Why can’t readers just be inside my brain? That’s the problem, isn’t it? Trying to help the reader grasp a scene without giving them too little information, or also overwhelming them. So often, I have my cast of characters, and I want to throw everybody into the first scene, treating them as old friends (which they are to me), without remembering that my reader hasn’t met them yet. Here’s a scene of my recent book, Reclaiming Nick. I wanted to portray Nick as the hero he is…but with all the players in the scene, it became clunky, and hard for the reader to follow. Let’s take a look. (My comments are in italics) *** When the lanky form of Saul Lovell walked into the Watering Hole Café, dragging with him […]
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About Susan May Warren
Former Russian Missionary Susan May Warren is the best-selling author of more than 40 novels and novellas with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill, and Summerside. A Christy award and RITA winner, and multiple finalist for the RITA, Christy and winner of Inspirational Readers Choice contest, Susan currently has over a million books in print. A seasoned women’s events speaker and writing teacher, she is the founder of http://www.mybooktherapy.com an online community for writers, and runs a fiction editing service teaching writers how to tell a great story. Visit her online at: http://www.susanmaywarren.com.Author Archive | Susan May Warren
Ask the Doc: Raising Tension by creating Peripheral Stakes
My bad — as I was getting into my cab yesterday on my way home from Dallas, I hollered at my Book Therapy cohort, Rachel, to blog about Dr. Notes, forgetting that Tuesday was Drs. Notes day– and yesterday was Ask the Doc — so, sorry for that switcharoo! I taught four workshops at last weeks American Christian Fiction Writer’s conference, and then spent all day Sunday brainstorming with my crit partners. One of the most common questions that surfaced had to do with keeping tension tight on every page. Someone said, “I have a main plot, with lots of tension, but the story seems to slow in the middle to almost a standstill. How do I keep that tension increasing on each page? Great question. And one solution: Create […]
Read the RestBook Therapy Prescriptions: Listen to Me! How to craft a character that resonates week #2
Last week we talked about sitting down with your character and getting to the bottom of who he thinks he is (I feel as if I’m talking to one of my teenagers – WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, MISTER?) to discover their values, dreams and fears. WHY? Because we want to make them SUFFER. But why do we want suffering, Doc? Isn’t that cruel? Hey – that’s the price of a good story! Lots of angst and suffering. Suffering makes the character uncomfortable, and causes…CONFLICT! Hint #2: Create Conflict they can’t live with! Conflict is what drives a story. We talked about inner conflict – that conflict in values. And we pinpointed the external conflict by determining our characters greatest dreams and greatest fears. Now, let’s use all that […]
Read the RestDoctors Notes: Stakes vs. Challenges: Driving a story.
I watched a movie this weekend, one of the best thrillers out there for continually raising stakes and forcing the viewer at the end of her seat: Cellular. In a nutshell, it’s a movie about a woman who is kidnapped. She uses a demolished phone to call for help and gets a hold of a young man whose girlfriend has broken up with him because of his irresponsibility. A deadline of sorts hangs over their conversation (and we’ll talk about deadlines in an upcoming book therapy), because at any moment, they could get cut off, and she may never be able to dial out again. She must convince this guy to help her and eventually get involved to the point where he begins to break the law and risk his […]
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