Daily, I gain strength from a quote of Goethe's: "What you can do or dream you can, begin itBoldness has genius power and magic in it." He also said, "It is almost impossible in the present day to find a situation which is thoroughly new. Only the matter of looking at it can be new, and the art of treating it and representing it." Your unique voice comes from how you: Look at your storyTreat your storyChoose to represent your story Listen for it. Hone it. Trust the process. …
Creating Curiosity
Writers, especially beginning writers, often find themselves wanting to blurt out everything up front. This often shows up as a flashback early on in the story to show the back story or event that first sent the protagonist off kilter. Don't.....Keep in mind throughout to pace the info you share with the reader. In each scene, only put in as much as is needed to inform that particular scene (this can include foreshadowing clues of what is to come, but don't overload the scenes.) Invite the …
Character Transformation
The moment the protagonist is hit with the decision whether to change or remain the same either comes at the:1/2 way point (based on the page or scene count) or3/4 mark or the Crisis In some stories, the character emotional development plot line (CED) "wake-up call" occurs at the 1/2 way point. In other stories, the CED plot hits simultaneously with the dramatic action (DA) plot line at the 3/4 mark or the Crisis, the moment of greatest energetic impact in the story so far .Either way, after the …
Cause and Effect / Character Emotion
Recent plot consultation:Literary FictionMany POVsQuestion:Does my story have too many scenes?Answer:(We did not get to the end of his story during our session so I cannot answer the question.)My comment however is to do what you can to make the scenes feel linked.The tighter the story, the easier for the reader to follow. Every element of every scene contributes to the scene that follows and to the overall story itself.Link scenes through the use of:Cause and effectThe transitions you create …
Humor Writing / Character Consistency
Humor writing continues to be in great demand = as always, comic relief keeps the darkness at bay. Writers with the gift or innate talent to write funny lines make it look easy. It's not. As with most aspects of writing, humor writing can be taught: timing, subject matter, and how to keep from crossing over to satire. With humor writing, the reader laughs along with the characters. Satire holds human folly and vice up to scorn, derision, or ridicule and causes the reader to laugh at the …
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