12 Exercises for Improving Dialog Dialogue is one of the most difficult aspects of writing to master. There are many pitfalls to avoid. Stilted Language This is dialogue that does not sound like natural speech. Filler Dialogue This is dialogue that does not advance the scene or your understanding of the characters. Expository Dialogue This is dialogue in which the character explains the plot. Naming This occurs when one character uses another character’s name to establish identity. Overuse of Modifiers This is the overuse dialogue modifiers such as shouted, exclaimed, cried, whispered, stammered, opined, insinuated, or hedged. Exercises Write down the things you say over the course of the day. Articles about Writing Dialogue
Intro to Playwriting So, you're going to write a stage play. First, what is a play? Basically, it's a blueprint for a stage production. It's performed by actors and directed, designed, and perhaps choreographed by others. As a collaborative art, a script is the cornerstone of a production from which the actors, designers, and directors all take their cues. You've probably seen a play before, if not on stage then one that's been adapted for TV or film. If you've ever glanced at the text of a play you'll see that it's pretty much all dialogue. Since a play is intended for performance, it adheres to some "unities" because of length limitations and the confines of the stage. Characters - You're going to want some, or else those actors will be very confused when they arrive for auditions. Setting - Where and when will your play take place? Stage Direction - This can be very confusing for both novices and professionals. An important thing to know is that stage directions are not narration. Do Include:
Tips: Growing your audience - Thomas Rogers (courtesy of Robyn Gallagher.) One of our goals at Open Salon has been to help bloggers find the audiences they deserve. As the site continues to grow, we've been thrilled to see many of you do just that. Browsing through the most-viewed tabs on the cover, many of your recent posts have attracted thousands -- and tens of thousands -- of readers from around the world. Make your blog more SEO-friendly Much of the traffic to Open Salon comes from search engines like Google or Yahoo, when your posts appear in search results. The easiest way to rank higher in search results is to include in your blog post “keywords," or popular search terms. Give your post a title that tells readers exactly what you're writing about. An easy way to find a very big audience, very quickly, is to become popular on a social bookmarking site like Reddit, Digg, Delicious, or Stumbleupon, (all located in the tool bar at the top of each Open Salon post). • Get linked:
StoryBlog: 7 Ways to Trick Your Inner Editor Facebook offers a free platform to market your business to a wider audience. Millions of people frequent facebook daily to either connect with their friends or their favourite brand. But to successfully market your business on facebook there are important things to do to ensure you are doing things right to avoid harming your business. For success in facebook marketing you need to not only set up a page and invite followers but you need to engage with them. Setting Up Your Facebook Business Profile Before anything else, the first thing you need to do is to set up a great profile. You could also build them manually. Logos that stand out to represent what your business is all about, Photos and descriptions of your products or the services you offer. A pre-written description for the “About” section with the right keywords used smartly throughout. For example if your business is about say plumbing, you should have the phrases related to plumbing to attract potential customers
Fundamentals of Fiction: Writers Write! by Marg Gilks "Practice is the best of all instructors." -- Publilius Syrus, Syrian-born Roman author, c. 100 BC A writer writes. And writes. And writes. But what is writing? Well, before you can do anything, you have to have an idea, even a glimmering of an idea. Thinking an idea into a story doesn't have to be conscious work. When you do start jotting things down, you may be surprised to find that the simple act of putting pen to paper seems to act as a conduit -- more and more flows from your mind onto the paper. "Ah," you think then, "the moment of truth. "But I don't know how to begin the story yet," you protest. Still feeling intimidated? Should you write every day? Okay, so you've written something; you've finished that first draft. Nope. What? An inevitable part of writing is revision. "The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon," said author Robert Cormier. Writing is thinking, writing, and revising.
World Building World Building is fun. It can also be a nightmare. How can one person possibly create an entire world? Templates Below are some awesome sites with amazing details about each characteristic of World Building. SFWA: Fantasy World Building QuestionsCreating Fantasy and Science Fiction WorldsConsider WorldbuildingBerley’s Top 10 World Building Tips for Sci Fi or FantasyInkwell Ideas: Worldbuilding: Local Area DesignSquidoo: Fantasy Worldbuilding Resources Darkness/Dark-side Defined (Physical and Psychological) For some reason, I've always been facinatd by darkness. Dictionary.com: DarknessMerriam-Webster: DarknessEssential Secrets of Psychology: "What is the Shadow?" Characters, Creatures & Powers Most dark fantasy stories have some sort of non-human character. Setting I'm a visual person. Government Your world will have a governing body (maybe more than one).
