World Building 101 World Building 101 by Lee Masterson You are the ultimate creator of your fictional world. No matter where or when your story is set, regardless of what events unfold, and despite the characters you introduce to your readers, they are all products of your unique imagination. "But I write romance set in the present time," I hear you cry. It doesn't matter whether your story is set in 16th century Middle Europe, or the 28th century Altarian star-system, your story still belongs in a world created entirely by you. The good news is you still get your chance to put on your megalomaniac's hat and play God! Regardless of where (or when) your story is set, YOU have decided your characters' destinies for them. But there's a whole lot more to world-building than simply creating a nice backdrop for your characters to parade against. In short, the fictional world your characters live in must seem plausible to your readers. Ask yourself these things about your characters and your story: -
It's Not What They Say... by Mary Cook In fiction writing it's the dialogue that lifts your characters off the page. You must ensure your writing is strong enough for the task. It's not what they say; it's the way they say it Speech has a natural rhythm, like music. Try reading aloud some dialogue from a novel or short story, tapping out the rhythm as you go. You can tell a lot about a character by his verbal mannerisms. One person might use "you know" a great deal, while another opens nearly every sentence with "Well". Punctuation is almost as important as the words. Punctuation is also important from a style point of view. Don't use the exclamation point too freely. You can learn a lot about realistic dialogue by eavesdropping on other people's conversations. Don't be tempted to write with a regional accent by introducing strange spellings. Anyone who has read Somerset Maugham's Liza of Lambeth will know what I mean. It's not what they say; it's whom they say it to It's not what they say; it's what they don't say
Quick Story Idea Generator Stories The theme of this story: dark quest. The main characters: unbalanced hero and humble secret agent. The theme of this story: light-hearted horror. The theme of this story: metaphorical adventure. The theme of this story: noir slice-of-life. The theme of this story: parody revenge. The theme of this story: serious adventure. The theme of this story: surreal romance. The theme of this story: wacky slice-of-life. The theme of this story: weird revenge. The theme of this story: weird thriller. Handling a Cast of Thousands - Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters by Will Greenway Few writing challenges are greater than doing justice to a large cast of characters in a novel or story. In fact, the difference between simply doing them justice and handling them well is a significant level of effort in itself. Sadly, this is one of those writer conundrums that is often best resolved with a "Don't do that if it hurts" solution. If having too many characters is causing a headache -- then don't have so many characters! Getting a grip on your cast Cast members are reoccurring characters who are pivotal to your story. Aside from your main cast, there will be supporting roles, and often dozens of walk-on or cameo characters. Least significant, but always necessary, are walk-ons and cameos. Because of the limited time these characters spend in the frame, writers tend to make them more exotic, giving them odd quirks or ticks in order to make them interesting. Beware of "extras" with aspirations of star status. Casting couch -- criteria for success Read More:
Random Book Title Generator Hit a button to share with your friends Brought to You in League With... Leave a message for ANY other driver in the world, check your messages too! So funnny you'll ROFL, maybe PYP The best Comedic Wit in the world Put on your 3D Glasses & freak out! Random Movie Plot Script Generator Eye & Brain Melting Optical Illusions Your IP Address, spoken for the lazy Virtual Reality 3D Face Generator Other Sites & Ppl We Like Ripper's Oculus RiftVideo of the DaySausage DoggieNissan Figaro BlogUK Thunderstorm DetectorUK Bank Holiday DatesToy RayGun CollectorCool GadgetsUKDad Ukulele BlogWebcam DatabaseBaby Name DatabasaeHairyfriend Pet InfoBy Penny - jewellery from photos Web Resources for Developing Characters When developing characters, many writers use personality traits that they see in themselves and in others, such as friends, family and celebrities. A new source of material and information that can help you develop characters is the Internet. The Internet offers some unique resources for character development, such as psychological testing websites, baby name databases and other reference sites and databases. These websites certainly weren't created for writers developing characters; nevertheless, these site are extremely useful for writers. This article will help you locate some of these useful resources, and give you some tips about how you can use them to develop your own characters. Psychological Resources Psychological websites can help writers learn the underlying principles of behavior that motivate or cause people to act as they do. Biography Resources Biography resources can be a great help to writers. Naming Characters Other Resources Developing Characters
Setting of a story — The Writer’s Craft The following exercises will allow you to create a rich, vibrant setting of a story, giving the reader the full vicarious experience. 1. Use the setting worksheet we have provided. Sit in a quiet place, close your eyes and imagine a particular setting for your scene. Using all of your senses visualize or experience everything that you see, hear, smell, taste, or touch. Make notes in the appropriate boxes. 2. You can do this in any setting-—the mall, the grocery store, a bar, a city street. 3. 4. 5. 6. Character ExercisesCreative Writing Exercises
