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  • writing classes
    • The 90-Day Novel®
    • The 90-Day Memoir®
    • The 90-Day Screenplay™
    • The Rewrite Master Class
    • The 30-Day Outline
    • Siren Tales: A Women’s Writing Workshop
    • Story Day
    • Class Calendar
  • writing resources
    • 1-on-1 coaching
    • editing services
    • books
    • videos
    • audio
    • writing challenge
    • envision
    • write on thursdays
    • other free resources
  • retreats
    • Tuscany Retreat
    • Solo Retreats
  • blog
    • How to Outline a Book
    • How to Write a Memoir
    • How to Write a Novel
    • How to Write a Screenplay
    • Story Structure
    • Character Development
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    • Writing Resources & Tools
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    • How to Publish a Book
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Blog, First-Time Novelist, General, Novel / Fiction, Resources

How to Publish a Book

Master the path to publication. Learn how to polish your manuscript, query literary agents, handle rejection, and weigh the pros of self-publishing.

Alan WattApril 7, 2026
Blog, Inspiration, Resources

Writing a Foil Character

Unlock your protagonist's depth using foil characters. Learn how to use contrast and dilemmas to highlight key traits and drive your story forward.

Alan WattApril 6, 2026
Blog, Novel / Fiction, Outline, Resources

How to Plot a Novel

Balance your character's wants and needs if you want to learn how to plot a novel by using a central dilemma to turn events into a fleshed out story.

Alan WattApril 5, 2026
Blog, Novel / Fiction, Outline, Resources, Rewriting

Book Outline: Where Do I Start?

Transform your draft with a book outline. Learn 5 proven methods to map your character’s journey, master story structure, and beat the blank page today.

Alan WattApril 4, 2026
Blog, General, Inspiration, Resources

How to Become a Better Writer

How to become a better writer? Establish a consistent routine that prioritizes showing up. Practice, rest, and refill your creative tank.

Alan WattApril 3, 2026
Blog, General, Resources, Rewriting

Filtering

Filtering will disengage any good reader. Experiment with your sentences and you can cut down on this bad habit to hook your reader.

Alan WattApril 2, 2026
Blog, Memoir, Novel / Fiction, Rewriting

Beta Readers: Finding Trusted Insight for Your Work

Beta readers help writers feel safe to fall deeper into their work. Balance the proximity that your beta readers might have to you and your work and articulate the right framework to get what you and your work need most from them.

Alan WattApril 1, 2026
Blog, Free, Outline, Resources, Screenwriting

Screenplay Structure

Screenplay structure allows a writer to investigate their characters and theme and get to the heart of where they exist in story.

Alan WattMarch 31, 2026
Blog, Resources, Screenwriting

How to Sell Your Screenplay

Selling your screenplay is a battle of outreach, portfolio, and simplicity. Learn how to balance your professional expectations with the heart of your work.

Alan WattMarch 30, 2026
Blog, Free, Inspiration, Novel / Fiction, Resources, Screenwriting

Satire: Turning Humor into Insight

Understand satire, a technique that allows you to smuggle truth into critiques of power by critical construction of context and story.

Alan WattMarch 29, 2026
Blog, Dilemma, General, Memoir, Novel / Fiction, Resources

Types of Conflict in Literature

The types of conflict in literature serve to force protagonists to confront their deepest fear and reveal a story's soul through the resolution of dilemma.

Alan WattMarch 28, 2026
Blog, First-Time Novelist, Free, Novel / Fiction, Resources

A Guide to Pen Names

Create a powerful tool to protect your personhood and work with a pen name, but establish it intentionally and early in your career in order to use this device of authorship cleverly.

Alan WattMarch 27, 2026
Blog, Free, General, Outline, Resources, Screenwriting

Your 6-Step Road to Character Profiles

Create a functional map of your character's psychology and goals to make stories feel authentic and make their change deeper

Alan WattMarch 26, 2026
Blog, General, Inspiration, Resources

Intertextuality

The active usage of intertextuality prevents passivity in archetype, story, and statement to give an author singular purpose through historical context.

Alan WattMarch 24, 2026
Blog, Resources, Screenwriting

The Purpose of Flat Characters

Flat characters are consistent, one-dimensional tools that provide stability and support the narrative without distracting from the main plot. By serving specific roles like providing exposition or highlighting a protagonist's growth, they prevent "character traffic jams" and keep the story’s focus where it belongs.

Alan WattMarch 21, 2026
Blog, First-Time Novelist, Novel / Fiction, Resources

How Long Does it Take to Write a Book?

"How long does it take to write a book" is a question of daily schedule. A solid outline and forward movement allows any writer to finish on time.

Alan WattMarch 20, 2026
Blog, First-Time Novelist, Novel / Fiction, Outline, Resources

The Pantser Method: Writing Without an Outline

Learn how to hone your strengths as a "pantser." Discovery-based writers often succeed with creative freedom and spontaneity, but successful narratives still require an underlying structure of character transformation to avoid losing direction.

Alan WattMarch 19, 2026
Blog, Novel / Fiction, Outline, Resources, Screenwriting

The 5 Core Stages of Freytag’s Pyramid

In this article, I explore story structure with Freytag’s Pyramid, who structures a story into five main components that allow stories to succeed.

Alan WattMarch 18, 2026
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Workshops

  • the 90-day novel®
  • the 90-day memoir®
  • the 90-day screenplay™
  • story day
  • rewrite master class
  • 30-day outline
  • siren tales: a women’s writing workshop
  • Tuscany writing retreat
  • envision: creative goal setting
  • writing challenge
  • solo/couples retreat
  • the 90-day novel®
  • the 90-day memoir®
  • the 90-day screenplay™
  • story day
  • rewrite master class
  • 30-day outline
  • siren tales: a women’s writing workshop
  • Tuscany writing retreat
  • envision: creative goal setting
  • writing challenge
  • solo/couples retreat

Creativity is your birthright. Your sole purpose is to build a body of work.

The written signature of Alan Watt, writing teacher

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alanwatt.com
  • writing classes
    • The 90-Day Novel®
    • The 90-Day Memoir®
    • The 90-Day Screenplay™
    • The Rewrite Master Class
    • The 30-Day Outline
    • Siren Tales: A Women’s Writing Workshop
    • Story Day
    • Class Calendar
  • writing resources
    • 1-on-1 coaching
    • editing services
    • books
    • videos
    • audio
    • writing challenge
    • envision
    • write on thursdays
    • other free resources
  • retreats
    • Tuscany Retreat
    • Solo Retreats
  • blog
    • How to Outline a Book
    • How to Write a Memoir
    • How to Write a Novel
    • How to Write a Screenplay
    • Story Structure
    • Character Development
    • The Writing Process
    • Writing Techniques
    • Writing Resources & Tools
    • Book Editing
    • How to Publish a Book
    • Writers on Writing
  • meet Alan
  • contact
  • log In
  • log out
  • Join Free
  • ⠀