Showing posts with label Plotting. Show all posts
May 20, 2020
Controlling Pace with Scene and Sequel
May 20, 2020
By Tia Colborne.
I want to let you in on a secret. The day I learned about the below writing tool was the day I understood how to create exciting and engaging fiction. It’s shocking that more people don't talk about it.
It's called scene and sequel.
Apr 20, 2020
How I Use Character Development to Plot
April 20, 2020
By Renay Marsh.
I’m a character-first writer. That means my characters come to me before any other part of the story. Plot? Setting? They come afterward.
Yes, my characters appear to me. Not completely formed. Sometimes, all I get is “Hi. Will you write my story?” Other times the character pulls up a chair, plops down, makes themselves comfortable, before spilling everything. Either way, it is up to me to listen, ask questions, and get to know them.
Apr 10, 2020
How to Write a Satisfying Ending
April 10, 2020
By Jessica Hogbin.
A satisfying book ending isn’t something that just happens; it’s something you work toward throughout your entire story. Imagine Freytag’s pyramid—your ending is everything that happens after the climax. These are known as the falling action, resolution, and denouement. These three parts are needed for a satisfying ending, especially because without them, your ending can feel rushed, unclear, and frustrating for readers.
Apr 8, 2020
3 Ways to Use Foreshadowing to Strengthen Your Novel
April 08, 2020
By Jolee McManus.
If you’re like me, you’re obsessed with finding ways to make your work-in-progress stronger. But what makes a story strong? If you ask me, the secret isn’t pulling off any one trick but a number of tricks. As we grow as writers, we collect more and more tricks up our sleeves and learn how to seamlessly work them into our writing, sometimes without even trying!
Apr 6, 2020
How Sandra Gerth Helped Me Perfect the Art of Showing Versus Telling
April 06, 2020
By Sierra Archer.
If you have been writing for even a small amount of time I am willing to bet that you have come across the concept of ‘showing versus telling’. It’s undeniably an important thing to consider when writing any kind of story. But why?
Well, let’s take a look at an example.
Apr 3, 2020
How "Save the Cat Writes a Novel" Helped Improve My Stories' Structure
April 03, 2020
By Kia Dennis.
In the eternal struggle of plotting versus pantsing, I find myself coming down squarely on the side of plotting. I need to outline–extensively! I crave structure. I’d heard the terms ‘inciting incident’ and ‘story beats,’ but for a long time, I didn’t have a handle on exactly what they were. Then, a writer friend of mine suggested I read Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. I started skimming it in the bookstore and immediately realized why my friend swore by it.
Mar 23, 2020
How a Pantser Can Plot Like a Pro
March 23, 2020
By CS Wade.
Plot basically is who did what, and to whom. The emotional side of plot is motive, the reason someone does what they do. That sums up plot in the simplest fashion. Plot is the elements that make a story great: great character arcs, tension, conflict, compelling theme, danger (emotional or physical) fascinating twists, and interesting characters who engage in smart dialogue. At some point, the plot must have a dark night of the soul for your protagonist: the lowest point of the story for your protagonist.
Mar 4, 2020
Plotting VS Pantsing: What You Need to Know
March 04, 2020
By Brittani Rose.
As a writer, I have struggled with finding a way to plan my novel that works for me. I have tried to be a plotter; that failed me. I tried to be a pantser; that worked wonders for me and helped me win NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Not sure what a plotter or pantser is? Let me tell you.
A plotter is someone who works best when they have a very detailed outline and a solid plan in place when it comes to their writing. A plotter usually has every aspect of their novel planned out so that they know what they are doing at all times. When I tried this, I spent weeks planning every aspect of a novel. Every scene and detail that I felt I would need. I worked hard on an outline that told me just what to write and when. I failed because, for me, having planned all those details made me feel like I didn’t have control over the storyline anymore.
Feb 26, 2020
Outline Your Memoir in One Day
February 26, 2020
By Imara Moses
When I finally decided to sit down and write my memoir, the idea of writing a book had been floating around in my head for a while. Because I had been mulling over what I wanted my book to be about for some time, it only took one afternoon to write my outline.
I have a scientific writing background, so I knew I would not be able to write a good book without first having a rough sketch of what I wanted to share. The outline is critical to writing a book because it prevents it from being a series of random thoughts scrawled all over paper without any direction.
Jun 17, 2019
Wringing out that Soggy Middle: What to do when Act II Falls Apart
June 17, 2019
By Bethany
Tucker.
Stuck in the middle of your draft? Already written to the
end but that section between the beginning and the end feels stale, limp, or
messy? Beta readers giving up in the middle? You might have a case of what’s
called a “soggy middle.”
Soggy middles are Act II problems where the tension is
low, the plot meanders, or the reader, and maybe the writer has trouble staying
with the story. Symptoms are lack of interest, passive shrugging, and dusty
pages.
However, the solution is simple. Want the secret? Fall in
love.
May 31, 2019
How Death and The Dervish, by Mesa Selimovic, helped me fix my plot holes
May 31, 2019
By Dalia Lepa.
“That was how he took revenge on the
world, by not showing his bitterness.”
Oh, you lover of books. You live in an era where the
modern day attention span is about five minutes.
Do you remember Mesa Selimovic? Probably not—well he wrote
a critically acclaimed novel circa 1966 called, Death and the Dervish. Sure,
it was written in the “stone-age”, in a different time, for a different
audience. Along comes me, present day impatient Dalia, who can literally
summarize the whole plot in about 3 sentences. Don’t believe me? Let me try.
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