The final quarter of your story carries the responsibility of getting your characters to the right place at the right time for one final confrontation and support the final opportunity that leads to success and ultimate transformation.The scenes that comprise the final quarter of your story are filled with the tension of not knowing whether protagonist will win or fail at the climax.Writing to the end of your story may very well be filling you with tension. Will I ever finish this thing???Not …
A Compelling Concept Elicits: Tell Me More!
A writer asks about what concept to bring forward in the Concept, Logline, Pitch Workshop this weekend (8/9/14). She has several novels in-progress and complete (are our stories ever really complete? The longer we take to finish, the more time we have to grow and change which ultimately servers to deepen and enrich our work).Her heart's desire speaks of something else entirely.I explain about Saturday's workshop, you'll have 5 minutes in the morning and 5 minutes in the afternoon. You want to …
The Exact Right Beginning of Your Story — How Do You Know for Sure?
We quickly cover the BIG Energetic Marker, nearly at the end, the Climax and I know already from the character profile and thematic statement that she's got a whopper of a story. (Is that even a word anymore? a whopper. Was it ever?) Her story is so timely, I want to nudge her to finish faster, go the distance, see her story with a plot all the way to the end. She's committed. And she's already done so much work.When she finally settles on memoir rather than fiction (pros and cons on both sides) …
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How to Turn a Lackluster Middle into Page-turning Excitement
A writer revising the rough draft of a novel stalls in the middle. Here he finds some quirky, secondary characters. One character has the potential to become a "romance plot" suitor. He also discovers a couple of magical and mystical settings. Several subplots of enchantment are revealed. Various minor characters populate the middle and… not much excitement. Appraising the long, dull corridor spanning the entire Middle, the writer despairs. He wants help in amping up the tension and …
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Benefits of a Solid Concept and the Art of Pitching Your Story
Summer means Writers Conferences and pitching your story. You find yourself sitting at lunch next to a literary agent. How quickly and compellingly do you draw her into your story? How intriguing is your concept?When friends ask what your story is about, rather than drone on about every single plot point, learn how to rattle off a pithy pitch that sends even people overhearing you begging for more.Think of the concept and pitch as the seeds out of which grow action and characters …
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