Deb Dixon's Goal, Motivation and Conflict

I love spreading the news about good books--and right now, I'm not talking about Jesus. Although that would be a good topic too, it's really not the topic of my blog. No, today, I want to share with you the book Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon. Deb Dixon is fairly famous in romance writer circles, for both her book and her workshops.

At the very first writing conference I ever attended, her workshop was not only packed, but it was scheduled for two hours, when most were scheduled for one. And two hours wasn't long enough. It's my understanding that she often presents day-long workshops. At this one, it seemed like she really hadn't figured out what to cut out, so she talked really fast. Still, it was a good workshop.

However, the book, Goal, Motivation and Conflict, allows you to slow down and think about your own work while reading it. In fact, if you're me, you put the book down and go fix something in your script. Actually, I haven't fixed it completely--but I've highlighted a problem and plan to fix it in re-writes. But I've been given a little insight into what was stopping me on my young adult novel. I've had the plot in my head for months and months, but I haven't been writing a lot. And I've been dissatisfied with what I've written. The pace is great, the emotions are conveyed, but it is so meandering. Each scene really isn't going any place. I think that with the help of GMC, I can cure that problem and really end up with a novel instead of a lot of unconnected scenes.

I also think that it will help me with my chapter breaks--which is a problem that I only faced recently. I have no idea where my chapters should end, so I seem to be writing a one chapter book. A really really long chapter. But this clearly written tome is helping me with a lot of writing problems.