Stories as Transformational Literature
Often we think of stories as mere entertainment, but by telling a story we can actually transform a reader: Identity phase A story does not begin until you have a character, in a milieu, with a conflict. At this phase of the story, my goal is threefold: 1) Create a character who audiences will identify […]
David Farland’s Kick in the Pants—Writing the Perfect Story, Part 3
I’ve been talking about some of the attributes that I would look for in a perfect story, whether it be a novel, movie, or short story. In particular, I’ve been discussing some of the attributes that a story should have that novice writers might not think about when they begin to compose. One I’d like […]
Writing a Perfect Story, Part 15
As one looks at perfect stories, there is nothing that is “required” for the ending. The tale doesn’t have to leave the protagonist in a better state than when it started. Some fine stories actually leave the protagonist emotionally and intellectually ruined. Nor are there any devices that must be used. A perfect story doesn’t […]
David Farland’s Kick in the Pants—Writing the Perfect Story, Part 8
In writing a novel, one must consider, “What makes a perfect character?” Very often I’ve heard writing instructors mention that we should create “strong” characters. After thirty years of writing, I still don’t know what that means—and neither do they! Part of the problem of course is that there are dozens of types of characters—everything […]
David Farland’s Kick in the Pants—Writing the Perfect Story, Part 5
Over the past four days I’ve been enumerating some of the basic virtues that a perfect story—whether it be a movie, novel, or other piece of short fiction—would have. In particular, I’m going to couch this article in terms of writing today. It almost would seem to go without saying that a perfect story would […]
David Farland’s Kick in the Pants—Writing the Perfect Story, Part 4
For the past couple of days I’ve been discussing some of the positive attributes that you will find in a “perfect” story. There are a lot of things that I could discuss, but some take longer than others. Here is another one: Multidimensionality. Very often when I was reading slush for the Writers of the […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips – Twelve Exercises for Developing Characters
There are a lot of exercises that can help you create characters. Most of them simply force you to focus
on your character and stretch your imagination in some way by answering questions about the
characters. These questions might touch upon the outer looks of the character, the character’s history,
the character family and contacts, or the character’s inner hopes and fears. But creating characters for
fantasy and science fiction worlds offers extra challenges. Here are a few exercises that I’ve found
helpful:
Writing a Christmas Cozy Mystery
For at least five or six years, I’ve been wanting to write a Christmas cozy mystery. I thought it would be fun to explore my recurring characters’ Christmas traditions and how the town celebrated.
Heart-Centered Book Marketing
Instead of thinking I had to contact hundreds of book bloggers to see if they’d like to review my book, I started with one blogger a week. By the end of 3 months, my book had appeared on about 20 blogs and received 10 reviews.
Eliminating On The Nose Dialoge
Crafting Authentic Dialogue: A Guide to Eliminating On-The-Nose Conversations Today’s writing tip comes from Alex Bloom, the founder of Script Reader Pro, a screenplay consultancy and blog based in Los Angeles dedicated to helping aspiring and working screenwriters. Whether or not you are a screenwriter, Alex’s writing tip applies to narrative writing too. Eliminating On-The-Nose Dialogue Have […]