Trusting Your Process
As you do this you’ll find yourself thrust into an imaginary world where your character must react to stimuli and try to overcome obstacles. It only takes about 25 minutes of doing this for you to reach that Beta-state of consciousness.
How to be an Imaginative Writer
Creating that world is a simple trick. We “create” the world by reporting on it, repeatedly using images, sights, sounds, smells, and tastes that excite the mind and make it feel real. Very often, to create that world requires us to repeat information in different ways. For example, if I want to create “rain” in my story, I must have my reader see it coming in the distance, smell the taste of moisture in the air, feel the wet drops as they begin to plop down, and so on.
Creating Rooting Interest Early
We develop strong rooting interest and care more about characters who care deeply about something, who are committed to something. Perhaps they care about their families, or have a powerful love for their country. Maybe your character loves his horse, or is uncommonly honest or honorable.
Greenlight Your Story’s Concept
In short, a story isn’t just one idea, it’s a conglomeration—basic concepts about characters, how and why they act, and how others react to them. If you analyze even a short story, one that is only ten pages long, you’ll find that the author makes dozens, maybe even hundreds of choices regarding milieu, character, conflict, theme, and treatment.
Rules for Your Writing Group
In our Apex writing group, Apex is an umbrella organization that provides services for a large number of writers, but we also encourage writers to do things in smaller groups. For example, some writers are having great success by meeting together for daily writing sprints, or weekly brainstorming sessions or critique groups. Remember, a writing group is a living, growing thing. It may change over time, and your rules need to evolve with it.
Deciding What to Write
Before you start writing a novel, screenplay, or any tale at all, you should look at two things: Do you like the basic concept? Will the story sell? In short, before you write anything, you need to take an adequate survey of the field.
Deciding What to Write
Before you start writing a novel, screenplay, or any tale at all, you should decide a number of things: 1) Do you like the basic concept? If you aren’t excited about a novel, chances are excellent that you’ll lack the energy to finish it. Your subconscious will rebel at the idea, and you’ll just […]
Writing Media Tie-ins
One perennial need is for novelists to write film or gaming tie-ins. If you are a successful writer, the chances are excellent that all kinds of people will approach you to write for them. Imagine for a moment that you’re a producer and you’ve created a major motion picture, a television series, or a video […]
A Kick in the Pants: Attributions in Dialog
There are a lot of ways to weave your attribution into your dialog. For example, bestseller John Green will often have well-known characters talk without description, just giving a name before the dialog.
Green Test for Overusing the F-Bomb
Today’s writing tip is offered by Jan Nerenberg. The “Green” test for the “F” bomb. What is it and how can you use it to avoid overusing the f-bomb? Recently I edited a manuscript and noted the overuse of the “f” word. The writer questioned why the use of the “f” bomb was offensive, after […]