Jack Cavanaugh's WORD FORGE

Creating WOW Fiction

When Michael Hyatt speaks, authors listen.

At least this author does.

After all, Hyatt is the Chief Executive Officer of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the world and the seventh largest trade book publishing company in the United States. Impressive.

Earlier this week Hyatt tweeted a link to a blog he wrote, “Creating Wow Product Experiences.” (Read it here.) Since I’m always looking for ways to craft better stories, I wondered if his list could be adapted to writing fiction.

How to Write Like a Heart Attack

Do you listen to your manuscript before sending it to a publisher?

James Michener did. Eight times. Imagine that. Here’s a man known for his Hummer-size novels, yet before sending a manuscript to his publisher he read it aloud, or had it read aloud to him, eight times.

Just thinking about it makes my lips ache.

Yet, there’s something magical about the sound of good writing.

How To Keep From Getting Lost While Writing Your Novel

One of the hardest things I ever had to do in public speaking classes was to reduce the speech to one sentence. A thirty to sixty minute speech in one sentence? No way.

But it can be done. Should be done. And once done,  you have a solid handle on your speech.

But a novel? No way can you reduce a 200,000 word novel to a single sentence.
 
Then, again—

The Magic of the Princess Principle

After reading my first novel, a woman came up to me.

“When were you in England?” she asked, her eyes brimming with enthusiasm.

In the conversation that followed I learned that she had grown up in England, north of Plymouth where the novel was set, and for her the reading of the novel was like a trip home. When I confessed I’ve never been in England, she was disappointed.

(This was not the first time a reader was disappointed upon meeting me, but that’s a topic for another blog.)

“But you described it perfectly!” she cried.

While I’d like to take credit for a masterful job of research and superior narrative technique, in truth, I have to give credit where credit is due—the Princess Principle.