The “Z” of Story Writing We are really wrapping things up as we conclude the XYZs of story writing – and that’s what the letter Z stands for: Zipping up the Package. You’ve finished a story. You’ve asked enough questions of your characters and plot to build it with real conflict, not fluff. You’ve created […]
The XYZs of Story Writing – Part Two of Three
December 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Continuing in our series of 3 basic aspects of story writing, we move on to “Y”… The “Y” of Story Writing When I think of the letter Y, I also think of the question why. The letter y reminds me to ask a host of questions as I write. Why? How? When? What? — or […]
The XYZs of Story Writing – Part One of Three
December 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
While there is a never-ending learning curve to being an author, I hope to wrap several important aspects of writing in this brief 3-part series. Let’s get started: The “X” of Story Writing Wise writers have said, “Writing is actually re-writing.” So, in using the XYZs to guide us, the X stands primarily for major […]
The Problem of Hopping Heads
November 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Who’s in Control of the Scene? You have a hero. You have a heroine. You have a scene. The question is which of those characters is controlling the scene? What does it mean to head-hop, and why is head-hopping a bad thing? When embarking on any scene in a novel, you are naturally taking on […]
The Right Kind of Drama in the First Five Pages
October 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment
(…Yes, there’s a Wrong Kind.) If there’s one big place to easily make mistakes in setting up scene, it’s in the beginning pages of a novel. Of course, as story-tellers, our desire is to grip our readers with something memorable in those first five pages — something dramatic. We’ve all been told how important it […]