Writing Conflict-Filled Scenes

I'm at Suite101 talking about the classic Scene as described by Dwight Swain:

One of the most famous writing books is Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight Swain, where he breaks down fiction writing into modules. One of his most popular techniques is Scene (described in this article) and Sequel.

Swain describes a Scene as “a unit of conflict lived through by character and reader.” The key word here is Conflict.

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Author-Speak Cheat Sheet

Hey guys,
Sorry I've been MIA for a few weeks. I've been fighting off some kind of sicky that's left me really tired and headachey (and NO, I'm not pregnant! :)

Anyway, I'll kick off the week with this great "cheat sheet" by Janet Dean that basically summarizes all the major fiction writing terms that a writer might encounter from a contest judge. These are terms thrown around pretty often in the writing community because they refer to common principles which, if mastered, help a writer improve.

Author-Speak Cheat Sheet

Upon occasion, I play golf. Perhaps I should say golf plays me. Either way, there’s a language to this game. Terms that make me grunt, “Huh?” Like: “Pick the ball clean.” “Get down on the ball.” “Play your drives off your left heel.” I can’t blame my game on these baffling words of advice, but they’re not helpful if I can’t decipher their meaning.

Writing has its own language too. I call it author speak.

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Marks of an Amateur - the Query Letter

Really great post on edittorent:

Marks of an Amateur - the Query Letter

Are you committing any of these query faux pas?

Daily writing prompts

Writing even a little every day is a really good way to keep your creativity flowing and to keep your productivity up. I have always liked writing prompts because they can be just a short short story or they can turn into an entire novel!

Writing.com has a new Twitter account that tweets a writing prompt every day! Click the link below to follow their Twitter:

http://twitter.com/DailyPrompt

Getting away with it--

I just read this great post on Alicia Rasley's blog. She has a very candid style which I appreciate and like. I agree with what she's saying in this about writers who want to "buck the system"--not that it's wrong, but you have to make concessions if you do:

I have noticed a sort of interesting attitude in some submitters. It's that the trick is "getting away with it". You know, say I point out that a four-page long prologue all in italics (because, I guess, it takes place in the villain's head) might be kind of annoying. (I'm making this particular issue up, as the attitude is the important thing.) And the submitter comes back with (rule #1-- don't argue when you're being rejected... it doesn't help), "But (insert bestselling author's name) got away with it!"

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The first page, part 10 - Proofread

This is the last post of my series on things to look for in your first page.
Click here for part nine.

Proofread that page with a fine tooth comb

After you’ve worked on that first page to set up the story, showcase your writer’s voice, and wow the editor reading it, give it to your most detail-oriented critique partners or a freelance editor (like moi—sorry, I couldn’t resist some blatant self-promotion) to correct any typos, grammar errors, or punctuation errors.

You do NOT want your first page to have an error on it. Nothing spells “unprofessional” like an error on the very first page.

The editor or agent will see that one little error and it will negatively tinge his/her impression of the entire manuscript and of your writing. You don’t want even a slightly negative thought to enter the editor’s mind as he reads. You don’t want even a question of your professionalism to niggle at the agent’s brain as she scans that first page.

Now, I’m not saying that an error means an automatic rejection. But because the industry right now is so tough, you don’t want to give any bad impressions on that editor or agent whatsoever. If you can get rid of those little errors, do it. It might be the deciding factor between your manuscript and another one with lots of typos.

Wouldn’t you want the editor to request your manuscript because it’s both professional and captivating? If it’s captivating but full of typos and the editor has only limited time to read full manuscripts, she might not request your story because the typos put her off.

So spend even MORE time checking your pages for errors. If you’re not confident about your sense of grammar and punctuation, then ask for help—either critique partners whose grammar/punctuation sense you completely trust, or a freelance editor who can look at the first chapter.

To be continued.

Increase the Tension of a Scene

Building Peaks in the Story

Novels are a series of peaks and valleys, the ebb and flow of tension. If the story were all tension, it would tire the reader out. If the story were all tension-less, it would be boring.

A novelist should build the tension of the story in each peak and balance that with a valley.

But each peak should build to a higher point of tension than the one before.

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