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Writing Popular Fiction

via BBC Maestro

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Overview

Join Lee on a creative journey as he shows you how to turn your blank page into a complete story.

Craft a thrilling plot
Switch narrator perspective
Build complex characters
Find your niche
Write natural dialogue
How you can make a living as a writer

Syllabus

Writing Popular Fiction Introduction
Where story comes from and what it's for
If you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader first
Why I love series fiction
How I wrote my first book (part one)
How I wrote my first book (part two)
Book 2 and beyond
How to not make your reader seasick
Voice is not a metaphor
Big words and big themes
Plot is a rental car
Robin Hood and the writers' room
Character is king
Ditch the bad advice
Don't fall in love with your hero
Why Hook Hobie is like my grandfather
Reacher, and why he isn't boring
To plot or not to plot (part one)
To plot or not to plot (part two)
Research is a dish best served cold
Churning, smoothing and combing
Don't forget you're still a reader
The Killing Floor edit
The book is the thing
Why a Ford is better than a Rolls Royce
Ditch the airs and graces
How not to write dialogue
A prose that trips forward
Suspense is not like baking a cake
Write the slow stuff fast and the fast stuff slow
Hitching a ride on a strong first sentence
The Sun Also Rises: writing time and place
The sense of an ending
The back end of a big machine
Conclusion

Taught by

Lee Child

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