This refresher comes at exactly the right time for meeeee, thank you Sooz! Honestly, your advice has shaped me SO MUCH as a writer, I can’t even begin to explain, and there are two post of yours that I feel rocked me forever—one is this! The first one on magical cookies. The other one is the old post you made on FRAB, it really re-arranged the way I approached fear in writing wow. So thank you 💜 🍪
Oh, yay! I'm glad both of those have been helpful to you over the years--and I'm totally planning to revamp my FRAB stuff over the next year and rerelease it! So I'm really excited to know it has been useful to someone!
This is so great. Definitely something I need to remind myself of often! And I like your point about not always needing the info between points A and B. When I’m drafting I tend to forget that and the in between bits can get tedious.
YES. It's so hard to remember, "Wait....can I just skip this?" But almost always--9 times out of 10--I CAN find a way to write the story without the "boring connective tissue scenes."
Jul 31, 2023·edited Jul 31, 2023Liked by Susan Dennard
Such a great refresher! I've been holding onto your magical cookies idea for years, and it has recently been helping me to get re-excited about my WIP. I spent some time reading over my notes for some of my biggest cookies. I love the idea of posting them somewhere I can always see them! Need to do that!
And your final notes are soooo timely for me, too. For scenes that I always have a, "But I don't wanna!" reaction to working on, I've been asking myself, "How do I *make* it more interesting?" and, "Okay, if I dislike this scene this much, what happens if it just doesn't exist?" And suddenly, things that seemed impossible to skip, or impossible to shuffle into other scenes aren't so impossible anymore. It's also been helping me to get re-excited about the WIP, in general. So thank you for revisiting this topic! 💙💙
Ah, Cheryl, I love this! I'm so glad the cookies are helpful. And also, YES! Do I *really* need this scene (or scenes) or....can I just skip?
I always hit that point at my act closers--I can see where I need to be, but somehow there's all this stuff that feels like it has to happen first. So how can I actually have those key elements happen without writing a ton of scenes? DO I need it all? Can I find a new solution that cuts right to the good stuff?
Oo, interesting! By "act closers," do you mean you tend to end up with extra stuff *before* an act ends, or when you're trying to launch into the next act? Or both? I seem to have trouble cutting the fluff when I'm starting a new act. Like, I have lots of momentum building toward the close of an act, and then the new one starts and I have way too much: "Okay, now let me reorient the reader and establish the new normal."
Exactly that, Cheryl. Too much at the start of a new act. Like bridging between the presumably High Excitement closer of the previous act into what has to happen next....
Jul 31, 2023·edited Jul 31, 2023Liked by Susan Dennard
I really agree with the commenter that said this post came at the exact right time because this was a reminder I really needed lol. I've been in a place where I'm very stuck in my WIP and I keep trying to force the ideas just to prove to myself that I can (I've been stuck for a long time lol,) and in the process kinda forgot about writing something I'm actually excited to write. Whaddaya know, the ideas come a lot easier when your main focus is magical cookies and not "I Need To Write This."
The get up and pacing part! Yes!! That's how I know I'm onto something; the energy is just to big to contain in a sitting still body. Thanks for this reminder, too - it's good to have you back!
I'm taking my first short story course with a book coach. I've written lots of drabbles, and now I'm doing something big. This post is perfect timing. I especially love these words from your 2017 post:
"each one undercooked or overcooked or too salty or not salty enough. -- it's one massive batch of magical cookies! And from all those cookies, I'll pick and choose only the absolute best to feed to you guys."
Your OG 2013 magical cookies post was the first time I ever considered that I could write a novel. I’ve always been a writer who can capture these vivid curated moments but all the in between felt blergh. That works for screenplays how I was trained but I never considered maybe I could turn that to a novel despite how much I adore reading — magical cookies remains my favorite and most powerful piece of writing advice I’ve ever heard, and it’s part of the reason I write professionally in so many different formats/media these days. Cause at the heart of all the different ways we tell story really we’re just looking for the important moments that make us feel and magical cookies realized that idea for me.
Thank you for this one!! I spent a while trying to find the original magical cookies post a few months ago :D It's one of my favorite concepts. And your reminder at the end to create cookies that will get you excited about "boring" scenes is so helpful. Related but different question: Can you talk sometime about how you come up with ideas for subplots? Not how to manage subplots or what subplots should do, but how to brainstorm actual plot ideas when you know they need to do x y or z to serve the main plot, but it feels like the possibilities are infinite!
