Do you writes in layers, one or two layer per draft? Or do you write all the layers of your novel, memoir, screenplay at once? And what are all these layers, you ask? Emotion: evoking a range of emotions -- positive and negative -- in the reader through the characters' show of emotion. Conflict, tension, suspense, urgency and curiosity: shaping the dramatic action to keep the reader turning the pages to learn what happens next. Character transformation: showing a flawed character change overtime …
Researching versus Writing
You've pre-plotted, or not, and have a slew of scene ideas to write. You've mastered the getting-up-an-hour-earlier-to write. Daily the words flow and you're gaining confidence in your story. You tally up your word count and find you're on track to beat the deadline you've given yourself. In the morning, you hit a scene that demands you know how in the heck the culture you're writing about performs wedding ceremonies. You've attending enough of them to have a general sense but no idea of the …
Plot for Memoir Writers
Yes, even memoir writers need a plot. There is nothing more frustrating than to read a memoir that is simply a litany of events -- episodes that happen to the memoirist -- this happens and then this happens and then this happens. This is especially depressing when the writer has wonderful voice and insight into a moving period in history. No matter how unique the writer's voice, without a plot, a reader's interest eventually begins wanes. Even a significant historical turning point loses its …
Giving Yourself Permission to Write
After successfully self-publishing a memoir made up of short stories, the writer gives in to the pull to write a novel. Everyone in her writing group and the majority of those in the writing club she joined when writing her memoir are writing novels. A hysterical title brings her enthusiastic support to go for it. She starts out strong but before long the story coasts to a stop. No matter which way into the project she pushes, passion and the muse refuse their help. An always journal writer, …
From Plot to Pure Gold
Alchemy is the seemingly miraculous power or process of change in form, appearance or nature. In writing, dramatic action that transmutes the character at depth over time magically produces thematic significance -- the gold. Spend the 1st quarter, the Beginning, of a story gathering and showing the ingredients of the experiment. In the Middle, apply heat in the form of outer and inner forces to test, challenge and hinder. Antagonists work well. As the energy blazes ever higher, keep an eye on …
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