8 DON'T WRITE ABOUT WIMPS...
...when you can build strong, active characters by employing “story goals.”
* fiction reflects aspects of reality by being better than reality
* story people determine the outcome, not fate or chance or coincidence
* nudge your character into action with threat, change: 1.something has changed 2.your character feels threatened 3.your character vows to struggle 4.your character selects a goal and starts taking action toward it
* every story is the record of a quest
* every time a character forms a goal-oriented intention in fiction the reader worries (suspense)
Today's writing: 1.3 hours/2.4 pages
Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
*** The 38 ***
7 DON'T USE REAL PEOPLE IN YOUR STORY...
...when you can create vivid, compelling characters through exaggeration.
* Use tags that repeatedly identify the character
* Base characters' actions on goals, reasons, that reader can identify
* In short fiction character is almost always consistent with background
Today's writing: 1 hour/1.6 pages (new story)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Today's Writing
I've been working on two short stories lately. Hope to have them done by the end of March.
.7 hours/1.2 pages
Sunday, January 25, 2009
*** The 38 ***
6 DON'T DESCRIBE SUNSETS...
...when you can keep your story moving by avoiding flowery description.
* Fiction is movement; description is static
* Character thought and feeling is also description
* Tell (describe) a little, demonstrate (show in action) a lot
* Delivery systems in writing: Exposition - facts (slowest mode) Description - (almost as slow) Narrative - action of characters on stage, no summary and nothing left out, continuous movement (goes swiftly) Dialogue - very little action or interior (tremendously fast and forward-moving) Dramatic summary - summary instead of narration (fastest)
* Analyze your copy to see what form you tend to use and to work on pacing
Today's writing: 1 hr./1.4 pages
...when you can keep your story moving by avoiding flowery description.
* Fiction is movement; description is static
* Character thought and feeling is also description
* Tell (describe) a little, demonstrate (show in action) a lot
* Delivery systems in writing: Exposition - facts (slowest mode) Description - (almost as slow) Narrative - action of characters on stage, no summary and nothing left out, continuous movement (goes swiftly) Dialogue - very little action or interior (tremendously fast and forward-moving) Dramatic summary - summary instead of narration (fastest)
* Analyze your copy to see what form you tend to use and to work on pacing
Today's writing: 1 hr./1.4 pages
Are You Threatening Me?
Ten times I felt most scared or worried (in no particular order):
1. Going to St. Lawrence Wrestling Camp's 15-18 year old week as an eleven year old.
2. The first day of wrestling practice as a freshman.
3. Riding the ferris wheel for the first time.
4. Flying in a plane.
5. When the cops called the house and asked for Dad.
6. On ladders, staging.
7. Almost going off the road/getting hit on the bike.
8. When Tommy Thompson(or Will Darmetko) was after me.
9. When Steph was really sick, pregnant with Colin.
10. Driving in very bad conditions.
11. Anxiety attack.
12. Living in the ghetto (at night, several incidents).
13. When the doctor told me it was possible I had a brain tumor, waiting for the MRI and the results.
14. When Colin had a lung infection at a day and a half old.
Ten changes that I think might make good opening threats in stories (in no particular order):
1. A young soldier waits aboard a transport plane to be dropped off in a war zone.
2. After moving to a house in the country a man hears strange, terrible sounds coming from a neighbor's house at night.
3. A young couple with a newborn are alone and out of money.
4. A man's car won't start after he slides off the road. It is after midnight and bitterly cold.
5. A man awakens in the middle of the night to loud cracking sounds. He realizes that his house is on fire. Smoke is filling his room and the rooms of his children.
6. A man finds out he has a month to live.
7. A married executive gets threatened with blackmail by his assistant, who is also his lover.
8. An alien ship approaches a planet to harvest all of its resources.
9. Night is falling on a chilly Autumn day. A young family, out on a hike, is lost in the woods.
10. A man gets fired and cannot face the prospect of failure, poverty, and shame.
11. A rookie police officer goes on his first drug raid.
1. Going to St. Lawrence Wrestling Camp's 15-18 year old week as an eleven year old.
2. The first day of wrestling practice as a freshman.
3. Riding the ferris wheel for the first time.
4. Flying in a plane.
5. When the cops called the house and asked for Dad.
6. On ladders, staging.
7. Almost going off the road/getting hit on the bike.
8. When Tommy Thompson(or Will Darmetko) was after me.
9. When Steph was really sick, pregnant with Colin.
10. Driving in very bad conditions.
11. Anxiety attack.
12. Living in the ghetto (at night, several incidents).
13. When the doctor told me it was possible I had a brain tumor, waiting for the MRI and the results.
14. When Colin had a lung infection at a day and a half old.
Ten changes that I think might make good opening threats in stories (in no particular order):
1. A young soldier waits aboard a transport plane to be dropped off in a war zone.
2. After moving to a house in the country a man hears strange, terrible sounds coming from a neighbor's house at night.
3. A young couple with a newborn are alone and out of money.
4. A man's car won't start after he slides off the road. It is after midnight and bitterly cold.
5. A man awakens in the middle of the night to loud cracking sounds. He realizes that his house is on fire. Smoke is filling his room and the rooms of his children.
6. A man finds out he has a month to live.
7. A married executive gets threatened with blackmail by his assistant, who is also his lover.
8. An alien ship approaches a planet to harvest all of its resources.
9. Night is falling on a chilly Autumn day. A young family, out on a hike, is lost in the woods.
10. A man gets fired and cannot face the prospect of failure, poverty, and shame.
11. A rookie police officer goes on his first drug raid.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)