Here is your practical summit handbook: in this guide, you can plan out your own novel in response to the techniques taught in the talks, classes, and panels. It’s nice to learn new ideas. But it’s great when you can apply those ideas to your own goals, projects, and concerns. That’s what this book is for.

Starting point Think of a book you’ve always wanted to write. Or the book you’re writing right now. Or the story you keep thinking about while you try to finish something else. Let’s see how far we can develop that book during the next few days. Writing Feel free to print this file out and write on the pages. Or type directly into the word doc version. The goal is to put words down. This book is only for you to read, but if you would like to share a page, either in our community site or by emailing me, I would love to see what you wrote. Sequencing: The book asks you one or two questions based on the lessons of each summit session. Try to watch every session mentioned here so you can fill all the pages! PS Due to time constraints and so on, not every summit session may be mentioned in this book — feel free, if a session that’s not mentioned really helped you, to add extra pages to the book, and send me a photograph. Ready? Then let’s begin.

 Joe Bunting: Pacing What’s a challenge you face with pacing? How do you try to balance exposition, dialogue, and narration? Application: think of a moment in your story that you are trying to write or re-write. How could you speed up the pace?

Paul Butler: Style for Writers How might an application of the “loose” style make your writing richer and more vivid? How might “new / known” improve your flow? Application: use of the sentences from Gideon the Ninth that Paul and Daniel discuss as a model or starting point for your next writing session. Write your own version of one of Muir’s great sentences.

Tiffany Clarke Harrison: Vivid Characters How might you inhabit your characters more deeply? What secrets in their past help to explain how they act now? Application: write a story where you focus your attention on the two main characters — their interactions, their feelings, their experiences.

Julia Brown: POV in William Trevor What’s one moment from Trevor’s work, as introduced in this session, that makes you go “wow…”? Application: can you write a version of one of Trevor’s stories set in your own location and social circle?

Jeff Elkins: Dialogue How might you create a “segment” of dialogue in your next chapter, and how would you build up to the next plot shift / twist? Application: write a chapter where almost all the drama comes from dialogue.

Novel Factory: Character Creation What’s a challenge you face creating characters? Are there any parts of Katja Kaine’s process that you tend to skip or rush through? Application: create a character using Katje’s method and add them to your current story!

Jessie Cal: How to Target Readers’ Emotions What is your plan to affect your readers’ feelings? What kind of emotions do you hope to stir up in them? Application: think of a moment in your story that you are trying to write or re-write. How could this technique help you make progress?

Lisa Zeidner: How to Pick the Right POV In the story you are writing right now, how might you fine tune the POV and narrative distance to help your readers really experience your protagonist’s thoughts and feelings? Application: imagine an unhappy married couple. What small, minor details about the other person make each partner seethe?

Savannah Gilbo: Compelling Scenes Do you draft your novel in scenes or chapters? Does the “scene” model fit with your sense of your own fiction? Application: think of a moment in your story that you are trying to write or re-write. How could this technique help you make progress?

Michael Noltemeyer: Style & Revision What advice would you have given me (Daniel) about my story? How do you like Michael’s view of style as “difference”? Application: the next time you need to revise a story, look for the moment where you really love your own writing. Start the new draft from there.

Traci Skuce: Narrative Distance If your story is currently really “close up” to your protagonist, could you write the next scene more distantly — or vice versa? Application: think of a moment in your story that you are trying to write or re-write. How could this technique help you make progress?

Don Stewart: The Cumulative Sentence How might you use Christensen’s three modes of description to flesh out a character or place in your story? Application: open your next chapter with a long, detailed cumulative sentence.

Daria White: 3D Characters Does your story have a “closed door” that prevents your characters leaving? If so, could you make that door even more closed (locked, chained up, jammed)? Application: think of a moment in your story that you are trying to write or re-write. How could this technique help you make progress?

Esther Kurtz: How Did They Write That? What are you reading right now? What are some of the techniques that writer is doing really well? Application: think of a moment in your story that you are trying to write or re-write. How could this technique help you make progress?

Addie Tsai: Dual Pov How does your protagonist / narrator compare to Addie’s two main characters in terms of confidence, directness, and ability to explain their world? Application: could you use your own background / situation / identity (identities) / as the starting point to re-tell a classic novel?