▣ Winning
0 Comments added to this post
What does it mean to win? I explore this question in the piece below. I remember an old poem that explored the question also. This must be an important question for me since I keep coming back to it.
For Memoirs Writers: What have you won in your life? Did you try hard to win it or was it easy? Did it make your life better?
▣ Elements of Fiction that grabs you and won't let go.
0 Comments added to this post
Voice of the person telling the story is important. Is it a meek, haughty, happy or angry voice?
The strangeness of the plot: What is different than anything you've read before? What is the un-exoected sub plot?
Death or a great loss is a real possibiliy: There is a lot at stake for the protagonist. The loss could be of a loved one, a career, a fortune or what ever.
Main Character: Need to learn more about him, what time he lives in, how he lives ect.
Doorway of no return: There's a point where the protagonist can't go back. He's made a decision and must live or die with it.
For Memoirs Writers: What is your favorite book and why is it your favorite? What made it special to you? Include fairy tales. Some psychologists think that we unconsciously act out our favorite fairy tales.
▣ Suppose/Secrets
0 Comments added to this post
Suppose a man starts killing mothers of small children, then selling the children. Suppose his first sale is now 18 years old, finds out she's adopted and that her parents bought her. Suppose she goes on a search to find her real parents so she can confront them for having sold her.
Do the above and you have the plot to Dream Buster my latest novel. It' s the first one with a serial killer.
For Memoirs Writers: Suppose you had made a different choice at some critical point in your life. Example: you chose a different mate, a different place to live or to travel in Europe. How would your life be different now? What did you almost choose that could have drastically altered your life?
▣ Holiday Melancholia
0 Comments added to this post
- Tags:
- Christmas melancholy,money, lonely, ways to cope
- songs,cry, why, when,where, what, who
- synopsis,how to,surprize,ending, Agents,Editors
- Thanksgiving, thankful, recipe. friends
- threat, worry, protagonist, tension, micro tension
- tour, Columbus, Chillicothe, Bainbridge, Sinking spring,ancestors, genealogy, family stories, Crum,cemetary
- What\'s up,shoes, applacian,nature, drama,mystery, suspense, shoes
- writer\'s block,woodcarving, character sheets,review of character,breaking the logjam
- writer\'s voice, Mary Higgan\'s Clark,be yourself,unique, Bite of the Serpent
- writing romance, the watcher,Boucheran, writing conference, hike in snow
Everyone seems to become more sensitive during the holidays and if something is wrong, it feels much more wrong at that time than at any other time. Depression looms large when you've no one to share your life with and if you don't have much money it's easy to think there is nothing you can do to brighten your holidays.
That isn't True!
I like the idea of lonely people banding together to share the season like a family would. It may not be ideal but it can be special. Some recreation centers and senior centers have parties ect and are cheap to join but for those who this won't work for, there are still options. A friend of mine recently lamented that he had no car, no money, and his family wasn't even getting together this year for a celebration because they couldn't afford it. I made some of the following suggestions to him as well as some other ideas more personal to his situation.
Christmas is magic...don't forget it but let the magic reach out to and envelope you. Santa Clause is a spirit if not a man.
▣ More about writing from workshop notes
0 Comments added to this post
- Tags:
- pain,material,poem,liquid grief
- pesky,poem, challenge,serendipity,joy, hate,unfair
- poem, Bookworld,time, phone, alone
- poetry, soul, different designs, the veil,respite, me, me, me
- reminder, blog, mysteries of southern ohio
- scribes, house of scribes, new world, peace pipe, natives
- short story,burglar, post, shotgun
- SIC,crime,goals, book signings,Chillicothe,Bite of the Serpent, mysteries of southern Ohio, google
- smile, laughter, funny, antagonist, world view,stereotype, reverse
- songs,cry, why, when,where, what, who
- synopsis,how to,surprize,ending, Agents,Editors
- Thanksgiving, thankful, recipe. friends
- threat, worry, protagonist, tension, micro tension
- tour, Columbus, Chillicothe, Bainbridge, Sinking spring,ancestors, genealogy, family stories, Crum,cemetary
- What\'s up,shoes, applacian,nature, drama,mystery, suspense, shoes
- writer\'s block,woodcarving, character sheets,review of character,breaking the logjam
- writer\'s voice, Mary Higgan\'s Clark,be yourself,unique, Bite of the Serpent
- writing romance, the watcher,Boucheran, writing conference, hike in snow
For my memoirs followers: Write about a special Thanksgiving. Who was there, was it good, was it bad. Why? What was happy, and what was sad about it.
▣ Protagonist Development
0 Comments added to this post
More from my notes from Bouchercon with person input and expirence added.
Memoirs writers Prompt: Have you ever attended a conference, concert or other event that was important to you? Write about it
What does your Protagonist want?
Each scene you write is about something your protagonist and other characters want.
In the book I’m currently writing, my protagonist wants to know who her real parents are or were. What three things indicate that she’ll get what she wants or that she won’t?
- People involved have too much to lose if she finds out
- Because of A they will disclaim all knowledge
- She has no proof of her suspicions
Things change when:
- Antagonist realizes her intent. His awareness changes.
How do you know how long it will be before this will happen?
- Ask your protagonist who are you and get a description .Did she say I’m frustrated, keep running into dead ends. What did she propose to do about it? Can anyone help her?
Add dialogue to show how she feels as well as action and internal dialogue.
Keep the micro tension going and going and going so it builds for your protagonist and thus for your reader. Sometimes tighter words and shorter sentences increase tension.
Add threat or worry to the mix. Emotions should be conflicting and contradictory as in real life. What is the dominant emotion? What is it’s opposite?