added bonus, there are over 100 examples from movies and television that illustrate how to use each principle. That means adding this book to your writing toolbox will help you sell to editors and studio execs, and create compelling reads that bring audiences back for more.

Amazon (now in Kindle Unlimited) | BN (print only)

Not sure if you want to buy the book? Download a FREE sample HERE!

Putting Story on the Page

This book is for writers facing the dreaded…nothing.

Story comes in all shapes and sizes and most likely will not make an appearance on the page as a fully-formed three-act story. There will be holes and blank pages. Possibly blinking cursors.

This book will help you keep at it.

In these pages, you’ll find hacks for putting story on the page. For great beginnings. For those hard to bear middles. For those ever-so-satisfying endings. What’s presented here is a method to keep your momentum moving forward – a pinch of this, a sprinkle of that, a whole lot of what works. Because most writers know – and beginning writers will soon find out – that almost every story is different. Some are easy. Some are hard. Some want to lay there like unrisen bread dough. And some explode with an unnamed source of energy.

This book also presents a step-by-step process to guide you from start to finish, no matter what genre you write in.

Plot. Character. Conflict. World Building. Theme. Story Structure. Genre considerations. All are discussed and presented in a user-friendly manner. Included inside are examples of these concepts from movies and TV that help you understand them with the goal of applying that knowledge to your work.

Bonus content! A winning formula to write a fast draft with an example from one of the 70 stories published by the author.

No matter where an author is in the writing journey, this book offers strategies to cross the finish line.

Amazon (now in Kindle Unlimited) | BN (print only)

Not sure if you want to buy the book? Download a FREE sample HERE!