When I go to the grocery store, I like to have a list in hand. It helps me stay on track and (most of the time) keeps me from veering off into the chip/snack/candy aisle for something I don’t really need. That being said, I like to give myself the freedom to explore the “off list” aisles for new and interesting things that may or may not find their way into my cart. When I thought about the process of … Read More »
My blog today is addressed mainly to those of my colleagues who are writing a series or a trilogy, and it’s probably something you already know, but a reminder never hurts. You’ve started off your series with a great book that plunged us immediately into the time and place. Something spectacular has happened to start a chain reaction that will play out over the next few volumes. And finally, you stuck your ending, and readers are breathing heavily and saying, … Read More »
In Stephen King’s no-nonsense guide, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, he includes a chapter titled, “What Writing Is.” Good question. Probably many good answers. King’s answer? It’s “Telepathy, of course.” He elucidates: when we write, we’re simply sending, by way of words, our thoughts into readers’ minds. That’s our aim—to transfer in an interesting, provocative, entertaining, informative, well-structured, and compelling way what is alive in our minds without confusing our readers. Clear telepathy We want no static to … Read More »
You’ve heard it before: Scenes are the building blocks of story. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But it isn’t. Those blocks have complexity.Scenes are stories within the story and charged with energy. Whole books are written about how to write effective scenes, and we can spend our whole lives learning to write better and better ones. But here’s something for starters: Ten things to know about writing scenes. A scene is a small story. It has a clear beginning, middle, and … Read More »
Tears sell books. It’s true. I don’t have any stats or evidence to prove this, but it’s just one of those fundamental truths. When we dive into a book, we want to explore the reality conveyed in that book, to become part of the story. This involves emotional involvement and without it, books get put down. Creating emotional impact is arguably the single most important, and perhaps most difficult, aspect to writing fiction. Without it, the story is doomed from … Read More »
Write what you know. That is one of the clichés drilled in our heads as writers from day one. Interesting concept until you start asking questions. Like, so, do authors of serial killer novels… kill people? Are romance novelists the epitome of lovemaking? Did writers of kids books ever grow up? Sure, those are silly questions, but when we get down to it, how connected are we to our creations? And more importantly, to our characters? Is your protagonist someone … Read More »