If you're a writer struggling to improve your craft, this book can help. It breaks down the basics of a good story and good writing. It'll also provide a few tips on how to stay motivated. There's no magical formula for instantly likable stories, but you can lay a strong foundation for a future full of writing that fulfills you. Success starts in your head. A blend of helpful tips and "chicken soup" for your writer soul.

These are NOT your typical writing prompts. I find most writing prompts too general or specific to be helpful. The ones in this book are just generic enough to spark your imagination and everyone's response will be completely different. Depending on your story idea, plot, characters and writing style, the response to the following prompts will look vastly different from another writer's. How does this work? Well, when you hit a roadblock in a particular scene, play with one of the prompts and see how your character responds, what comes out of their mouth. Then, let the other characters respond to that line. Here's an example. For the following prompt, I can have a character respond one of many ways (and I literally just came up with these as I'm writing this book summary). SAMPLE PROMPT - Ask someone to leave Now, what's the next line out of your character's mouth? Is it: -- You know what, get the hell out! -- Look, I'm tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow? I'll have Peter drive you home. -- Will you please just leave! I can't do this. I can't talk to you anymore! -- Either he goes or I go. Which will it be? See how all these are very different ways for a character to essentially ask (or try to force) another character to leave? The key is to work with the response that works best for your situation. You should have a sense of what the scene is about and your character's goals, but that's all you really need! I love these prompts. You can insert them any time you hit a wall. They always seem to get my creative juices going. Sometimes I find that I've gone on to write an entire scene and I didn't even end up keeping the lines that the prompts generated! It was enough just to get me unstuck and get my characters interacting again. I hope these prompts can help others too. If folks vote and comment to let me know that they've helped, I'll post 10 prompts per chapter for the next 10 weeks. Cheers! We'll start with a chapter and a bonus one too.

* 2017 WATTY WINNER!* Blurb: Humans are at the top of the food chain and always have been. But what if they weren't? What if another took our place and decided to raise and exploit us as we have every other animal on earth? Welcome to a world after humanity... No one is exactly certain where the sibla came from. Some say they evolved from humans long ago, slowly taking power as their numbers increased. Taller, stronger, and longer-lived, than homo sapiens it isn't too hard to imagine. Now humans must face a reality in which they are no more than animals, domesticated beasts bred for their master's various needs and hungers. Rachel Turner is only eight years old. Born in Demin, one of the last remaining free human settlements on earth, she has never been forced to face the reality of life under a sibla Master, living a carefree existence in her hidden village. Magnus Kendrick is a sibla farmer with a sizable estate on which he raises all manner of livestock, from chickens, to sheep, to...humans. He is also the man destined to purchase Rachel's life. *Warning: This book contains a certain degree of gore and disturbing themes Beautiful cover by @my_fairytale 2016 Fright Fest Gold Winner Cryptic's Choice 2017 WATTY Winner ( Story Smiths category) *All Rights Reserved