Writing Craft
Nail That First Line!
I just taught a class on Beginning Pages recently, so I’ve been thinking a lot about first lines. Stephen King had something to say about the magnitude of a novel’s first line: “An opening line should invite the reader to begin the story,” he said. “It should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about…
Read MoreMotifs and Symbols and Themes – Oh My!
I love almost all literary devices, but the three in this post’s title are my favorites. I’m sure you heard of them, and have probably used them in your writing, but you may not know the definitions, so here they are: Motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance in a story. Through its repetition,…
Read MoreThe Most Important Edit No One Talks About
Everyone knows what I call the 10,000 foot edit – it’s the content/developmental edit – it’s looking at your story from a plane, to spot the plot mountains and canyons that need to be fixed. Genre no-no’s? Unsatisfying ending? That night with the weasel scene? Everyone knows about ground level edits – copy/line/stylistic edits that…
Read MoreKeeping a Secret – A Great Backstory Technique
Readers are smart. Smarter than we authors give them credit for. They get where we’re going way before we think they do. I think that’s why it’s so hard to give them an ending that will shock them. I mean, think of the books you’ve read. How often have you been truly stunned by a…
Read MoreOrganize Your Novel with Excel
By Laura Drake We’ve talked about it in other posts. How learning your writing process is finding your way in a pitch black room, full of furniture. You can learn by banging your shins, but there are less painful ways. Hopefully, this post will help. I’m an organized person, and it would make me crazy…
Read MoreHow to Tweak an Unlikeable Character
I admit, odd people fascinate me. The marginal personalities, the walking damaged, the wierdos. When I look back in my life, it seems I’m the Pied Piper of The Quirky (Or maybe it just takes one to know one ;)) They show up in my novels often. I’ve written a New York fashionista transplanted in…
Read MoreCadence – Writer’s Glue
What is Cadence? To me, it’s Like Porn, in that it’s not easy to define, but I know it when I see it. Webster did manage to define it though (which makes me want to look up ‘porn’): The beat, rate, or measure of any rhythmic movement A slight falling in pitch of the…
Read MoreAdverb Adverse
I’ll admit to being ‘adverb adverse’. It’s one of my reading pet peeves I’m reading along, immersed in the story when I start to notice them. And once I do, every one becomes a drop of water on my forehead, drip, drip, dripping until I want to heave the book. They irritate me enough…
Read MoreHow to Avoid the Dreaded Dialog Tag
by Laura Drake Okay, I admit it. I’m prejudiced against dialogue tags. Yes, I know they say, ‘He said/she said’ are invisible to the reader. They’re not to me. Even if you don’t share my pet peeve, why settle for something so boring? You write a sparkling line of dialogue, and slap ‘he said’ on…
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