25 Things Every Writer Should Know An alternate title for this post might be, “Things I Think About Writing,” which is to say, these are random snidbits (snippets + tidbits) of beliefs I hold about what it takes to be a writer. I hesitate to say that any of this is exactly Zen (oh how often we as a culture misuse the term “Zen” — like, “Whoa, that tapestry is so cool, it’s really Zen“), but it certainly favors a sharper, shorter style than the blathering wordsplosions I tend to rely on in my day-to-day writing posts. Anyway. Peruse these. Absorb them into your body. Let your colonic flora digest them and feed them through your bloodstream to the little goblin-man that pilots you. Feel free to disagree with any of these; these are not immutable laws. Buckle up. 1. The Internet is 55% porn, and 45% writers. 2. A lot of writers try to skip over the basics and leap fully-formed out of their own head-wombs. 3. 4. I have been writing professionally for a lucky-despite-the-number 13 years. 5. Luck matters. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
How to Build a Stockpile of Good Writing Ideas Returning to old scraps of writing is one of the best ways to cure writer’s block Not every idea that strikes is going to immediately turn into the beginnings of a novel, story, or poem; sometimes an idea is just a lonely little thing that lives underground for 17 years before… oh wait, that’s the cicada. But not unlike those weird little bugs, ideas can take a long while to come of age. You never know when something you thought up months or years ago will fit itself perfectly — almost accidentally — into your latest work-in-progress, or rub against another idea and spark. That’s why it’s important to write everything down: the brilliant lines, the half-baked notions, and that nonsense you scribbled on a sticky-note after a dream. Gather the seeds. Scraps of ideas can come from anywhere. Write ’em all down — as if you were a naturalist taking notes in the field (only YOU are the subject). But how do you build your stockpile of ideas? 1) You never know when or where an idea will strike —
Works like a charm Jake Arnott: my grandmother the dancer This picture has followed me around for the past decade and a half. I've hung it in the kitchen of wherever I lived. Maybe because I remember her cooking, fixing an early evening gin and tonic, telling stories. Tuesday, February 1 Complet, sandwich Wednesday, February 2 Bain Thursday, February 3 No bath, complet Friday, February 4 No bath Saturday, February 5 Complet, bain Sunday, February 6 1 cafe complet, 4 chocolates, 6 biscuits Monday, February 7 Bath, 2 pommes, 2 biscuits Tuesday, February 8 3 chocolates, 1 apple, 2 biscuits Sunday, February 13 Danced but sat precariously on 1 ladder Monday, February 14 Complet, bain, fell through ladder Tuesday, February 15 Complet, fell through ladder, made resolve not to eat chocolates, bought jumper. One hopes that she was eating a little more than she recorded, but you know what dancers are like. Jonathan Franzen: a squeaky chair David Guterson: driving Jay McInerney: an axe in my hand Nicholson Baker: earplugs
The Pickpocket’s Tale Photo Wilfred Rose, 58, spent a career studying the pants pockets of New Yorkers, always on the lookout for “a nice stiff wallet” full of cash, or better yet, the fainter outline of a dozen folded bills. When he describes sizing up a promising mark, his eyes stop blinking and he leans forward. “When they are wearing a suit, or nice pants, you can visualize it,” said Mr. Rose, whom detectives describe as one of the city’s craftiest pickpockets. “You know when it’s there.” For years, Mr. There was the time, nearly 20 years ago when the heavyweight bout at Madison Square Garden devolved into a riot, brawls erupting in the ring and the stands. Then there are times when he stole with kindness. Then there was the time, he claims, that he decided to show off after spotting an off-duty sergeant, a renowned chaser of pickpockets, on his way to Yankee Stadium. But that was a long time ago. And pickpockets like Mr. Mr. Some of the thieves have a shtick. Mr. While some details of Mr. Mr. Mr. But Mr.
Culture - Michael Morpurgo on how to write for children Michael Morpurgo is one of England’s best-loved children’s writers. He discusses his fascination with historical subjects and how he writes for children with Razia Iqbal. Michael Morpurgo has written over 100 books, the most famous of which,War Horse (1982), has since become an award-winning and hugely successful stage play. Morpurgo has won several prizes, including the Whitbread Award. He talks with Razia Iqbal about preserving traditional values, the importance of historical accuracy in his novels, and how to tackle serious and disturbing subjects when writing for children. Writing Fiction: Symbolism and All That Maybe you never got anything out of your literature courses except a strong dislike for “analyzing a story to death.” Sometimes the symbolic interpretation of a story or poem can seem pretty far-fetched. Nevertheless, as soon as you start writing, you start writing on some kind of symbolic level. Maybe you’re not conscious of it, but it’s there: in your characters, their actions, the setting, and the images. You may argue that your writing simply comes out of your own life and experience, and has nothing to do with “literary” writing. What you write is really a kind of commentary on everything you’ve read so far in your life. This is not the place for a long discussion of the theory of fiction. To paraphrase Frye very crudely, every story is about a search for identity. A tragic story shows a person who moves from a socially integrated position (the Prince of Denmark, the King of Thebes) to a socially isolated one (a dead prince, a blind beggar). Questions?
How to Write a Symbolic Story Create your own symbols and your own cosmology and apply this to your story. As the storyteller you are essentially God to your creation, and the symbols you create hold whatever meaning you choose to apply to it. This is something that you may not feel confident enough to do at first, depending on how much writing you do, but you hold all the cards when you are telling a story and this is empowering. As your confidence builds so to can your cosmology. The 18th century English poet and painter William Blake, famous for his distinctive body of work, created his own cosmology and helped to define the Romantic era.