Plunge Right In... Into Your Story, That Is! by Rekha Ambardar One of the things you're required to do when taking swimming lessons is to jump in at the deep end of the pool, dive under water smoothly, and rise up to the surface. For most swimmers, diving under the water and then swimming to the surface poses hardly any problem; it's the jump at the deep end that unnerves one. Most of us prefer to ease in unobtrusively from any other area of the pool and loiter at the deep end, pretending that we did jump in. Somehow, this tendency of easing into the pool is the analogy that compares with the fictional technique of beginning storytellers -- an absolute no-no in fiction writing. Begin with Action In my short mystery story, "A Message from Beyond," recently published by Orchard Press Mysteries, the opening scene shows the heroine, Myrna, gazing longingly at shiny brochures describing delectable spots in Italy and Spain. No matter how informative your backstory, it's the onstage action that holds the reader's interest.
25 Things Every Writer Should Know An alternate title for this post might be, “Things I Think About Writing,” which is to say, these are random snidbits (snippets + tidbits) of beliefs I hold about what it takes to be a writer. I hesitate to say that any of this is exactly Zen (oh how often we as a culture misuse the term “Zen” — like, “Whoa, that tapestry is so cool, it’s really Zen“), but it certainly favors a sharper, shorter style than the blathering wordsplosions I tend to rely on in my day-to-day writing posts. Anyway. Peruse these. Feel free to disagree with any of these; these are not immutable laws. Buckle up. 1. The Internet is 55% porn, and 45% writers. 2. A lot of writers try to skip over the basics and leap fully-formed out of their own head-wombs. 3. Some writers do what they do and are who they are because they were born with some magical storytelling gland that they can flex like their pubococcygeus, ejaculating brilliant storytelling and powerful linguistic voodoo with but a twitch of their taint. 4. 5.
Maureen Johnson Books » Blog Archive » ASK AUNTIE MJ: NOW YOU ARE JUST MAKING UP WORDS lacitedamour asked you: Is it okay for me to make up words for my novel? I have a habit of making adjectives adverbs or verbing nouns that makes the story make more sense to me, but I’m not sure if the English language allows for that. Oh lacitedamour of my heart, Here is a fact that people love to pull out at parties*: Shakespeare is credited with adding 2,000 words to the English language. Did you know that? And yes, English allows for the making up of words. Which is to say this: yes, you CAN make up words. However, weird is often good. So there is no answer for this. With loving frubosity, Auntie MJ * Not very good parties. Posted: Sunday, November 27th, 2011 @ 9:00 pm Categories: advice, ask mj, nanowrimo, writing.
Story Starters & Idea Generators One of the best ways to break through writer's block or stretch your writing skills is to pick a story starter and just start writing. Suggestions on how to use each generator are included with the generator. Caveat: There's always a temptation to keep looking for the "perfect" idea, but then you need to ask yourself...are you really just trying to avoid writing? Problem: You can't get a story started Solution: Archetype's Plot Scenario Generator What it is: This generator provides you with the event that gets the story rolling and a secondary conflict to keep you going! Problem: Your characters lack depth Solution: Archetype's Character Generator What it is: A quick character sketch filled with the kinds of little details that makes stories engaging: character gender, cardinal traits, weaknesses, and most prized possession. Problem: Your characters don't feel like "real" people Solution: Archetype's Everyday Problems Generator Looking for something you don't see? Getting Yourself Started
Odyssey Writing Tips Page #2 The plot forms the underlying structure of your story, and if that structure is weak, the story will be weak as well. Many times it's hard for the writer to see the underlying structure of his own story, and this makes it impossible for the writer to judge whether this structure is effective and whether it is the best possible structure for the story. One powerful method of revealing the structure of a story is to outline it. The outline reveals the bones of the story like an X-ray. Here's how to outline. Number each scene in the story. Have any conflicts been introduced? These questions all help to define the structure and nature of your plot and to reveal any weaknesses. Now go to the next scene and do the same thing. When you have outlined the entire story, look at the events described in your summaries and note where one event causes another. Now study the answers to the list of questions for all your scenes. Now go try your hand at it!
The 8 Habits of Highly Successful Young-Adult Fiction Authors - Nolan Feeney Young-adult fiction, commonly called "YA fiction," has exploded over the past decade or so: The number of YA titles published grew more than 120 percent between 2002 and 2012, and other estimates say that between 1997 and 2009, that figure was closer to 900 percent. Ask a handful of young-adult fiction writers what exactly makes a YA novel, though, and you’ll get a handful of conflicting answers. At their core, YA books are for and about teenagers and pre-teens, usually between 12 and 18 years old, but sometimes as young as 10. Many successful authors say there’s no secret to writing for teenagers. Think Like a Teen Rainbow Rowell never set out to be a YA author. But what clearly makes Eleanor & Park a YA book, a fellow author told Rowell, wasn’t just that the main characters were teens. When the adult perspective creeps its way into a YA book, readers notice, too. “The books I turn away are when the dialogue reads false to me,” Cohn says. But they don’t need to.
Maureen Johnson Books » Blog Archive » AUNTIE MJ’S INTERNET SCHOOL There’s been a lot on the Internet in this last week about publishing. The big news a few days ago was the exposure of the fact that authors (primarily self-published) can buy reviews.*Many people were shocked and horrified. Some shrugged. I happen to think this is largely a good thing, and am pretty excited about the worlds self-publishing will open. @MeFlyRocket Are there different rules for different author types, eg published, self published, aspiring / blogger etc? There are no rules at all, for anyone. I will put a disclaimer like this in every post in this SERIES. Q: I’m a self-published author. I’m going to say something now that’s going to sound really harsh, but it’s meant to be helpful. No one owes you anything Just because you write something doesn’t mean that anyone has to read it. I am not talking just to you. In terms of sending links to authors, with read/RT requests: a). b). c). d). Totally harsh sounding, right? So what is interesting? 1. Why are you online? 2. 3. 4. 5.
Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud How many times have you gone through explaining a problem to a friend, and before he could say a word about it you had already figured out the solution by yourself? The very act of explaining a problem out loud can, by itself, be enough to solve it. How can this deceptively simple strategy work so well? How can we leverage it, transforming it in a problem-solving technique we can use at anytime? The Magic Behind Explaining Problems Out Loud Communicating your problems out loud has several advantages over silently thinking about them: 1. In order to put your problem in a communicable form you must clarify it, stating it in objective terms. Putting your problem in words will tremendously help you grasp it: language is not only a tool of communication as many believe, but also a tool of thought (for more on that, check ‘Top 3 Reasons to Improve Your Vocabulary‘). 2. Explaining your problem to someone else is particularly effective when you assume no knowledge on the other person’s part. 3.
no whitespace - writers' cheatsheet Read On...An Excerpt from Six Tips for Writing Young Adult Novels by Nora Raleigh Baskin at Gotham Writers' Workshops and WritingClasses.com By Nora Raleigh Baskin I didn’t start out writing for children. Like many of my fellow young adult/middle-grade authors, I spent quite a few years (five) writing adult fiction before getting published. Then a well-intentioned woman in a writing course made the unwelcome suggestion that I consider writing for children. But after a good cry, I went home and gave it a try. Here are six lessons I learned about writing for young adults: POVGet the POV right. AgeMake sure your character’s age suits your audience. Voice/LanguageFigure out the voice, and the language will follow. Touchy SubjectsDon’t shy away from touchy subjects. PreachinessDon’t get preachy. Hopeful EndingsWrite hopeful endings. This article first appeared in The Writer magazine.