Establishing the Right Point of View Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid "Stepping Out of Character" by Marg Gilks Return to Characters, Viewpoint, and Names · Print/Mobile-Friendly Version "Dalquist was shaking with rage, tears streaking down her face. 'Get out,' she whispered. Then she lunged for the other woman, shrieking, 'Get out! Yikes! If you can see what's wrong with this excerpt, congratulations. What's wrong with the above excerpt? Paragraph one is ambiguous. Every scene should have only one POV character, and everything must be filtered through that POV character's perceptions. But, isn't it so much easier just to tell the reader what character X is thinking, rather than trying to show it in ways the POV character (and thus, the reader) can see and understand? Let's look at that again, and we'll see a hint: isn't it so much easier just to tell the reader what character X is thinking, rather than trying to show it in ways the POV character can see and understand? Yup: "show, don't tell."
The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help You Bring Your Settings to Life The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help You Bring Your Settings to Life by Anne Marble Return to Setting & Description · Print/Mobile-Friendly Version Description is something that gets in the way of many authors. Why? Well, because it's so darn hard to write. And no wonder. If you're not very accomplished at writing description, then sometimes you might want to avoid writing it. At the same time, some writers err in the other direction, including too much description. How bad is bad description? Avoid Huge Lumps of Description In the past, authors could get away with including long, detailed descriptions in their stories. Unless they're seeking out writers known for lyrical descriptive passages, today's readers wouldn't put up with that sort of thing. Of course there are authors who, even in today's marketplace, can get away with pages and pages of description. Make Description an Active Part of the Story How did I come up with that line? Describe What Your Characters Would Notice
Story Generator Stories This is a satire. The story is about a disloyal ranger who is stalked by a paladin. This is a pure action story. The story is about a naive CFO, a wizard, a fire fighter, and a focused stylist. This is an escape-from-prison story with an emphasis on the need for self-expression. This is a story about family. This is a tale about alienation and how the invention of man can destroy him. This is an odd-couple-teams-up story. This is a natural disaster with an emphasis on man's need for freedom. This is a horror/drama with a strong theme of trust. This is a tale about the dangers of self-expression.
Fantasy Writing Prompts | L.B. Gale One of the best things that writers can do to exercise their mental and creative muscles is to play around with writing prompts. I don’t often see prompts that are focused on fantasy (or speculative fiction), so I thought that this would be a good place to try it out. Not that the below ideas can’t be applied to any writing genre, but I’ve written them with fantasy in mind. What I’m going to use here is a method that I’ve seen done during my time as an educator, which is to use movie trailers as the basis for the writing prompt. Fantasy Writing Prompt #1: Trailer Visuals First let me begin by explaining what this writing prompt is not. If I were to just tell you to watch this trailer and use it as a prompt to get an idea for your own story, then you would likely end up with an idea that is as derivative as most fantasy novels in the post-Tolkien era. Story Idea #1: Let’s go with a Science-Fiction route. Story Idea #2: Let’s go more fairy tale. Watch this trailer: More Ideas/Sources:
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. Magical World Builder By, Stephanie Cottrell Bryant <map name="admap78618" id="admap78618"><area href=" shape="rect" coords="0,0,468,60" title="" alt="" target="_blank" /></map><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width:468px;border-style:none;background-color:#ffffff;"><tr><td><img src=" style="width:468px;height:60px;border-style:none;" usemap="#admap78618" alt="" /></td></tr><tr><td style="background-color:#ffffff;" colspan="1"><center><a style="font-size:10px;color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;font-family:Tahoma, verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;text-transform: none;letter-spacing:normal;text-shadow:none;white-space:normal;word-spacing:normal;" href=" target="_blank">Ads by Project Wonderful! The Magical World Builder's Guide is a tool for creating a fantasy universe.
Online - Thirty Tools for Writers [Author’s note: Of the many things I’ve written for the Poynter website, none has been as popular as my "Twenty Tools for Writers." This list has been quoted, cited, praised, debated, and repurposed by writers, editors, teachers, and other professionals who care about the craft. That folks find these tools useful gives me courage. As you can see, I’m very impressed with myself. At times it helps to think of writing as carpentry. Below is a list of 30 writing and revising tools. Sentences and Paragraphs 1. 2. 3. 4. Language 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. Effects 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Structure 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. The Writing Life 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. This list contains tools, not rules. Tags: Writing tips and techniques
Writing Prompts 101 By Simon Kewin Even if you are not a professional writer you probably already heard about writing prompts. They represent a very effective tool for any writing project, so it’s a good idea to know how to use them. What Is A Writing Prompt? If you’re a fiction writer, you may want to consider using writing prompts to kick-start your creativity. A writing prompt is simply a topic around which you start jotting down ideas. You may just come up with rough, disjointed notes or you may end up with something more polished and complete, a scene or even a complete story. Here are four good reasons for writing to prompts : Sometimes it’s hard to start writing when faced with a blank page. Examples of Writing Prompts The following are twenty writing prompts that you could use to spark your imagination. It was the first snowfall of the year. Where To Find Writing Prompts Online The internet is a wonderful source of writing prompts. How To Make Your Own Writing Prompts
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 Creating the Perfect Setting - Part I It was a dark and stormy night... This is one of the most ridiculed openings, not because once upon a time it didn't work, but because too many people have written their own version of it. And yet setting, the weather, landscape, the opening scene, can often lay out the feel and tone of a book brilliantly, and create an instant context, often a time-stamp, a fixed point which helps the reader find the correct emotional stance to absorb the work. The first I heard of the beach was in Bangkok, on the Khao San Road. Khao San Road was backpacker land. Note here that we don't just get setting but also information, some explicit, but a lot implicit. As David Lodge pointed out in The Art of Fiction, a distinctive sense of place was not always a feature of prose fiction. Unfortunately, the first thing some writers did was to overwhelm the reader with masses of descriptive detail, often using description only as a warm-up to the rest of the book. Fog everywhere. Writers have to think of setting.
Fantasy writing tips, how to write a fantasy novel, creative wri Sign up to my mailing list, and choose a FREE EBOOK as a gift. Join here. A Creative Writing Ebook AVAILABLE NOW from $0.99 Mythical Creatures List, Mythical Creatures A-Z 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
Creating a Believable World By Sharon Caseburg One of the greatest difficulties Speculative Fiction authors experience when writing stories in this genre is in their ability to provide a believable environment for their readers. Any kind of speculative fiction, whether it be hard-core Science Fiction, Time Travel, Horror, or Fantasy requires readers to put aside the conventions they have become accustomed to in the “real world” for the world the author presents in the story. This of course holds true for speculative romance stories as well. For the most part, readers of these genres are more than willing to put aside the customs of the world they live in, for the environment the author has created. However, when the author does not provide a believable realm, readers can easily become disenchanted with both the author’s world and in turn, the story itself. Basically, this translates to the more the author knows about the world he or she is creating, the more confidently the author can write about it.