Tami Cowden | Author I am happy to say that The Complete Writers’ Guide to Heroes and Heroines is now available on Kindle! And even better – so is Fallen Heroes: Sixteen Master Villain Archetypes! What are the Sixteen Master Archetypes? The word "archetype" was coined by Carl Jung, who theorized that humans have a collective unconscious, "deposits of the constantly repeated experiences of humanity.... a kind of readiness to reproduce over and over again the same or similar mythical ideas...." This shared memory of experiences has resulted in a resonance of the concepts of hero and heroine that transcends time, place and culture. The observations my coauthors and I made are that there are recurring character types who have starred in story after story, entertaining and informing the human experience for millennia. At his or her core, every well-defined hero or heroine is one of the respective archetypes. But beware when trying to decide what archetypal family to which a character belongs. Top
Writing The Perfect Scene Having trouble making the scenes in your novel work their magic? In this article, I’ll show you how to write the “perfect” scene. Maybe you think it’s impossible to write the perfect scene. After all, who can choose every word perfectly, every thought, every sentence, every paragraph? Honestly, I don’t know. But structure is pretty well understood. The Two Levels of Scene Structure A scene has two levels of structure, and only two. The large-scale structure of the sceneThe small-scale structure of the scene This may seem obvious, but by the end of this article, I hope to convince you that it’s terribly profound. Before we begin, we need to understand how we keep score. Your reader is reading your fiction because you provide him or her with a powerful emotional experience. If you fail to create these emotions in your reader, then you have failed. Large-Scale Structure of a Scene The large-scale structure of a scene is extremely simple. A Scene has the following three-part pattern:
Seven Common Character Types Seven Common Character Types by Terry W. Ervin II Fiction writers employ a variety of characters while weaving their tales. Confidante- someone in whom the central character confides, thus revealing the main character’s personality, thoughts, and intentions. Example: In a story, Melvin Sanders is a detective on the trail of a serial killer. In this example Chops is a confidante. Dynamic Character - a character which changes during the course of a story or novel. Example: Ebenezer Scrooge, in A Christmas Carol by Dickens, was very stingy with his money. In this example Ebenezer Scrooge is a dynamic character. Flat Character - a character who reveals only one, maybe two, personality traits in a story or novel, and the trait(s) do not change. Example: In a story about a friendly teacher named Sandra Smith, Louis Drud is a janitor in her building. In this example Louis Drud is a flat character. Foil - a character that is used to enhance another character through contrast. Copyright © Terry W.
75 Books Every Writer Should Read Whether you want to make writing your career or just want to know how to improve your writing so that you can pass your college courses, there is plenty of reading material out there to help you get inspired and hone your skills. Here’s a collection of titles that will instruct you on just about every aspect of writing, from the basics of grammar to marketing your completed novel, with some incredibly helpful tips from well-known writers themselves as well. Writing Basics These books address things like structure, plot, descriptions and other basic elements of any story. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers: You can improve the quality of your writing by adding a mythical quality to them with advice and insight from this book. Advice from Authors Who better to give advice on writing than those who have made a name for themselves doing it? On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King: This is widely regarded as one of the best books for any aspiring author to read.
Character Chart FAVORITES Color: Music: Food: Literature: Expressions: Book: Quote: Expletive(s) (swears): Mode of transportation: HABITS Smokes: What? How often? Drinks: What? How often? Worst bad habit? SELF-PERCEPTION One word character would use to describe self: One paragraph description of how character would describe self: What does character consider best physical characteristic? Immediate goal(s): Long range goal(s): How does character plan to accomplish goal(s)? How character react in a crisis (calm/panic/etc.)? Jewelry? Owns a computer? © (c ) copyright 1990-2011 Rebecca Sinclair ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Authors Note: I worked hard on this.
Learn How to Write a Synopsis, Quick & Easy Format Tips & Examples Once you have finished writing your novel or book, it’s time to prepare your work for the submission process. While each literary agent has their own specific guidelines, it’s useful to know how to write a synopsis. Presented by Jane Friedman, publisher and editorial director for Writer’s Digest, this OnDemand Webinar, The Dreaded Synopsis, takes you through the steps of writing a synopsis, gives helpful tips on what to include, and synopsis examples. 5 Tips on How to Write a Synopsis Before sending your book proposal out to potential literary agents, here are some suggested elements you should include while writing a synopsis: Narrative Arc. What to Avoid When Writing a Synopsis While there is no universal standard for the length of a book or novel synopsis, agents usually favor one to two pages, single-spaced. Mentioning too many characters or events.Including too much detail about plot twists and turns. The Synopsis Format Friedman gives some of the best tips for formatting a synopsis.