Hook Your Readers With Tension Hook Your Readers With Tension By Laura Backes, Write4Kids.com Tension. Without it, life would be—let's face it—boring. So would fiction. Tension works with conflict to raise the emotional level of the text to a boiling point. "Tension" is a loaded word, and can be misleading. Tension is what hooks readers of any age and keeps them turning the pages. * The ticking clock. * Dialogue. * Pacing. * Sentence structure. Each story requires a different kind of tension. Laura Backes is the author of Best Books for Kids Who (Think They) Hate to Read from Prima/Random House. Copyright © 2002, Children's Book Insider, LLC Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Links for Writers - Word Stuff Unsorted [/writers] James Patrick Kelly - Murder Your Darlings - "When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings." Greda Vaso - Determining the Readability of a Book - includes formulas for Gunning's Fog Index, Flesch Formula, Powers Sumner Kearl L. Kip Wheeler - Literary Terms and Definitions L. Style - Grammar - Errors in English [/writers]American Heritage - Book of English Usage - free download Band-Aid AP StylebookPaul Brians - Common Errors in EnglishCJ Cherryh - Writerisms and other Sins The Chicago Manual of Style FAQ Gary N.
Copyright Website Questionnaires for Writing Character Profiles - Creative Writing Help Enter your e-mail to get the e-book for FREE. We'll also keep you informed about interesting website news. "I have searched the web and used different worksheets, but none have come close to your worksheets and descriptions of (what to do and what not to do). Both courses I have taken have with Creative Writing Now have been amazing. "As usual - I already love the course on Irresistible Fiction, rewriting a lot and improving greatly even after the first lesson. “Essentials of Fiction proved that I could indeed write and I wrote every day, much to my boyfriend's dismay (waa sniff).” - Jill Gardner "I am loving the course and the peer interaction on the blog is fantastic!!!" "I'm enjoying the weekly email course, Essentials of Poetry Writing. "Thank you for all the material in this course. "I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lessons and feel they were very helpful in introducing new ideas and perspectives to my writing. "Thanks very much for this course. "Thank you so much!!
Japanese Folktales selected and edited by D. L. Ashliman © 1998-2008 Contents Return to D. The Two Frogs Once upon a time in the country of Japan there lived two frogs, one of whom made his home in a ditch near the town of Osaka, on the sea coast, while the other dwelt in a clear little stream which ran through the city of Kyoto. So one fine morning in the spring they both set out along the road that led from Kyoto to Osaka, one from one end and the other from the other. They looked at each other for a moment without speaking, and then fell into conversation, explaining the cause of their meeting so far from their homes. "What a pity we are not bigger," said the Osaka frog; "for then we could see both towns from here, and tell if it is worth our while going on." "Oh, that is easily managed," returned the Kyoto frog. This idea pleased the Osaka frog so much that he at once jumped up and put his front paws on the shoulder of his friend, who had risen also. "Dear me!" The Mirror of Matsuyama Source: F. "Buried!"
Poewar.com: Solutions For Writers Seven Tips From Ernest Hemingway on How to Write Fiction Image by Lloyd Arnold via Wikimedia Commons Before he was a big game hunter, before he was a deep-sea fisherman, Ernest Hemingway was a craftsman who would rise very early in the morning and write. His best stories are masterpieces of the modern era, and his prose style is one of the most influential of the 20th century. Hemingway never wrote a treatise on the art of writing fiction. He did, however, leave behind a great many passages in letters, articles and books with opinions and advice on writing. Some of the best of those were assembled in 1984 by Larry W. 1: To get started, write one true sentence. Hemingway had a simple trick for overcoming writer's block. Sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. 2: Always stop for the day while you still know what will happen next. 5: Don't describe an emotion--make it.
The Tyee & Ten Novels Every Aspiring Writer Should Read TYEE LIST #9: Put down that pen and curl up with these giants. Treat your craft seriously, as does Gabriel García Márquez. Some time ago I published an article about 10 novels that aspiring writers should avoid. It wasn't because they were bad -- most of them are modern classics -- but because their readable styles looked so easy that they might seduce a young writer into imitating them. Other novels deserve reading by writers precisely because they can't be imitated. They can only show us how far a particular technique can be pushed, and it's up to us to understand and adapt that technique to our own work. Here are 10 novels that taught me something about the craft and art of fiction. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 1984, by George Orwell (1949). 9. 10. Again, I'm not suggesting imitating these novels.
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How Creative Flow is Like Sex "Writing is like making love. Don't worry about the orgasm , just concentrate on the process." That useful advice, credited to author Isabel Allende , seems like a good introduction to the idea that how you make love has commonalities with your journey toward creative expression. "When I write, I feel out of control in a lovely way," a writer told me. A popular novelist ( Carolyn See ) said it this way: "When I create, I'm not thinking. Creative blocks can be compared to sexual dysfunctions in at least one way: the earlier in the process the difficulty kicks in, the more challenging the problem, and possibly the more negative the prognosis. Methods of entering flow are as idiosyncratic as how you become sexually aroused. An elegant and memorable example was given to me by science fiction author David Gerrold when I asked him some time ago to describe his writing process: The pattern is. . . A male poet: A female poet:
36 Writing Essays by Chuck Palahniuk 1: Establishing Your Authority Chuck teaches two principal methods for building a narrative voice your readers will believe in. Discover the Heart Method and the Head Method and how to employ each to greatest effect. 2: Developing a Theme At the core of Minimalism is focusing any piece of writing to support one or two major themes. 3: Using “On-The-Body” Physical Sensation Great writing must reach both the mind and the heart of your reader, but to effectively suspend reality in favor of the fictional world, you must communicate on a physical level, as well. 4: Submerging the “I” First-person narration, for all its immediacy and power, becomes a liability if your reader can't identify with your narrator. 5: Nuts and Bolts: Hiding a Gun Sometimes called "plants and payoffs" in the language of screenwriters, Hiding a Gun is an essential skill to the writer's arsenal that university writing courses almost never touch upon. 6: Nuts and Bolts: “Thought” Verbs 8: Nuts and Bolts: Using Choruses
Timothy Hallinan - Writer's Resources Sometimes a book goes stale. This is not something you notice during one or two writing sessions. This is something that comes up again and again. Over the course of several days, maybe a week or more, it becomes progressively more difficult to summon up the enthusiasm you need to work on your book. Writing becomes drudgery. This can be serious . There are lots of reasons we can lose interest in what we're writing. If you're a new writer and you've never come up against the soul-sickening experience of losing interest in your book, let me suggest something to you. Writing is a combination of inspiration and gruntwork. So my first advice is just to keep writing. On the other hand, you may have a real problem. If you do, this is a great time for writing about your book. Grab some paper and a pen, or open a new file on your computer. Do a retroactive outline . Chances are that at some point you'll notice that some scenes are harder to synopsize than others. And who knows?
CALLIHOO Writing Helps--Feelings Table Character Feelings You can describe your character's feelings in more exact terms than just "happy" or "sad." Check these lists for the exact nuance to describe your character's intensity of feelings. SF Characters | SF Items | SF Descriptors | SF Places | SF EventsSF Jobs/Occupations | Random Emotions | Emotions List | Intensity of Feelings