I shop for groceries at a market that offers discount prices. Most of the food items aren’t brand name. Patrons bring their own bags or buy them at checkout. In order to use a shopping cart, you need to pay a quarter, but you receive your quarter back once you return the cart. The cashiers are efficient in scanning groceries because they are timed per transaction. This lessens gossiping with customers and co-workers that slow down lines. As I was packing my own groceries into my cloth bags, I thought about the efficiency of the store that allows me to get in and out with a month’s worth of groceries (yes, a month) in less than an hour. Carts aren’t left in the parking lot. Shelves are stocked daily by […]
Read the RestArchive | March, 2014
Extreme Book Makeover: Help Me Hook My Reader: Starting on the RUN!
I watched the Oscars last night. (Best. Oscars. Ever. #OscarTwitterPic #PizzaDelivery)
I’d only seen one of the movies in the Best Picture category – Gravity. In fact, I saw it this weekend, in our home theater, where I think I only breathed twice in an hour. Terrifying, in a non-horror-film, wow-I-never-want-to-be-there way.
The story, in a nutshell, is about a scientist who is working on the space shuttle – specifically OUTSIDE the shuttle in a spacewalk – when, due to a crazy set of circumstances — she gets untethered and thrown into space. Her quest is to somehow get back to earth.
It’s an amazing movie – the special effects will blow your mind.
And, it’s a great example of starting a movie with just the right amount of PIPE.
Pipe is the distance between the first sentence and the Noble Quest. As an author, you’re opening the faucet of your story, and the pipe is how long it takes for it to start spilling out. The shorter the pipe, the sooner your reader receives the benefit of the story.
However, many authors suffer from Too Much Pipe Syndrome, or the belief that they must tell their reader everything about their main character before the story starts for the reader to enjoy the story. Another way to put it is they start their story way too early.
Read the RestWelcome to March!
I have always loved March 1st. No matter how dreary the winter months, I begin to notice the days getting longer, the sun shining brighter and the promise of spring time rides on the wings of the wind. I know that in just a few weeks, we’ll celebrate the chronological passing away of Old Man Winter and usher in the season that is filled with new life and growth. It’s an exciting time for me and today is the day that sets all that in motion in my mind and heart. As a writer, you go through seasons as well. Each has blessings—and challenges—of its own. You may be going through a blustery time that seemingly will never end. It’s cold, dark and dreary. Emotional and career gray skies cast […]
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