Eva Deverell: Creative Writing Blog The Other Side of the Story The Irrefutable Algebra of Story - Storyfix.com Don’t be scared off by the implication of forthcoming mathematics. I know, writers aren’t known for their affection for numbers, but I promise you this particular story problem will be right up your alley. This post is inspired by a recent story coaching client who answered this question — What is the core dramatic arc of your story? — with this response: My story is about a woman seeking to discover her roots to find out who she really is. This answer, almost to a word, is very common. That said… it may be fine (too often it isn’t) if the context is a cocktail party or passing an acquaintance on the street, or as the first line of a premise that goes on to offer more. It is missing the dramatic heart and soul of the story itself. Which you haven’t accomplished with the answer you’ve given. Actually, that’s not accurate… make that less then 100 percent, because some agents will trash your pitch based on such an answer alone. Because, you see, “finding out who she is” is an outcome.
****WE HAVE MOVED!**** Live Write Thrive | Insights, inspiration, and practical advice for writers Blood-Red Pencil How to Plot A Novel Or Screenplay…The Fifteen Plot Spots – Your New Plotting Tool :eWritersCoach 52 Weeks of 52 Kick Ass Tools! Welcome to Week 2! As many of you may know, I am a lazy writer. I like short cuts. 15 Essential Plot Spots (Freedman, 2012) An excellent plotting tool that can be used for movies, plays, memoirs and novels. Your Story’s Logic Always be aware of the logic of your story. 1. * The Grabber: 1st page – 1st 5 pages (M or S, Usually M) Do something interesting and do it quick. 2. * Old Self in Old World: 1st Quarter of the Story. 3. 4. Struggle with the journey: The hero wonders whether or not to go on the journey or enter the new world. __________________________End ACT 1__________________________ _______________________Act 2 Begins Here_______________________5. After the hero has a goal, has walked through the door into the new world and launches himself into the journey, he will experience some small victories (initial success) or rough landing — or a little of both. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. May have new self – but the problem still exists. 13.
Believe in Your Story In March, I took a fascinating class with Gwen Hernandez on working with the software program, Scrivener . Scrivener, available from Literature and Latte, is widely touted as a totally wonderful program for writing, and while I had owned it for a while, I knew I needed guidance in fully taking advantage of its many features. The class was great. Hernandez laid out daily information in chunks that were just right to absorb and work with. WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get Scrivener is not a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get — pronounced Wizziwig) word processor. But let’s discuss the WYSIWYG question. Creating in WYSIWYG. The Compose Window of Scrivener isolates the writing in its own screen and helps you focus. Creating in Non-WYSIWYG. The relationship between layout and design and content isn’t straightforward. One big advantage of Scrivener is the ability to track metadata, or data about the data. Status. Labels, by default indicate Concepts or Chapters. Flexible?
How to Make Beta Reading Work for Us (Note: I just finished a brutal two-week revision under deadline, so rather than staying up until 4 a.m. (again), I’m recycling this guest post I wrote a couple of years ago for Anne R. Allen’s blog. Ever struggle to make readers’ interpretations of your writing match your intentions? Maybe readers come away with the wrong impression of a character. As writers, we’re so close to our stories it’s impossible for us to know how readers will interpret our words. Sounds Great! Once we have fans and readers of our published work, we might be able to find volunteers who would love a sneak peek at our stories in exchange for feedback of issues they discover. Most writers in that position exchange work with other authors in an “I’ll give you feedback if you give me feedback” beta-reading arrangement. Do Beta Readers Need to Be Familiar with Our Genre? We probably want most of our beta readers to be familiar with our genre, but it’s possible for beta readers outside our genre to be valuable too.