This refresher comes at exactly the right time for meeeee, thank you Sooz! Honestly, your advice has shaped me SO MUCH as a writer, I can’t even begin to explain, and there are two post of yours that I feel rocked me forever—one is this! The first one on magical cookies. The other one is the old post you made on FRAB, it really re-arranged the way I approached fear in writing wow. So thank you 💜 🍪
Oh, yay! I'm glad both of those have been helpful to you over the years--and I'm totally planning to revamp my FRAB stuff over the next year and rerelease it! So I'm really excited to know it has been useful to someone!
This is so great. Definitely something I need to remind myself of often! And I like your point about not always needing the info between points A and B. When I’m drafting I tend to forget that and the in between bits can get tedious.
YES. It's so hard to remember, "Wait....can I just skip this?" But almost always--9 times out of 10--I CAN find a way to write the story without the "boring connective tissue scenes."
Such a great refresher! I've been holding onto your magical cookies idea for years, and it has recently been helping me to get re-excited about my WIP. I spent some time reading over my notes for some of my biggest cookies. I love the idea of posting them somewhere I can always see them! Need to do that!
And your final notes are soooo timely for me, too. For scenes that I always have a, "But I don't wanna!" reaction to working on, I've been asking myself, "How do I *make* it more interesting?" and, "Okay, if I dislike this scene this much, what happens if it just doesn't exist?" And suddenly, things that seemed impossible to skip, or impossible to shuffle into other scenes aren't so impossible anymore. It's also been helping me to get re-excited about the WIP, in general. So thank you for revisiting this topic! 💙💙
Ah, Cheryl, I love this! I'm so glad the cookies are helpful. And also, YES! Do I *really* need this scene (or scenes) or....can I just skip?
I always hit that point at my act closers--I can see where I need to be, but somehow there's all this stuff that feels like it has to happen first. So how can I actually have those key elements happen without writing a ton of scenes? DO I need it all? Can I find a new solution that cuts right to the good stuff?
Oo, interesting! By "act closers," do you mean you tend to end up with extra stuff *before* an act ends, or when you're trying to launch into the next act? Or both? I seem to have trouble cutting the fluff when I'm starting a new act. Like, I have lots of momentum building toward the close of an act, and then the new one starts and I have way too much: "Okay, now let me reorient the reader and establish the new normal."
Exactly that, Cheryl. Too much at the start of a new act. Like bridging between the presumably High Excitement closer of the previous act into what has to happen next....
Thank you! Good to know that's a spot to keep an eye on!
Well, at least for me!! It might not be for other writers!
No, it definitely seems like a problem spot for me, too! Just knowing I am not alone with this pain is super helpful! 😂
I really agree with the commenter that said this post came at the exact right time because this was a reminder I really needed lol. I've been in a place where I'm very stuck in my WIP and I keep trying to force the ideas just to prove to myself that I can (I've been stuck for a long time lol,) and in the process kinda forgot about writing something I'm actually excited to write. Whaddaya know, the ideas come a lot easier when your main focus is magical cookies and not "I Need To Write This."
As a person whose whole method relies on frequently getting stuck, I very much relate an sympathize 🥲
I’m so excited for the big cookie scene in the final witchlands book!
Aaah, thank you!! 🥰
The get up and pacing part! Yes!! That's how I know I'm onto something; the energy is just to big to contain in a sitting still body. Thanks for this reminder, too - it's good to have you back!
Ah, isn't that the BEST feeling?! When you're so *moved* by the words and the story?!
I'm taking my first short story course with a book coach. I've written lots of drabbles, and now I'm doing something big. This post is perfect timing. I especially love these words from your 2017 post:
"each one undercooked or overcooked or too salty or not salty enough. -- it's one massive batch of magical cookies! And from all those cookies, I'll pick and choose only the absolute best to feed to you guys."
im off to bake some word cookies!
Oh, yay!! Good luck, Talon! You can do it!! Bake those cookies!
Your OG 2013 magical cookies post was the first time I ever considered that I could write a novel. I’ve always been a writer who can capture these vivid curated moments but all the in between felt blergh. That works for screenplays how I was trained but I never considered maybe I could turn that to a novel despite how much I adore reading — magical cookies remains my favorite and most powerful piece of writing advice I’ve ever heard, and it’s part of the reason I write professionally in so many different formats/media these days. Cause at the heart of all the different ways we tell story really we’re just looking for the important moments that make us feel and magical cookies realized that idea for me.
Thank you for this one!! I spent a while trying to find the original magical cookies post a few months ago :D It's one of my favorite concepts. And your reminder at the end to create cookies that will get you excited about "boring" scenes is so helpful. Related but different question: Can you talk sometime about how you come up with ideas for subplots? Not how to manage subplots or what subplots should do, but how to brainstorm actual plot ideas when you know they need to do x y or z to serve the main plot, but it feels like the possibilities are infinite!