Thursday, September 20, my assistant Tori Smith and I arrived at the Red Lion hotel in City Center block of St. Louis. The hotel is a repurposed block of downtown St. Louis, complete with three thirteen-story atriums. The Penned Con convention resided on the lucky thirteenth floor. Gander at these pictures from the outdoor lounge:
I’m posting Weekly World Internet News to give you laughs and fun. I get tired of posting serious stuff like my books, how to write, and serious news. Let’s start out with this, which I just saw TODAY:
Then there’s this:
which is certainly fun to share with your friends.
Also, there’s this new web comic from my illustrator Sean Flanagan:
That’s certainly fun! If your not familiar with Sean’s work, he did all my covers:
“How can that be, Andy?” you may ask me. Your answer follows in this video:
The next item is merely beautiful, awe-inspiring, and educational. Skip, if that’s not your cup of tea.
Now it’s time for a little fun. Who doesn’t like puns? Reply below, or send me a message.
Next, there is a funny news story you may not believe. See if you can tell if it is satire.
Then you have this fun technology to play with. Would you like to buy and use it? Let me know!
I worked with computer technology for almost fifty years, so I follow the latest developments almost by habit. If you’re aware of a cool technology, email or comment with the link and I’ll send you a free ebook of your choice!
Now, Your Free Giveaway
If you’re not already a subscriber to my newsletter, stop and subscribe right here. This is my new Mail Chimp subscription page. Drop me a line in the comments and tell me if you love it, hate it, or are ‘meh’.
With your subscription, you’re entered into my two monthly book drawings: one for a free book of your choice, ebook or print, and one drawing for a free audiobook.
I also give you a secret link on my website for my short story, ‘A Phoenix Tale’. In it you’ll learn how I got my first pet phoenix.
‘Developing Your Plot’ is a class I wrote and taught eight years ago. Now you get to learn it all for free, with the new things I’ve learned in the past eight years and through ten self-published books. I’ll give YOU Free Plotting Lessons right now in this blog post, right from the class.
Developing Your Plot – Cast of Characters
First, there’s me, the teacher character, Andy Zach. If you’re not familiar with my biography on this site, you can go to Amazon, Square, or to Goodreads and find out about me and my books.
Then there’s you, one of many student characters. What have you written? Are you writing? What will you write? Please share your plot/novel/work ideas with me and the class by commenting below.
You MUST comment to participate in this class–or I’ll send the zombie turkeys after you!
That’s my big turkey stick. The carrot is, I will give a free ebook of Zombie Turkeys to one of the commenters!
Start commenting – NOW!
Developing Your Plot – Where Will You Go with Your Idea?
You’ve got your great idea for your novel. What’s next? Authors fall into a spectrum of two approaches. First, there are plotters, who plan out the plot of their book and then write to that plan. Then there are ‘pantsers’, those who sit on their pants and type away until a book emerges–or not. Then there are endless variations between the two. I’m firmly in the first group. If you want to learn the pantser approach, find another author! I can’t even imagine how I’d write that way, and I’ve got a good imagination.
Let’s take my first novel, Zombie Turkeys.I created a chapter outline of the book on my first day of writing it duringNaNoMo.
