Fiction writers come up with some interesting metaphors when speaking of plot. Some say the plot is the highway and the characters are the automobiles. Others talk about stories that are "plot-driven," as if the plot were neither the highway… — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
All good plots come from well-orchestrated characters pitted against one another in a conflict of wills. — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
“You can kill the spell of identification just as easily as you can create it—if you lose the readers' sympathy for the character. You can lose reader sympathy by having your character commit acts of cruelty to another character with whom the readers identify more strongly or for whom they have strong sympathy. You can lose reader sympathy by having… — James N. Frey Copy Share
You will never work through writer's block if you walk away from your typewriter. That will only make it easier to walk away the… — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
For some it is harder to write a novel than to row a bathtub across the North Atlantic. — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
“So far, we’ve discussed how you start with a germinal idea and what makes a good one; then we discussed the villain profile and how to create a villain with a dark mission, who will take actions to get what he wants. These actions are the plot behind the plot. The hero’s job in a thriller, remember, is to foil… — James N. Frey Copy Share
When characters have different goals and are intent on achieving them, conflict results. If the stakes are high and both sides are unyielding, you… — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
It has been said that Ernest Hemingway would rewrite scenes until they pleased him, often thirty or forty times. Hemingway, critics claimed, was a… — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
It is possible to combine a story line and plot line in the same work. Usually the storylines comes first, serving as a background… — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
Novel writing is like heroin addiction; it takes everything you've got. — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
“Before you go ahead with a flashback, ask yourself if you can make the same impact on your reader through conflict in the now… — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
To set a forest on fire, you light a match. To set a character on fire, you put him in conflict. — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
Writer's block is real. It happens. Some days you sit down at the old typewriter, put your fingers on the keys, and nothing pops… — James N. Frey Copy Share Image
