Voice. It’s one of those elusive elements in fiction that everyone talks about—and no one can quite define. We all nod sagely when agents and editors harp on it, but secretly we’re hoping no one asks us to explain how to actually create it. And just when we think we’ve figured it out for ourselves […]
July 7, 2013 by 16 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Scenes That Focus on What Isn’t Happening
Here’s a little-known secret about stories: they’re about what your characters do. Okay, so maybe it’s not so little known. I mean, duh, right? Your characters do something, and then they do something else—and, presto, you have a plot! And yet, writers often spend a lot of time describing what their characters aren’t doing. It’s true […]
June 12, 2013 by 21 Comments NarrativeAre You “Montaging” Your Story’s Best Scenes?
Every story will contain certain scenes that anchor the entire narrative. These moments, whether they’re high-octane battles or budding romances, constitute the beating heart of their stories. Authors need to be wary not to summarize their best scenes into mere montages. Readers want to be immersed in your characters’ evolution, which means your ability to […]
April 7, 2013 by 66 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Overusing “Suddenly”
What’s one of the most overused and unnecessary words in a writer’s repertoire? Try “suddenly.” Now, at first glance, “suddenly” seems pretty innocuous. After all, it’s just a little adverb. It’s so commonplace, it’s almost invisible. And it’s important. Unlike so many useless modifiers, it tells readers exactly how some important action is happening. It […]
February 24, 2013 by 57 Comments Structuring Your NovelStructuring Your Story’s Scenes, Pt. 12: Frequently Asked Questions
Once authors grasp Scene* structure, their whole approach to storytelling can become clearer and more refined. At first blush, it can be a subject that takes a while to fully grasp and, as a result, can spawn all kinds of questions. But all you clever Wordplayers seem to have caught on without so much as […]
February 8, 2013 by 48 Comments NarrativeThe Secret to Show, Don’t Tell
Gone are the days of the long narrative passages we used to see in novels written by greats like Dickens and Steinbeck. Even though literary prose is still highly praised and found in many bestselling commercial novels, the trend over the last few decades has been to “show, not tell.” Meaning, readers prefer scenes in which they are watching […]
February 3, 2013 by 11 Comments PodcastStructuring Your Story’s Scenes, Pt. 9: Options for Dilemmas in a Scene Sequel
If the first part of your sequel*—the reaction—appeals to your readers’ emotions, the second part is all about the intellect. Once your characters’ first-blush emotional responses to the previous scene’s disaster has passed, they will have to get down to the all-important business of thinking about what they’re going to do next. The previous disaster has […]
October 7, 2012 by 36 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Skipping the Best Parts of the Story
The fastest way to frustrate readers is to write everything but the good parts of a story. You’d think this would be a no-brainer. After all, as story aficionados ourselves, we’re presumably writing the story because of the good parts. The action, the romance, the comedy, the drama. We can’t wait to get it on paper, and readers can’t […]
October 3, 2012 by 12 Comments Plotting Your NovelWhen Not to Show the Action in a Story
Action is given a lot of emphasis these days. It can manifest differently according to the needs of genre and the individual story, but the necessity for it never changes. However, within all this emphasis put upon showing action instead of telling it, we can sometimes lose sight of the fact that there are moments […]
May 18, 2012 by 20 Comments DescriptionVisceral Reactions: Emotional Pay Dirt or Fast Track to Melodrama?
Are visceral reactions emotional pay dirt or a fast track to melodrama? The answer of course is: both! But let’s back up the cliché truck. The word “visceral” is thrown around quite a bit, but not everyone understands what it means. A visceral reaction is an instinctive, gut-deep bodily response to a stimulus or experience. Without getting too complex, neurotransmitters (chemical […]
