My apologies up front. After today's consultation, I'm in the mood to rant.Hold onto your own personal power no matter the cost.Don't give your energy over to another and/or to a belief that no longer serves you. Let me repeat that. Do NOT give your energy over to another or to a belief that no longer serves you.Don't forget, no matter who critiques you, you are the artist. You are the final decision-maker. Don't give your power over to anyone else. Listen. Take notes. Thank them. Do for them …
Plot Therapist
"I believe talking about the story blocks the story.""So do I," I say, wondering where the writer is going with this.Later in the plot consultation, she reveals that she had reunited with an old friend who had successful published a book. She read it. Now she's blocked."So because you talked to your old friend about your story, you're blocked?" I asked."Yes.""Then why are you talking to me about your story?"Pause."Because you're the block buster..."Ahhhhhh …
Bird’s Eye View of Your Story
I'm humbled by how many writers open up to me about that most vulnerable part of them -- their stories. Immediately ascertainable is how closely a writer is identified by the story. 1) This is the story they have told themselves and lived by their entire lives. 2) This is a fun romp, thrilling mystery, or pure romance.#1 is generally character-driven. #2 is often action-driven.(To see which way you write, Take the Test).I get to not only sit in the crow's nest and analyze the plot and structure …
Authentic Details
Draft one, writers attempt to create a story with a Beginning, Middle, and End, filled with Dramatic Action that affects the characters in meaningful and coherent ways -- a firm foundation. Subsequent drafts, writers create more layers, each of which benefits from the use of authentic details. Authentic details "show" who the characters truly are by the objects they surround themselves with and how their actions support their dialog, and allow the reader to sink into the exotic, unusual story …
Writing for Ourselves. Writing for Others.
Now on her third book, the writer moves away from herself. Memoir writers aren't the only ones who write about themselves. Many of us write to work things out in our minds, our hearts, to learn our own individual truths, to make sense of our worlds. Memoir writers shape their stories around their own lives and stick to the truth and call their work a memoir. Fiction writers take their lives and embellish for meaning or humor or excitement's sake to create a novel or screenplay or short …
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