I never heard of "The Prisoner" TV series, is that available in the
US? I've never been much of a TV watcher, mostly movies. Sounds
interesting though.

Here is a good explanation of: The Snowflake Method for Writing a
Novel
http://www.rsingermanson.com/html/the_snowflake.html.

- James

--- In friendsofanne@..., "James D. Maxon"
<SamuriJim@y...> wrote:
>
> Hi Will,
>
> Yeah, it was a struggle at school. I got thru it but it took a lot
> of work. I really appreciate your encouragement. In High School I
> worked my way out of the "Special Education" program and got
> into "normal" classes. My toughest subject was English, so I
> dedicated a lot more energy towards it and in doing so developed a
> passion with the written word.
>
> Growing up my love for fantasy comes from having books of that
genre
> read to me as a kid - and the desire to live in a different world,
> if only for a short time, was also intriguing. As C.S. Lewis
> said, "We were created for something better." Stories like his
> Narnia helped to pave my love for imagination and fantasy. My
> writing took on a form of symbolism (of which I love) and depth of
> meaning. There is a lot that can be expressed and conveyed with the
> vehicle of fantasy/Sci-Fi. It can help us to look at things in a
> different way and discover truths we are normally blind to.
>
> I agree that structure is important, I need to be better at that. I
> used to think forcing a structure would hinder the creativity and
> spontaneity of the story. But as many times as I have gone back to
> rework it I'm thinking it's not a bad idea. I was thinking of using
> the "Snowflake Technique" to writing to see if that helped at all.
> At this point my biggest hurtle is time. After getting married and
> working long hour days, free time is hard to come by. But I am
> committed to one day getting it done.
>
> Thanks again for sharing your experience with me and your
> encouragement. I hope that one day I will indeed finish "A Wizard's
> Tale" and be able to hold the published book in my very own hands :-
)
>
> - James
>
>
>
> --- In friendsofanne@..., "Will Hadcroft"
> <will.hadcroft@n...> wrote:
> >
> > James,
> >
> > Annedroyd.com was taken when I registered at 123 Reg, so I took
> annedroyd.co.uk instead. I'll take another look. By the way, if you
> do want to help on the web site front (ie design one for me),
Gareth
> Preston has said he would be happy to hand over duties to anyone
who
> wants to spend more time on it. Cheers Gareth!
> >
> > I understand how a learning disability can slow one down. At
> school I was deemed "a bit slow" by my teachers (much to my
mother's
> annoyance). My desire to be a writer was fed and developed when I
> signed up to The Writers Bureau correspondence course. You pay
> something like £200.00 (might be a bit more now) and each
assignment
> is designed to be turned into a piece of work for submission to
> editors. I signed up to the course in 1996 and I still haven't
> completed and received my diploma - partly because I have too many
> writing projects on the go, and partly because I'm slow at working
> on assignments (though if it's something I'm interested in, like my
> most recent novel, I can knock it out swiftly!). I have two books
to
> my name, both published by a reputable company. I'm now on the
> search for an agent and pitching my latest work.
> >
> > Reading your email, I wouldn't ever have suspected that you had
> learning difficulties. It reads fluently, you communicate yourself
> well. With fiction, you need to understand how to plot and
structure
> your story. You need to know your characters (write little
> biographies for them) and you need to know how the work should be
> presented. If all this is in order, you could be up to publishable
> standard.
> >
> > Good ideas are not enough to get published. You need good ideas,
a
> bit of flair with your writing style, and know how to approach
> publishers in a professional manner.
> >
> > It took me ten years to get there. I have confidence that you
> could get there too.
> >
> > Will.
> >
>