Plunge Right In... Into Your Story, That Is! by Rekha Ambardar One of the things you're required to do when taking swimming lessons is to jump in at the deep end of the pool, dive under water smoothly, and rise up to the surface. For most swimmers, diving under the water and then swimming to the surface poses hardly any problem; it's the jump at the deep end that unnerves one. Most of us prefer to ease in unobtrusively from any other area of the pool and loiter at the deep end, pretending that we did jump in. Somehow, this tendency of easing into the pool is the analogy that compares with the fictional technique of beginning storytellers -- an absolute no-no in fiction writing. Begin with Action In my short mystery story, "A Message from Beyond," recently published by Orchard Press Mysteries, the opening scene shows the heroine, Myrna, gazing longingly at shiny brochures describing delectable spots in Italy and Spain. No matter how informative your backstory, it's the onstage action that holds the reader's interest.
Maureen Johnson Books » Blog Archive » ASK AUNTIE MJ: NOW YOU ARE JUST MAKING UP WORDS lacitedamour asked you: Is it okay for me to make up words for my novel? I have a habit of making adjectives adverbs or verbing nouns that makes the story make more sense to me, but I’m not sure if the English language allows for that. Oh lacitedamour of my heart, Here is a fact that people love to pull out at parties*: Shakespeare is credited with adding 2,000 words to the English language. Did you know that? And yes, English allows for the making up of words. Which is to say this: yes, you CAN make up words. However, weird is often good. So there is no answer for this. With loving frubosity, Auntie MJ * Not very good parties. Posted: Sunday, November 27th, 2011 @ 9:00 pm Categories: advice, ask mj, nanowrimo, writing.
Back to Basics: 10 Things Every Writer Should Do in Their Novel Photo: brendanovak.com The following is a guest post from bestselling author Brenda Novak. In writing about the keys to penning a hit novel, Novak reveals a valuable point: It often boils down to nailing the core storytelling basics. 10 Keys to Writing a Bestselling Novel: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. —New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Brenda Novak is the author of more than 45 books. *And speaking of that: WD is participating in this year’s auction! You’ve Got a Book in You by Elizabeth Sims Are you writing a book or novel for the first time? You might also like:
Odyssey Writing Tips Page #2 The plot forms the underlying structure of your story, and if that structure is weak, the story will be weak as well. Many times it's hard for the writer to see the underlying structure of his own story, and this makes it impossible for the writer to judge whether this structure is effective and whether it is the best possible structure for the story. One powerful method of revealing the structure of a story is to outline it. The outline reveals the bones of the story like an X-ray. Here's how to outline. Number each scene in the story. Have any conflicts been introduced? These questions all help to define the structure and nature of your plot and to reveal any weaknesses. Now go to the next scene and do the same thing. When you have outlined the entire story, look at the events described in your summaries and note where one event causes another. Now study the answers to the list of questions for all your scenes. Now go try your hand at it!
Maureen Johnson Books » Blog Archive » AUNTIE MJ’S INTERNET SCHOOL There’s been a lot on the Internet in this last week about publishing. The big news a few days ago was the exposure of the fact that authors (primarily self-published) can buy reviews.*Many people were shocked and horrified. Some shrugged. I happen to think this is largely a good thing, and am pretty excited about the worlds self-publishing will open. @MeFlyRocket Are there different rules for different author types, eg published, self published, aspiring / blogger etc? There are no rules at all, for anyone. I will put a disclaimer like this in every post in this SERIES. Q: I’m a self-published author. I’m going to say something now that’s going to sound really harsh, but it’s meant to be helpful. No one owes you anything Just because you write something doesn’t mean that anyone has to read it. I am not talking just to you. In terms of sending links to authors, with read/RT requests: a). b). c). d). Totally harsh sounding, right? So what is interesting? 1. Why are you online? 2. 3. 4. 5.
Brent Weeks | 1. General Writing Advice a. Tips b. Outlining c. d. I.When is Enough, Enough? e. f. g. I. II. III. IV. h. i. a. i. I know a guy who hated even the thought of writing until he was 40, and since then he’s worked for Hollywood and written TV shows, movies, and novels. ii. b. i. Here’s the thing I do. You might find the book goes in a different direction than you thought it would. c. i. The first thing is to write the book. ii. I think Writer’s Block hits when you have either a lack of confidence in yourself, or in the story. See? d. As it so happens, as I write this, I’m deep into the process of editing, so this has been on my brain a lot. First, if you want to be a pro, act like a pro. If you’ve written the first draft, you’ve done something that thousands of people who say they want to be writers will never do. Done? Before, you had nothing. Re-read your book. When you see all the problems laid out in front of you in an honest fashion, you may despair. Have some faith in yourself. Then go back and fix. Done yet?
no whitespace - writers' cheatsheet How to Write a Novel Redux It has come to my attention that many readers of my post on how to write a novel are under the misapprehension that it is a description of how I write novels. It is not. It wasn’t even an accurate description of how I wrote them back when I wrote it. The novel I’m writing now makes no use of a spreadsheet, I did not borrow the plot for it, and the first sentence does not begin with “the” or “once upon a time”. I wrote the how-to-write-a-novel post for two reasons: I thought it would be funny. Personally, pretty much every novel I’ve written has been produced differently from the previous one. The novel I’m writing right now is the first one I’ve written with Scrivener and that’s making a huge difference to how I’m writing it. I’m sure there are people who write each novel in the exact same way but most of the writers I know say they find each one different and have to figure out how to write it as they go. I am the same.
The 5 Biggest Fiction Writing Mistakes (& How to Fix Them) Take advantage of our Instructor of the Month deal and get all of James Scott Bell’s bestselling books on writing (and more) for one heavily discounted price. Order Now >> The best fiction writers write like they’re in love—and edit like they’re in charge. First drafting should be a wild and wonderful ride, full of discovery, dreams and promises. Having reviewed hundreds of manuscripts over the years, I’ve identified the five mistakes that most regularly turn up. 1. Chief among the most common problems, in first chapters especially, are scenes presenting characters who are perfectly happy in their ordinary worlds. But readers actually engage with plot via trouble, threat, change or challenge. Seconds before our truck slams into the tree, I remember the first time I tried to save a life. Or it can be something quieter, a single item that is off kilter, as in the opening of Sarah Pekkanen’s The Opposite of Me: Lights were never on this early. I decided this was too happy. “Oops,” Stan said.
Story Structure & Plot - Novel Writing Tips Conflict and Character within Story Structure The Basic Three Act Structure The simplest building blocks of a good story are found in the Three Act Structure. In the Beginning you introduce the reader to the setting, the characters and the situation (conflict) they find themselves in and their goal.