The Agile Writer – Page 7 – Greg Smith: Novelist and Coach

April 22, 2017

Non Standard Plots: A Dog’s Purpose

At Agile Writers we adhere to The Hero’s Journey as laid out by Joseph Campbell in his seminal work The Hero With a Thousand Faces. We also take lessons from movie plots and combine them into the Agile Writer Method. The Hero’s Journey has a standard pattern. The hero starts out in a familiar world where things are pretty static. Then something […]

Greg Smith Plot 0 2 min read

April 12, 2017

Conflict

What is Conflict? I’m sure we have all heard or read that you cannot have a good story without conflict. But what exactly is conflict? In a word….EVERYTHING! That’s right. No conflict no story. However, if you must have the technical version, the dictionary defines conflict as “a struggle or clash between opposing forces.” Most likely your character have a […]

Guest Blogger Structure 0 1 min read

March 26, 2017

Avatars: Your Ideal Reader

Recently at Agile Writers the topic of what is “allowed” in certain genres came up. In particular, a couple writers are working on Christian Inspirational fiction and wondered what words or topics were taboo. In that genre, readers are very sensitive to words that are perceived as “swear” words. Our own Cat Brennan related a story of how a Christian […]

Greg Smith Articles 0 3 min read

October 20, 2016

Query Tips from an Agent

Very few, if any, authors look forward to writing the dreaded query letter. And honestly, who can blame them? After spending countless hours alone and staring at a computer screen crafting what will eventually become your novel, your baby, you have to condense all of that hard work into just 3-5 paragraphs. You have just ONE PAGE to get […]

Guest Blogger Publishing 0 5 min read

October 5, 2016

FIRST DRAFT FINISHERS!!!

Agile Writers has become the go-to place for writers in the Richmond area. Offering seminars in screenwriting, publishing, marketing, rewriting and much more. Nevertheless, majority of writers still join with one main goal in mind: to complete their first drafts. With that being said, Agile Writers would like to congratulate three of its own for crossing that first draft finish line. A […]

Guest Blogger Agile Writer News 0 4 min read

September 14, 2016

Agile Writers Spotlight

One of the great things about Agile Writers is the members. Agile Writers brings together a diverse group of people that range from college student to retiree, from editor to healthcare worker, and everyone in between. Each month the Agile Writers Spotlight will shine the light on one of these great people to hear their thoughts on writing and what […]

Guest Blogger Agile Writer News 0 2 min read

August 5, 2016

Not Just Hump Day

To most people Wednesday equals Hump Day. They have made it halfway through their work week and the weekend is just around the corner. They are one step closer to Friday. But, not Agile Writers members. To us, Wednesdays mean that we can leave our working lives for two hours and enter the world of writing. Which for most is […]

Guest Blogger Articles 0 2 min read

April 8, 2016

Announcing the Launch of Agile Rewriters

“The only kind of writing is rewriting.” – Ernest Hemingway There’s an exciting new development underway at Agile Writers. Last week our fearless leader, Greg Smith, assembled a group of seven novelists in the process of writing a second, third, fourth or even fifth draft. He dubbed us the Agile Rewriters and bequeathed us Thursday nights, and we were […]

Guest Blogger Agile Writer News 0 58 sec read

March 16, 2016

Time to Write

Today’s writers contend with distractions inconceivable to writers of the past. It has almost become pat to discuss the diversions inherent in living in our modern, digitally connected world. But these problems of instant gratification and endless attention shifting are even more lethal to the creative than they are to the average citizen. The writing process requires a lot of […]

Guest Blogger Writing 0 3 min read

March 3, 2016

Plumbing the Depths of Your Own Life

In a recent chapter of Lawrence Block’s Telling Lies for Fun and Profit he talked about a phenomenon he calls “burning the raft at both ends.” By which he means, consuming one’s own life experiences in the service of one’s writing. According to Block, you can use up your life. You can run out of experiences. You can write through […]

Guest Blogger Character 0 2 min read

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