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4d •
Watch Craft Lab and P2P Power Sessions in the Classroom
I just added all the backlist of webinars from the Craft Lab and the P2P Power Sessions. If you are interested in accessing those, check out the classroom. If you are a premium member you can watch those anytime and at your own pace.
1 like • 7h
So the premium membership can be found by going to your profile, and under this community, looking at your settings, and then under membership. By upgrading, essentially you get access to some group time with either myself or Stacey (or sometimes both), and access to replays of our previous webinars, and more stuff coming soon.
7h •
Over 50 Members - Invite your Friends!
Hey everyone! We are over 50 members - super exciting for our first real week of this community. We're glad you're here. But we'd love to see more shiny author faces, so we can do more fun things, and we all have more people to learn from. So invite your friends! We'd love for them to be a part of our community too.
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2d •
Chapter titles with song quotes.
Related to my previous question. The first iteration of my novel had chapters start with quotes from songs and the lyricist's name attributed the next line down. What are the mechanics of that? Do I seek permission from the source or is an attribution enough? I removed them until I found out the legality of it.
0 likes • 1d
@Ashwini Singh true. But you can quote a few lines with attribution under fair use. You cannot use the full lyrics of the song, or the music of the song, and you need permission to use and re-print those things as part of your work. There’s a limit to the amount that you can quote, and you must always refer back to the original. My friend and I wrote a book on Star Trek and the philosophy of Star Trek so I’m very familiar about how deadly you have to handle IP that is owned by someone else especially a major label or a major Hollywood studio. But we will were able to navigate it comfortably by understanding how to deal with fair use.
1 like • 7h
@Bill O'ryan-Dempsey Tennyson may be in the public domain. I'd have to check, but using the full poem is probably not a great idea if not. As to a quote from Anais Nin, you bet. Just keep it short, just like song lyrics. Poetry is an odd thing in these cases. Err on the side of caution. You don't want to have a book that is selling well get pulled (and you possibly get sued) for using too much of one that is still under copyright without permission. Fair use is tricky law. The best idea is to stay on the conservative side of things. One to two lines of song lyrics or poetry, always point to the original work. Short quotes from authors or books? Most of the time, yes, with attribution. Anything beyond that (say if you took on the challenge of writing a book about Star Trek) you probably need to contact an attorney. For most books, the addition of complete poems or extensive quotes don't make it better and are usually not essential. My recommendation? Skip them, and if they are essential, get permission.
7h •
The Plot Dude's Rug Room
Okay, you may or may not be a student of the Plot Dude's Guide to Story course and be a part of this community. But for those students, and our VIP members, I am holding a weekly AMA in the Plot Dude's Rug Room. The kicker? You have to be a member of one of those groups to get in. The good news? For a limited time, the Plot Dude's Guide to story is at the lowest price it ever will be. Just $125. And our VIP memberships are really affordable, and offer you a whole lot of content, with more on the way. But I don't want this to be a "Troy is Selling Something" post or community. Every now and then, we'll just let you know what's out there. If you're interested, hop over to the classroom tab, and you'll find the link to Plot Dude's Guide to Story (It's not hosted on this platform, but that link will get you there). You can find out more about what the course includes, but if you have any questions about that, or what VIP membership does for you, feel free to ask. In the meantime, off to write. It's the only way to start a Monday.
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8d •
Welcome to the Writing Craft Community
I'm Troy Lambert, the Plot Dude. This space is really exciting to me, because there is nothing I like more than talking about craft and story. It's really the foundation of your author business. You need a good story before you can do anything else, and that means finishing your draft. So that's what we're all about here. Feel free to chat, peer to peer, ask questions, or even just commiserate about the writing life. It's your chance to connect with like minded authors, editors, and other members of the community for advice or just a friend to talk to. To get started, feel free to introduce yourself, and please, tell us about your pets. That's really what's important here.
1 like • 3d
@Samara Hamilton well, as you know, reverse outlining in revision is sometimes better than plotting anyway. :)
1 like • 1d
@Bennette Seaman excellent
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@troy-lambert-7677
Troy is a mystery and thriller author, editor, and book coach also known as The Plot Dude. He lives, works, and plays in the mountains of Idaho.
Active 1h ago
Joined May 6, 2026
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