My mom blogged about my birthday. Svensto No wonder I dabble in magical thinking... …
History Provides the Perfect Antagonist
A writer I've been working with on an on-going basis picked a unique time in our country's history to write about. Built into this time frame is an event where nature colluded with industry and for five days led to the deaths of many in the community. It's an age-old dilemma -- what brings a livelihood to everyone in an entire community ends up killing them. Unwilling to admit to what is right there in front of them, people trust the "powers-that-be" -- they would never knowingly poison an …
Lead the Reader to the Plot
White pebbles help Hansel and Gretel find their way home. Breadcrumbs simply vanish.Stories are shown in scene. Each scene leaves little pebbles to advance the plot on at least three levels:Dramatic Action plotCharacter Emotional Development plotThematic Significance plot (and more...)A Few White Pebbles to lead the reader to the important parts of the story:Cause and Effect = because of what happens in one scene, the next scene arises. Cause and effect leads the reader from one scene to …
How to Create a Classic Story Plot
The Universal Story form echoes in every great movie and in our lives, too, both as observers and as ourselves.In some form or another, everyday we leave behind the known world and enter an unusual and exotic world of the unknown. Once there, we go through an outer journey that affects who we are internally. The sequence repeats itself in each scene, at the chapter and act level, and in the overall story itself. We face foes and find allies. In the Middle, mostly unconscious, we stumble around, …
Dialog — When is Enough Too Much?
Writing a story often comes in drafts. Each draft / layer is determined by your own personal writing preference. Some writers write their entire first draft in dramatic action. Character emotional development comes later. Meaning comes later still. Others begin with character. Still others start with dialog. First draft has little action. Little character emotional development. Terrific dialog. Well, some of the first draft dialog is terrific. In other places, the dialog serves as a place to …
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