I’ve referred in past posts to Larry Brooks’ excellent book, Story Engineering. As I read this book the principles of plotting finally clicked–probably because Larry explains them in architectural terms, and I am a building designer by trade. Suddenly both the rules and the reasons for them became clear, and I’ve been a fan ever […]
Writing Lesson 2.36 – Mea Culpa
June 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
First order of business, an apology from me. I expected to have contest finalists announced by now and critiques returned, but have fallen woefully behind in that goal. The fault is entirely mine. Please continue to give grace, and hopefully I’ll be able to post the results soon. Having said that, this may be […]
Writing Lesson 2.28 – Are Your Scenes Boring?
April 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In my last tutorial, I talked about heroes who are too perfect. In that same line, writing scenes that are too nice will lose your readers’ attention. Scenes that just meander on in Niceness, exuding lovely scenery, quiet dinners, bits of dialogue that mean nothing are boring. Something has to happen, even subtly, or the […]
Writing Lesson 2.27 – Begin with the End in Mind
March 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Some people seem to think that to tell a story, you just start talking and to write a story, you just start writing. Simply string two or more words together to make a sentence and repeat until you have a book, right? If you’ve tried your hand at writing, you know it’s not that simple. […]
Writing Lesson 2.16 – Write Better-Read & Review
December 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
You may have heard it said that good writers are those who read. Chances are you already love reading. Each of us has our own tastes and preferences when it comes to reading. Some love action books, others prefer a sweet romance. And within each book genre there are many flavors, so that one action […]
