3 Secrets to Not Getting Discouraged as a Blogger. Using The 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy To Build Tension In Your Novel | Jenny Hansen's Blog. Several days back, I did a post on Sexting and questioned whether all this “virtual intimacy” between couples would change the “Levels of Intimacy” chart I use in my writing. I had several writers ask me about it in the comments section so I’m bringing it to you on this fine Techie Tuesday. I first learned about the 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy from Linda Howard, who used to give a very popular talk on the subject based on the work of Desmond Morris, Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist’s Classic Study of Human Intimacy.
On the downside, Linda gave her last edition of this talk to our RWA chapter in 2010. On the upside, Linda has spoken to enough writers that I was able to Google and find a great post on the topic by one of my online pals, Terry O’Dell. I’ll give the stages and my thoughts here but if you want a more detailed description of how to use the 12 Stages in writing romance, skip on over to Terry’s blog and read her wonderful post called the 12 Steps To Intimacy. :-) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 4 Ways Inspiration Helps You Beat Writer’s Block.
My best day ever of writing happened not at a retreat but while riding an elephant through Thailand’s Um Phang province. A nasty case of writer’s block had bogged me down midway through my novel-in-progress. But as I swayed through the jungle on vacation, I experienced a sudden burst of illumination and practically finished the story in my head. Such moments of creative clarity happen to most writers at one time or another. But why—why hadn’t this breakthrough occurred during the countless hours I’d spent sweating over my keyboard, struggling to shape plot and dialogue by brute force? Because I’d been thinking too hard, according to Rex Jung, a principal investigator at The Mind Research Network in Albuquerque, N.M. Creative bursts, Jung says, occur when discrete bits of information stored in our brains connect along new pathways.
A growing body of research in neuroscience, psychology and even business supports this laid-back approach to innovation. 1. 2. 3. 4. You might also like: Why novellas are like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups — by Kait Nolan | Book-Addicts.com. 25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters. As storyteller, you are god. And to be frank, you’re not a particularly nice god — at least, not if you want your story to resonate with readers.
A good storyteller is a crass and callous deity who treats the characters under his watchful eye like a series of troubled butt-puppets. From this essential conflict — storyteller versus character — a story is born. (After all, that’s what a plot truly is: a character who strives to get above all the shit the storyteller dumps on his fool head.) Put differently, as a storyteller it’s your job to be a dick.
It’s your job to fuck endlessly with the characters twisting beneath your thumb. And here’s 25 ways for you to do just that. 1. Gods have avatars, mortal or semi-mortal beings that exist on earth to embody the deity’s agenda. 2. The audience and the character must know the stakes on the table — “If you don’t win this poker game, your grandmother will lose her beloved pet orangutan, Orange Julius.” 3. 4. 5. 6. This one? 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.