How to Write a Damned Good Scene, Part 1
Often while looking at the scenes a new writer creates, I take a look and think, Well, that’s pretty lame. So how do you avoid writing lame scenes? First, you need to brainstorm every scene. There are a few common questions that need to be answered in each one. Who is your viewpoint character? This […]
Being Culturally Appropriate
Lately I’ve heard a lot of people grousing about cultural appropriation. That’s where an author writes a story set in a world that he or she isn’t a part of. For example, it happens when an author decides quite innocently, “I think I’ll write a story about a gay black Catholic who joins ISIL.” When […]
Finding Your Theme
In brainstorming a work, you will often find that you want your characters to behave in certain ways. And as they grow and develop, you may even find that you need to justify why they do what they do. If you get deep enough into their thought processes, you can almost imagine them arguing with […]
One Impossibility
If you write a novel set in the real world—whether it is historical or modern—you don’t have to worry so much about “creating” a world as “researching” your setting. But if you are writing science fiction or fantasy, you very often “create” a world from scratch. There are a couple of approaches that you can […]
Dealing with Movie Producers
Many new writers imagine that they’ll never have to worry about having movie producers come knocking at the door, but that’s a big mistake. You see, by nature, movie producers are always looking for story material, and most of the time that material is created by other storytellers, either screenwriters or novelists, but sometimes short […]
The Perfect Story: Surprise
Lately I’ve been talking a bit about some of the attributes that one will find in a perfect story. One of those has to be what I will call “surprise.” Now, in particular I look for surprise as we reach the climax of a tale. A good climax will almost always have some twist that […]
How do You Create Your Career as a Writer?
So here are your action items:
If you don’t have an author website, build one and begin talking about how you are chasing your dream of being a writer.
On that website, capture the email addresses of visitors.
Make a list of family members, friends, schoolmates, and business associates who might also be interested in your work.
When you speak at libraries or conventions, make sure that you add to your list every single time.
A week before your first novel comes out, email your fans and let them know. Then send a second notice on the day that it goes on sale.
Write Till it Shines
Today I was listening to author Nedi Okorafor—winner of the Hugo, the Nebula, and the World Fantasy award, and she spoke of a method of writing that is something that my gut tells me is exciting. She said that very often, an idea will come to her as a bit of dialog, where a character […]
The Perfect Story: Coalesce
A perfect story coalesces. Its many parts eventually form an organic whole that makes sense to the audience and reveals more than has been told. A good story may take pages and pages to tell. They contain so much information about characters, settings, conflicts, internal thoughts, ambitions, and fears that they cannot be told in […]
The Perfect Story: Escalate
The perfect story escalates smoothly from scene to scene, creating a sense of rising action. I’ve spoken before about ways that stories can escalate. There really are only two ways—through deepening a conflict, making it so that it affects the protagonists more profoundly; or through broadening, so that the conflict affects more people. But a […]