Matt de la Peña followed up his Friday Fiction Intensive, focusing on dialogue, and his Saturday Keynote address with a terrific breakout session on the use of the narrator in fiction--getting out of the way of your characters and clearing the stage for them to do the work. Matt spoke to the importance of the... Continue Reading →
Helen Landalf – Keeping it Real: Bringing Authenticity to Fiction
Helen Landalf (Flyaway, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) identified three elements of authenticity in fiction and illustrated each with examples from regional author’s published books. “Most of us can just feel when a story is authentic – it’s like a punch in the gut.” “If a story feels authentic the reader has the reader firmly... Continue Reading →
Michele Torrey: story beginnings, part 2
She's continuing the lesson at her blog with a discussion of hooks: For me, picking out a new book is as simple as reading its first page. Does it grab me? Do I want to read more? Do I want to read it badly enough to: a) check the book out? b) spend my hard-earned... Continue Reading →
Michele Torrey on story beginnings
Looking over the first pages of your story? Michele Torrey has great advice on where to start: We’ve all read them: books that stupify the senses for the first few pages or — ack! — the first few chapters. Like the literary troopers we are, we wade through those mind-dulling pages, meanwhile muttering incantations, It... Continue Reading →
How you can improve your characters’ epiphanies
Darcy Pattison has a longish post on the art of the epiphany--that moment in a story where your character reveals something vital. Here's the top: “And then, it suddenly dawned on her.” That phrase is the ultimate cliche for a character epiphany. The term epiphany was originally a religious term referring to the physical... Continue Reading →
Getting serious about series #scbwiwwa
Kevin Emerson, Suzanne Young, J. Elizabeth Mills, and Trudi Trueit are talking about their work writing and editing book series. Suzanne Young: her quirky character led to the creation of a series from a single book (THE NAUGHTY LIST). Write relatable characters you want to be around. If she'd known it was being a series,... Continue Reading →
Oops! Are you writing a cliched fantasy?
Take the fifty-question quiz by David Parker. A few sample questions:Does nothing happen in the first fifty pages?Is your main character a young farmhand with mysterious parentage?Is your main character the heir to the throne but doesn't know it?Is your story about a young character who comes of age, gains great power, and defeats the... Continue Reading →
Bruce Hale’s newsletter has a great piece on writing novels
The Chet Gecko author sends out a newsletter about storytelling, and I especially liked this week's featured essay by Kathi Appelt. It's about what it takes to write a novel.To sign up for Bruce's newsletter, visit his site.Meanwhile, here's that essay:RAISE THE STAKES, HONEY!I have been a writer my whole life long, beginning with writing... Continue Reading →
A nice ‘show, don’t tell’ tip
Kathy Temean's blog has 7 tips for writers trying to show, not tell.I particularly liked No. 6:6. Search for “was” in your document. While “was” isn’t always used in telling situations, it is 80% of the time.Check out the whole list.