This is one of those questions that readers and writers have very different opinions about. Those who teach writing are pretty united in saying that it’s a bad idea to start a book with a dream. “But it seems so clever,” you say. “There’s that zingy moment when the character wakes up and the reader realizes that none of what she’s learned so far really happened.” Set Up for a Let Down Well, yes. But there’s also a certain element … Read More »

One of the things I love best as a reader is those books that create such a colorful sense of place that the setting becomes another character—so much so that a change in scene would change the feel of the book altogether. What would Inspector Brunetti be without Venice, right? Its geography shapes the action; its history shapes the people. Anyone who has ever visted that amazing city of water can immediately picture the ambulance taking off down the canal … Read More »

I read a lot of book manuscripts, and I’m here to tell you there are some story openers in danger of being used more often than “once upon a time.” Here are some beginnings I see quite frequently: • Character waking up • Character looking out a window and thinking about the weather • Character thinking about the setting, reviewing the objects in a room • Character thinking or saying out loud, “This isn’t happening.” • Character pondering her life, … Read More »

These thoughts are aimed at those who are writing a series, as I have been. It’s begun to feel like I’m writing the same book over and over! Why? Because the characters and their sitz im leben need to be reintroduced each time, in case (a very likely case) someone picks up Book Three without having read Books One or Two. Just how much grounding in the continuum of the series is necessary for each episode? That depends on the … Read More »

Every story needs details—it’s what helps bring it to life for the reader. Details set stories apart from one another and enable the writer to introduce seemingly insignificant nuggets that may play a major role as the story progresses. The challenge for the writer is to find the acceptable ratio of details to plot without drowning the reader in details. Let’s examine a few pitfalls and see what we can learn from them. Example: A historical fiction novel features a … Read More »

Writers create images with words, and the techniques used are called literary devices. Because of the wide variety of literary devices, we will examine them in groups. In this article, we review the literary devices used to compare and contrast. By comparing and contrasting things, the author invites the reader to see a deeper truth. Use these devices to emphasize an idea, a character, or important moment in the story. Analogy An analogy clarifies by comparison. Unlike simile and metaphor, … Read More »