Spice Up Your Writing With Dialogue by Judy Cullins Does your chapter sound like a report? Does it go on and on with past tense sentences that tell, rather than show? To spice up your self help, non-fiction or fiction book and even promotional writing, you need to use much more dialogue. Why? If your aim your book at agents and publishers, the first action acquisition editors make is to find a section of dialogue. It is difficult to put just the right words into dialogue--to convey character and emotion. Tips: 1. "You can't be serious, she said in astonishment." So, show how astonished through dialogue or beat. 2. Stop using -ly verbs such as "I'm afraid it's not going well," he said grimly." Examples: Percy burst into the zoo keeper's office. "Is something wrong, sir?" "Don't you realize you're killing those poor innocent creatures, you heartless fascist? 3. You have heard about show, don't tell and all -ly forms tell. Condescending example: "I'm afraid it's not going very well, "he said grimly. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Writing Genre Fiction: Structure Chart Writing Realistic Injuries Quick Contents Introduction General remarks What's normal?Reactions to injury - including emotional reactions, fainting and shock. Introduction Characters climbing cliffs with broken arms or getting knocked out for an hour or so and then running around like nothing happened, bug me. I’m not any sort of medical expert - research for this article has come from a variety of sources from medical texts to personal experience – (I’m just a teeny bit accident prone…) I do historical reenactment and a large part of information here comes from the ‘traumatic injury’ (or ‘the nasty things that can happen to you in combat’ information we give the public and new members to make them go ‘urggh , I’m glad this isn’t for real’. Back to Quick Contents General Remarks There’s a lot of ‘relatively’ and ‘probably’ in this article because everyone reacts differently to injury. What’s Normal…? For a normal, reasonably healthy adult the following reading are ‘normal’. Pulse rate between 60-100 beats per minute.
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. Separated by Plot Points, its Act 1 (Beginning), Act 2 (Middle), and Act 3 (End) refer not to where in time in the story they lie but instead fundamental stages along the way. In the Beginning you introduce the reader to the setting, the characters and the situation (conflict) they find themselves in and their goal. Patricia C. Wrede's Worldbuilder Questions: Index Index About This Page This page is not Patricia Wrede's web site. So far as I know, she doesn't have one. So if something is broken send your comments or complaints to me: webmaster@larseighner.com. This page is not for young fans of Patricia C. This page is about creating fantasy worlds. This page (actually the many pages in this section) are derived of a number of postings Ms. Originally the questions did not have the sort-of-alphabetic arrangement I have given them here. I put the questions on the web many years ago and obtained Ms. The implications of all of that are: these pages have no connection with any software product, any building-block toys, game creation system, or any other product which uses the word "Worldbuilder" as a trademark. Index of Patricia C.
CALLIHOO Writing Idea Generators: The 37 Dramatic Situations The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations Georges Polti says that all stories boil down to just 36 dramatic situations and takeoffs of those situations. Somebody else out there added #37. If you're stuck for a situation, try this. A situation appears below randomly (in bold print). (Note: In several cases, specific gender in the original descriptions has been replaced with non-specific gender. Your situation: 29. Still stuck for plot ideas? Cosmic Thoughts | Oblique Strategies | Random Science Fiction Story Ideas How to Finish A Novel | How To's The problem with novels is that you can’t sit down in one day and complete one from start to finish. (At least I can’t. If you can, you have my undying envy.) Novels are long. So how do you get from “Once upon a time . . .” to “THE END”? These are the techniques that have worked for me. First, know how it ends. This may seem obvious — but then again, maybe not. You can simply tell yourself, “When I reach the part of this story, the heroine kills the villain with his own sword just as he’s about to kill her in front of the bound hero, and then the heroine frees the hero and they both escape from the burning building.” If it isn’t, go to the next step. Write your ending, and then write to it. You may discover, on thinking about your ending, that you can’t quite get all the little ins and outs of that climactic scene or series of scenes clear in your head. Neat, huh? But maybe you’re having trouble bridging the vast gap between your hot beginning and that elusive end. Use an outline.
The Ten Mistakes « Holt Uncensored – Pat Holt on Books, Book Publishing Industry, Reviews Like many editorial consultants, I’ve been concerned about the amount of time I’ve been spending on easy fixes that the author shouldn’t have to pay for. Sometimes the question of where to put a comma, how to use a verb or why not to repeat a word can be important, even strategic. But most of the time the author either missed that day’s grammar lesson in elementary school or is too close to the manuscript to make corrections before I see it. So the following is a list I’ll be referring to people *before* they submit anything in writing to anybody (me, agent, publisher, your mom, your boss). From email messages and front-page news in the New York Times to published books and magazine articles, the 10 ouchies listed here crop up everywhere. They’re so pernicious that even respected Internet columnists are not immune. REPEATS Just about every writer unconsciously leans on a “crutch” word.
A Simple Novel Outline – 9 questions for 25 chapters « H.E. Roulo Just as every tree is different but still recognizably a tree, every story is different but contains elements that make it a story. By defining those before you begin you clarify the scope of your work, identify your themes, and create the story you meant to write. At Norwescon 2011 I sat in on a session called Outline Your Novel in 90-minutes led by Mark Teppo. I’ll give you the brief, readable, synthesized version. Answer 9 questions and create 25 chapter titles and you’re there. Here are the 9 questions to create a novel: 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) 9.) Now, with those 9 questions answered to your satisfaction, try to fill in a 25 chapter, 75,000 word outline. Chapters 7-18 are the middle of your book. Chapters 19-25 depict the heroic act to victory. Wasn’t that easy? Okay, sure, the work isn’t done yet. Using the idea that there are 25 chapters, I outlined my current work in progress. I hope that was helpful. Tell me what works for you. Related 6 Steps to Masterful Writing Critiques
Themes & Things To Keep In Mind When Writing Fantasy Stories and Adventures « Daily Encounter This list is far from complete. It’s not even trying to be complete. It knows better than that. Feel free to make suggestions in the comments! Weather Natural: sunlight, rain, snow, hail, fog, humidity, moonlight, wind, smoke, clouds, shadows, overcast skies, clear skies, lightning, hurricanes, tornadoes, moon in sky during daytimeFantastic: summoned weather, unnatural coloration (eg. green fog) Terrain Changes Natural: sunrise, sunset, storms, seasons, earthquakes, landslides, sinkholes, animal migrations, inside vs. outside (light adaptation), plagues/famine, weathering, floods, tides, animal hunting habits & territories, volcanoes, firesArtificial: buildings, statues, roads being built & demolished; political power struggles; invasions/war; kidnappingsFantastic: divine will, powerful magic, gods (dis)appearing Landmarks After-Effects of Events Tricks Cultures Mysticism Events Unfolding Harsh Situations fatigue, hunger, thirst, extreme temperaturesenemy territories (invading?