::: grammarie.net ::: Creating Conflict & Sustaining Suspence Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense by Lee Masterson "Dan stood on the wet paving, his arms limp by his side, his jaw hanging in horror, as he peered through a crack in the curtains. Before him a man crept towards the figure of his wife as she lay on the sofa. "Leave my wife alone," his mind screamed silently. On the sofa his wife smiled and opened her arms invitingly. He wondered how hard it would be to murder his best friend." Did that little excerpt leave you wanting more? Conflict is the driving force behind all good fiction. Many new writers believe that adding conflict to a story is as simple as inserting violence into the plot line. Let me give you an example of writing without conflict. Dan arrived home from work. Now, tell me - would you like to see 400 more pages like this? Did you happen to notice that Dan's point of view is exactly the same in both examples? Also in the first example, I have added the hint that it is raining. Risk Empathy Raise the Stakes Rising Complications
The Mortal Immortal July 16, 1833. -- This is a memorable anniversary for me; on it I complete my three hundred and twenty-third year! The Wandering Jew? -- certainly not. More than eighteen centuries have passed over his head. In comparison with him, I am a very young Immortal. Am I, then, immortal? I will tell my story, and my reader shall judge for me. All the world has heard of Cornelius Agrippa. I was then very young -- very poor -- and very much in love. My failing steps were directed whither for two years they had every evening been attracted, -- a gently bubbling spring of pure living water, beside which lingered a dark-haired girl, whose beaming eyes were fixed on the path I was accustomed each night to tread. She often declared that she owed no duty to her new protectress equal in sanctity to that which bound us. "I am honest, if I am poor! This exclamation produced a thousand questions. "You pretend to love, and you fear to face the Devil for my sake!" A year passed away. And he slept. Death!
WritingPrompts: Prompts and motivation to create something out of nothing Akimbo Comics – Comics Everyone Can Hate - eat shit & die 164 Moonman: Actually, this guy can even point to his smashed hand or depression — he actually SEES friends, which implies still getting out of bed & still having a social life. If someone’s really really depressed, they probably don’t realize it, they probably stop socializing, and they probably don’t even get out of bed. They don’t have the motivation to pick up the phone, much less make an appointment with a doctor of any type. It’s really hard, with such low motivation to do ANYTHING AT ALL, to look at yourself and say “Wow, I’m really depressed. People who are depressed need intervention from friends, family, coworkers, professionals, etc. and our culture makes that dicey, as well as trivializing the problem as illustrated above.
National Book Awards 2014 Longlist Nominees For Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry And Young People's Literature | The Huffington Post This year’s National Book Award longlist nominees include a blend of critical darlings and fresh faces. Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award winner Louise Glück received a nod for her latest poetry collection, and the long-venerated E.O. Wilson was nominated for his nonfiction title The Meaning of Human Existence. Of the fiction nominees, two are previous National Book Award finalists, and one is a former winner. Sonorous sentences abound as well, as Richard Powers’s carefully constructed Orfeo follows a wily scientist who’s been dubbed “Biohacker Bach,” and Elizabeth McCracken’s short story collection features a tale starring a two-person folk band. Below are the nominees for the 2014 National Book Awards, in the categories of Fiction, Young People’s Literature, Poetry, and Nonfiction: 2014 Longlist for the National Book Award for Fiction: Rabih Alameddine, An Unnecessary Woman Grove Press/ Grove/Atlantic Molly Antopol, The UnAmericans W. Emily St. Maureen N. Ronald C.
If you walked the halls of Hogwarts, what complaints could be overheard from students? : AskReddit Your Family Tree Explained Download a copy here. This is you, this is your family tree and this is your family tree explained. You have parents and your parents have parents, these are your grandparents who also have parents, your great-grandparents. Keep adding parents, keep adding adding 'greats'. For every 'g' in the name there is one generation in-between you and that person. Grand parents? Continuing with the basics you have siblings and so do your parents: these are your Aunts and Uncles. Up the tree you may call these people your great aunts and uncles, but your grand parents' siblings are really your grand aunts and uncles. Now down the tree your siblings' children are your nieces and nephews -- collectively niblings -- and you are their aunt or uncle. We've gone up and we've gone down and now it's time to go sideways. When you get married, you get everyone's favorite: in-laws! It's pretty straight forward except for one case: your spouse's siblings are your siblings-in law. Simple, huh?