Onstage and Offstage Action in Fiction

Monday, December 31, 2007

On the stage or screen we witness most of the story, don't we? Occasionally, some action takes place offstage, and we learn of it through hearsay. For example, in Hamlet we don't witness what happens on Hamlet's voyage to England. But we do know that Claudius has arranged for his murder there. So, we see Hamlet reach the coast, thunder his great soliloquy, and embark. Then, back at the ranch….The

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The Business of Writing

Friday, December 28, 2007

Some thoughts on the business end of writing. But first a disclaimer: If you are getting business advice from me, you are in trouble!That said, here are a few things I learned and noticed. Note that, in college, I was one of those "helper types" (studying to be a teacher) who would have felt it beneath me to stoop to a mercenary course of study by taking any business classes. So, what I do know,

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Writing in Immediate Scene

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Via Bertram's Blog:It wasn’t bad, merely boring; it read like a synopsis rather than a fleshed out novel.Like a synopsis, eh? In other words, no immediate scene. I have finally given way to the belief that many would-be novelists just don't know what immediate scene is! They're faking it when they pretend they know what you're talking about.Nonetheless, you'd think they'd notice the glaring

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On Writing & the Price of 50-Pound Paper

Friday, December 21, 2007

I recently revisited one of the many writers' fora on the Net and was immediately reminded of why I quit doing so. I suppose there are some good ones out there, but I haven't run across any.In this case, right at the top I found the one billionth example of good advice going in one ear and out the other. The obtuseness of 99.9% of these people is amazing! It all bounces off their foreheads.How

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Distancing Characters in Fiction Writing

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Though you ordinarily want reader intimacy, sometimes it's best to keep the reader at arm's length — either from the story or from a character (even perhaps the protagonist) or both.For example, especially in the opening of a novel, you don't want to the reader to feel accosted by something off-putting that is too close for comfort. He hasn't been hooked yet and may put the book down. So, if the

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Writing to the Imagination

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

We process words as language in the frontal lobe of the brain. We do it the way a computer processes computer language. As we mature, we become increasingly able to process words another way too, as raw stimuli. This happens as we accumulate a vast store of experiences in memory farther back. They are networked words, images, sounds, and so forth — a relational database.We use this farther-back

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American English or British English?

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Let's say that you're an entrepreneur who speaks English as a second language and needs to write published articles or technical documentation in English for an international audience.You haven't time to waste, so here we go.First you must decide whether to use British English or American English. Until recently, British English was the international standard. However, today American English is

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Location Hopping in Fiction

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Remember that variety is the spice of life. By location hopping you enhance reader interest and enjoyment by moving around to different and unexpected locations. Vary the story's settings as much as possible. When planning your novel, think up eight or ten locations for the scenes. Unless your story must be set in a particular locale, the whole world is your playground.Location hopping also

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The Reader's Experience

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Art is a medium of communication. Every art form is a language. Each language has its possibilities and limitations.Novelists work with words. In some ways this art form is least limited in the type of information it can convey. For example, though the visual arts (like photography, sculpture, and painting) give us access to the subject's inner person, only words can take you right into her head.

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Wanna Be an Editor?

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Has some small print publication flattered you by asking you to be an editor? Well, when you see the pay, you see why.Even editors who know what they’re doing get their behinds chewed by authors. Editors who don’t know what they’re doing have a short life expectancy.Wanna be an editor? Then learn the trade.No, straight A’s through four years of an Ivy League major in English doesn’t qualify you.

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The Fictive Dream

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Though a novel is a commercial product, like a drug or the performance of a stage play, it provides a service. So, the writer should think of novel writing as a performing art and a service industry. The key to success in any service business is a keen sense of what the customer wants. What he really wants — which isn't necessarily what he says he wants. For example, a tennis pro knows that

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Fictional Character Theory

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Fictional characters aren't exactly like real people. For one thing, they are simpler than real people. This is largely because when we look at a real person, we seldom see her "being herself." Instead we see the image of herself that she projects. But when we look at a fictional character, we usually see her true self. We get into her head. Also, our view of a real person is almost always

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