Guest Blogger Francis H. Powell writes about creating a great story. Confronted with a blank screen, poised to tap away, how to go about creating that great story. Perhaps one primary consideration is the theme. Maybe the theme should be a ghostly shadow within the confines of the story, not screaming at the reader, but there none the less. It may make the reader think about their own lives, there might be a moral to be learned, but a writer should not take on the role of a preacher. Then there has to be a plot, all the conflict or struggle that the main character or characters go through. The conflict should develop in intensity and excitement, reaching some kind of climax. If you are writing a novel there may be a number of conflicts interspersed, but a short story will have only one principal conflict. Moving onto story structure, …
Category: Guest Bloggers
Literary Agent Mary C. Moore has personal experience with The Rejection Form
Guest Blogger Mary C. Moore (literary agent) writes about the rejection form letter. I recently wrote a short story, my first in over a year. Inspiration struck and I listened. Unlike novel writing, short stories are short-term rewarding because you reach “the end,” while you are still loving that muse whispering in your ear. I was particularly excited about this story, as I knew exactly which magazine I was going to submit it to. A few years ago, said magazine had rejected another story of mine, but with glowing praise and a request to see more of my work. I kept that in mind, because this magazine is a professionally paying market and one that would be quite a feather in my writing resume. Thus after some furious late nights, anxious waiting for the beta reads to come back, and a lot of editing, I sent off my beautiful 3k-word…
My endings are always asymptotes. —Rachael Herron
A conversation with Rachael Herron, author of The Ones Who Matter Most. “How did you get the idea for this book?” “The original idea for any of my novels usually gets buried so deep that by the time I’ve finished writing, I can barely remember what the first ideas was. This book, though, was different. The first scene was my original idea.” “Do you always know the endings of your novels when you start them?” “I wish! I know writers who know their endings and aim for them like marksmen. Rather than apples to be hit with arrows, though, my endings are always asymptotes. I write toward them forever, getting closer and closer but never quite getting there. Usually I have to revise the whole book (minus the ending) a few times until I figure out what should really happen.” Excerpted from the Conversation Guide at the end of Rachael…
Is there a ghost in your future?
Guest Blogger Holly Robinson writers about ghost writing: Recently, I appeared on a radio show to promote a literary event. We were talking about my latest novel, but inevitably the host asked, “So you’re a ghostwriter, too? Who have you written for?” I laughed and gave my standard answer: “Sorry. If I told you, I’d have to kill you.” “But don’t you even care if your name’s not on the cover?” he asked, sounding offended on my behalf. The truth? No. I write novels, essays, and articles under my own name, but when I’m ghostwriting, my job is to stand behind the curtain and channel a voice. By now, I have ghosted over twenty books. I fell into the profession accidentally when my agent, who knew I’d studied biology in college, asked if I’d be interested in helping an editor fix a messy health book written by a doctor. In…
Is serialization in your future?
Guest Blogger Daedalus Howell reveals a tried and true method to reach new audiences. The revolution will be serialized. As it’s always been. Much of episodic entertainment, from our favorite shows on Netflix or premium cable to the summertime superhero blockbusters, are issued in discrete elements that comprise a whole story. Comic books have long functioned in this manner, ditto popular literature, which was once serialized in newspapers. And, of course, there’s the staggeringly popular Serial podcast, which not only popularized a new storytelling medium but so embraced the concept of serialization that it branded itself with it. Clearly, serialization is back, representing to some, a vanguard in publishing. It can also be an integral part of your creative process. This is what I’ve found creating Quantum Deadline, a sci-fi crime romp that comically explores the death of newspapers through the foggy lens of a reporter tripping through the multiverse….
Jane Dystel: How long should it take to write a novel?
Today’s Guest Blogger is Jane Dystel, president of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management: Over the weekend, I finished a remarkable first novel. The author had taken many years to complete this work and, in the end, I think the time it took her to do so has paid off (of course, only the marketplace will tell). Thinking about this – the time it takes a writer to finish a book – brought to mind how different each writer’s process is. I found this very interesting piece on the subject in the Huffington Post. I have clients who take many years to finish their novels, much like the writer whose work I read this weekend. Then, there are those who actually ask for deadlines (from me) by when they should have their next manuscript completed. And then, of course, there are those who can conceptualize their stories and write them down…
Guest Bloggers Wanted
Thursdays are Guest Bloggers days on The Write Spot Blog. If you have tips about the craft or the business of writing, you could be a guest blogger. Email your idea to Marlene. Perhaps you have tips about: ~How to find time to write ~ Ways to develop characters ~How to incorporate location in writing ~Writing Resources ~Helpful writing websites ~How to research ~How to write realistic action during a dialogue scene Being a guest blogger is a great way to share what you know about writing. Think of it like writing an article for a writing magazine. What is your special writing tip? BLOG HOP – Before participating as a Blog Hopper, I wondered what that meant. I could not picture it. Right now, I’m part of a St. Patrick’s Day Blog Hop, organized by author and blogger Francis H. Powell. Here’s how it works: Click on Blog Hop….
Amanda McTigue Untethered
Guest Blogger Amanda McTigue . . . I’ll confess with some dismay that contrary to the many uplifting articles and memoirs I have read about the serenity of older age, it continues to elude me. Serenity, that is, not the march of years across my face, kneecaps and pelvic floor muscles. I’m looking forward to any later-in-life serenity that may come my way. Indeed, I practice all kinds of meditations and mantras and daily exercises, etc., to invite it in. But my emotional set point tends to be what it’s always been: low-level (self)doubt. That’s the place whence I write. If that’s true for you, let me offer some slant wisdom here from some fellow artists. Take Tatiana Maslany. You may have seen her in a futuristic TV show called “Orphan Black” in which she plays (gorgeously!) multiple clones of herself. She’s a hell of a young actor, and here…
Where Do You Get Your Story?
Guest Blogger Leslie Larson gives us the scoop on where stories come from. Writers on reading tours can be pretty sure that as soon as it’s time for Q & A, someone’s going to ask them where they got the story. That’s the word that’s usually used, got, as if the author might have picked up the story in the maternity ward at San Francisco General Hospital, or found it in the frozen food aisle at Safeway. The question might be offhand, as in, “Where’d you find those chenille throw pillows? or it may be asked with the earnestness and urgency of a child questioning the existence of God. It’s often followed by a swarm of spinoff questions. Did the story come to you all of a sudden? Did you just start writing and see what happened? Did you start with an outline? Did this happen to you? Some writers…
Guest Blogger Rob Koslowsky explains future verbage
Guest Blogger Rob Koslowsky writes about how . . . Mathematicians Address Verb(al) Decay Regular verbs feature a past tense that ends in “ed.” Words like brush or bump become brushed and bumped in the past tense. But what do you do with those irregular verbs that don’t follow such an easy rule? Arise becomes arose (past simple) or arisen (past participle) while find becomes found in both cases of past tense. English students need not despair. Two mathematicians recently collaborated and uncovered the fact that irregular verbs will convert to a regular form. It just takes time. The principle of atomic half-life is invoked. Erez Lieberman and Jean-Baptiste Michel’s formula suggests that the more popular the verb the longer the time it takes to be reduced to a regular form in its past tense. For example, have will become haved instead of had—in 38,800 years—and hold will become holded…