Growing Past Short Stories Into Novels With Jason McCuiston & Nicky P

Next, Jason and I have a brief discussion about story craft. I bring up my struggles writing anything longer than a short story presenting a cool concept or setting. Jason reiterates his position on the importance of craft and gives us a couple of resources for improving.

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks is Jason's manual of choice for novels, but he recommends the Lester Dent formula for building a short story. This gives us a moment to talk about rules in creativity and how established rules are necessary to subvert and break in creative ways. You must know the rules and expectations so you can know how and when to break them.

Check out the full episode here: https://nickpecone.com/jason-mcCuiston-iron-age-marketing-018