Writing Advice Blog from SceneOne.app

Writing a book is one of the most satisfying things we can do, no matter if it's a novel, memoir, short story, or poem. It doesn't even matter if it's good or bad! Once you've written your book, no-one can take that away from you, and you can boast about it at dinner parties forever!

But how on God's green Earth do you actually write your first book?

It's both simpler (and maybe harder?) than you might think, but I'm going to break it down for you here.

The book writing software that we choose to use often comes down to personal preferences, and to the apps that we've used for a while (hence why some crazy people are perfectly happy writing their stories in Google Docs!). It's arguable that most writing apps have very similar feature sets, so how can one stand out as the best?

No doubt you're wondering how long a short story or novella should be because you have to write one, or you're wondering if you have enough room to flesh out that fantasy epic that's been growing in your head. There are a few general rules of thumb for the word count lengths of short stories, novellas and novelettes (which we'll give you up front so that you aren't forced to read this entire post!), but with the ol' trusty novel the word length usually comes down to genre.

"Don't you just use Word or Google Docs?" is what all my non-writer friends ask me. And, to be fair, they are both great word processors - and might even be great if you're only writing a short story - but neither of them cuts it when it comes to writing a full-length novel of over 100,000 words. That's where specialised book writing software like SceneOne.app comes in.

There are a number of plot structures and beat sheets out there, but most of these require you to already have some pretty detailed knowledge about your story and its characters. But where do you start before that? This 10-step quick-start guide will get your creative energies flowing and kick-start the writing process!

If you're a pantser (i.e., you write by the seat of your pants and don't plan), you might not start plotting your novel until you're already a few chapters in. On the other hand, if you're a plotter (someone who pre-defines a detailed plot), you might start mapping out your story before you even start writing. So when should you start plotting your novel?

Dialogue is a key element in making a story engaging and believable. It allows readers to connect with the characters and understand their motivations, and it can even help set a scene (a cockney accent or southern drawl will immediately tell you where a character is from). So here are five tips on how to create believable dialogue.

While people enjoy plots, they love characters. And they will return to your book – or series – again and again if they lover the characters. So, here are five tips to help you create characters that your readers will never forget.

Stuck on where your plot will go next, or have a story idea you need to flesh out?

From only a brief description, Story Path generates branching options for your plot.

There is some debate as to whether or not writer's block actually exists, but we can't deny that, sometimes, when we actually get our butts in front of a keyboard the words just don't come out. Call it what you will, it's a real problem that strikes us on occasion, but we have the solution!

Sometimes, when we struggle to get our words onto the page, it's because of writer's block. Other times, though, it's just as simple as not finding enough time to sit at the keyboard. Here are a few suggestions that will help with that!

Looking for a superpower for your heroes and villains? This wall print can help!

'Save the cat' is a phrase coined by the screen writer Blake Snyder in his book on screen writing Save the Cat! and has been used in several other books including the novel-specific Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. One of the big things to come out of Blake's writing courses is his Save the Cat! 15-point Beat Sheet which helps writers to develop their stories and makes sure they hit every moment needed to make it feel complete.

Many writers (both experienced and up-and-coming) use this beat sheet as a starting-point for their stories, and we've now released a tool on SceneOne.app to help you create and manage these beat sheets for your projects. This blog post will explain how to use it.

"Save the Cat!" is a term many of us have heard, and comes from a book on screen writing by Blake Snyder called, coincidentally, 'Save the Cat!'. While the book focusses on writing films, the lessons can be applied to novels, too, and there's even a companion book by Jessica Brody called 'Save the Cat! Writes a Novel'.

One of the big tools found in both books is the 15-point beat sheet

The creator of Community and Rick and Morty describes how he breaks down episodes of his TV shows.

Thinking about writing a sequel to your novel or screenplay? Of course you are! Don't we all plan trilogies where the last part can be split into two movies?

Recently, we added two new features to our writing software: A focus mode for the editor, and custom book cover selection.

Brandon Sanderson is best known as the prolific fantasy author, but also teaches writing courses at BYU that he puts on YouTube.

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