Okay, raise your hand out there if you watch ER or Grey’s Anatomy. It’s okay, no one can see you. And, not like I’m raising MY hand or anything, but hypothetically, let’s just say that if you are familiar with these particular medical (and I’m using that term a bit freely) dramas, then you know that they are really big long soap operas. Greys is, essentially, the on again, off again, hopefully on again (not that I would know) romance of Dr. Derrick McDreamy and Dr. Meredith Grey. Inside all this romance are the daily (read: episodic) events of a hospital in Seattle. What makes Grey’s kinda cute are the running monologues of the lead heroine, the thematic nuances she puts into the story, usually centered around the events of […]
Read the RestArchive | August, 2008
Layers verses Subplots – the truth exposed
One of my favorite teeny-bop movies is Chasing Liberty. Aside from the theme of the story – trying to keep a teenage girl (incidentally the president’s daughter) from misbehaving (if you know what I mean), it’s a cute story about the dilemma of a secret service agent to not fall in love with his assignment. Embedded in this tale is another tale – the romance of two secret service agents tracking above mentioned duo. Their story is what makes this movie such a delight – their banter, their eventual romance, their happy ending. It’s this extra story in a story that that gives the movie the extra sparkle that takes it from teeny-bop to good-enough-for-grownups. In short, the Subplot makes the movie. This week we’re going to talk about Subplots […]
Read the RestMake ’em cry with a metaphor
So yesterday we talked about the three common layers of emotional writing – the Surface, Skin-Deep and the Touch the Heart layers. This last layer is where a lot of authors stop. They have connected with their readers’ hearts, made them feel what their characters feel and that’s their goal. But there is another layer, one that goes even deeper, one that makes us connect with the character, an almost spiritual connection. And that’s what I call soul-deep. It’s the use of Metaphor to convey emotions. It’s the heart of showing. Let’s look at Dear Darla again. She has a book. A Fear of Flying book. She takes it out. Clutches it herself, and then almost frantically shoves it back into the bag. Then, after wiping her hands on her […]
Read the RestLayers of Emotional Writing
Okay, so remember Darla from the plane yesterday? (Like I’m ever going to forget her!) ~ We’re going to talk about writing character emotions today, and the three main layers that authors use when writing them. Feel free to refer back to Dear Darla during the examples. (Or maybe she’s already firmly embedded in your mind) 1. The first layer of writing emotions is simply that surface emotion – the name of the emotion. Darla turned me and said: “I’m a little nervous.” She stated her emotion. Examples of this first layer: ~ She stood at the entrance to the gateway and fear gripped her. ~ She could not watch the children in the playground without feeling sorrow. ~ Never had she know such happiness as when she saw […]
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