He Wrote She Wrote. Again.

And we’re back.

This time, the blog is called He Wrote She Wrote Again, but it’s the same two writers (Bob Mayer and Jenny Crusie) and (mostly) the same topics (see below). We’re just older, and more experienced, and a lot more tired.

The plan is that Bob and I will meet once a week to talk about some writing topic from the past, each of us posting a short (ha) essay in the chat first and then talking about it. Then we’ll edit the transcript and on Saturdays, we’ll put it up as a post on the new blog with links to the old blog. I thought we’d be arguing again, but it turns out we’ve evolved toward each other, so in the first set of posts, we’re not that far apart. (All bets are off when we get to flashbacks and prologues, but that’s not until September.)

Below is our tentative eighteen-week plan:

HE WROTE SHE WROTE AGAIN

GETTING STARTED

June 13, 2020   1.     The One Sentence Idea

June 20, 2020  2.     The Central Question & Conflict Box

June 27, 2020   3.     Outlining

CHARACTER

July 4, 2020     4.     Character: Roles, Goals, Motivations

July 11, 2020   5.     Character Arc

July 15, 2020   6.     Community and Relationships

July 25, 2020 7.     Point of View

STRUCTURE

August 1, 2020 8.  Narrative Structure, Beginnings, Endings

August 8, 2020   9.  Escalation, Expectation, Exposition

August 15, 2020 10.  Subplots

August 22, 2020 11.  Scene Structure

August 29, 2020   12.  Action Scenes: Sex and Violence

UNITY

September 5, 2020  13. Time (flashbacks, flashforwards, prologues, epilogues)

September 12, 2020 14. Setting

September 19, 2020 15. Theme and Unity

EDITING

September 26, 2020 16. Revising (Story Editing, Beta Readers)

October 3, 2020   17. The Editorial Letter, Copy Edits

CONCLUSION

October 10, 2020  18. Being a Writer

40 thoughts on “He Wrote She Wrote. Again.

      1. Without zipping off to read the article(s), my first response to “I go with the flow.” was, “So does the plumbing system in the Empire State Building, but I bet there is a very detailed blueprint for it!” Never mind. Not applicable.

  1. You’re ‘Jersey’ now! How does it feel being ‘Jersey’ instead of ‘Ohio?’

  2. Looking forward to this! I never saw the original blog. I hope it will be a good experience for both of you.

  3. It’s taken me three goes to find the small print on the WordPress link page that allows me to go to the blog without having to set up an account – just a warning to anyone else who gets confused. Look for the faint type at the top of the page to avoid getting sucked in.

    1. Thank you for that Jane, I was getting frustrated as I didn’t want to set up an account.

    2. Oh, hell. I’ve tried to fix that. Let me know if it’s still demanding things of you.

      Sorry. First day. We’re still kicking the tires.

  4. Hmmm. Half of these links force me to sign into WordPress, and then take me to my OWN blog. The other half work okay.

    It seems to be links ending with “30” that are misleading.

    Technology…

    1. I had a hard time getting to it, too. I typed the whole title into the searchbar, and it finally showed up on a sidebar, but I suspect that may be because there’s only one post so far. Hopefully I can get the “follow” option to work next time so it will go faster, and I can get email updates.

  5. Thanks to Jenny and Bob for doing this; I wasn’t on the site the first time around. I’m looking forward to next week’s post already! (and perhaps the death of Uncle Louis) And thanks, Jane, for the key to getting to the blog without signing up for WordPress.

  6. I apologize for screwing up the links. Use the first up there, although I think I fixed the second one, too.

    Argh.

    The problem is, since I’m an admin, it takes me to the right page, but since all of you have to be approved first . . .

    And I also linked to the draft page not the published page. I’m inept.

  7. We’re working the kinks out. Remember; you’re not dealing with two computer savvy people here. Although my computer at the moment is running off of solar panel. But wordpress? fuggedaboutit.

  8. I got there by following the link up top, no problem. And oh, was it worth it. Welcome back, Bob. (I missed the first go-round, so I’m loving this.)

  9. All the links are working for me with no problems.

    Thank you both for this! It was so much fun! I missed HWSW the first time, so I’m delighted to get the chance to read it now. And Bob isn’t outlining any more?!?! 0.0

    1. He will give up his spreadsheets when they pry them from his cold dead hands, so I think we can say he’s outlining. He just doesn’t start there.

      Binders. He has binders full of spreadsheets.

      1. My “story grid” is what I fill out while I’m writing. To remind me of what I’ve written. Because I can walk into the next room and forgotten what I went there for.
        As far as outlining, I research and gather information. Then basically throw all that into my brain and let it swirl around and start writing.

  10. Missed the first time and am looking forward to the present. I’ll get to it later next week.

    Have spent hurs and days reviewing paper ballots. Quick tip 1: If it says ‘vote for one’ don’t vote for 2, 3, or possibly, 4. Quick tip 2: If you check ‘write-in’, write in a name, don’t just leave it blank. (Aarg!)

    The good news is the link worked for me.

  11. I wanted to subscribe to He Wrote She Wrote Again, but I don’t see how on that site. There is no “subscribe” button anywhere there. I could use the links here with no problem though, maybe because I already have a WP account. Would you put the links here every time there is a new post there? Please. I don’t want to miss them, and I can’t rely on my own memory.

    1. Yep, I’ll post a link every Saturday.

      I’ll check with Mollie about a subscribe button, too.

  12. My adhd and I will never write a novel, nor will I be teaching writing anytime soon (or ever) but I am SO HAPPY to see this. I loved the prior books and collaboration — can not believe it was so long ago — and I am delighted for the opportunity to spend time with both of you again. Happy days are here again.

  13. Welcome back Bob, I am sure this will be a much less fraught blog for you, (you don’t have to travel with Jenny) much more relaxed 😎 no traveling. Nothing but good times ahead.

    1. The only traveling I do now is take our rescue dog, Scout, up into the Smoky Mountains and do some driving on forest roads and camping. Cool Gus stays home and lounges about, happy that the puppy is gone. I am hoping this fall to take a Jeep trip out west, but currently the pandemic doesn’t make that look possible, although it will be a camping trip. We shall see!

  14. Bob
    Just kill a few people. Then go after the killer.

    My best laugh of the week. Thank you both so much for doing this AND re-posting the old ones!

  15. LOL, I actually printed off the old blog and it’s in a binder somewhere in a closet. But, so glad this is happening again!

    ~Chelle <3

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