Zap-Pow! Then What Happened? Tension is king. Never miss an opportunity for a good argument! Definition: Most of us hate conflict and confrontation. Even in our books. But tension is king! Donald Maass suggest tension on every page. Better yet, on every line. Tension doesn’t mean argument. Tension means “things aren’t going well.” For example: A conflict arises for your heroine. She gets pulled over for speeding. Instead of the officer letting her off, she gets a ticket. This upsets her. While she’s getting a ticket, her mother calls to say Uncle Ned is coming Sunday and our girl is expected at the house for dinner. She blows up. Why is Mama always so bossy? Our heroine will do what she wants for Sunday dinner. She might have plans already. Ever […]
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Ten Common Author Mistakes #6
Cry Me A River Telling emotion rather than showing. Definition: Showing verses telling applies primarily to emotion. It’s the authors job to show the reader what the characters are doing and feeling. Even what the character is thinking through the action on the page. Telling means the author is describing the emotion and reaction in the prose. Struggling to show verses tell might mean the author doesn’t know what the characters want in the scene or the scene goal. Showing “pictures” the emotion, pictures the action. Most authors do this well. He slammed the door shut as he left the room. She gunned the gas as she headed for home. We get they are angry. But where we get a bit lost is in showing the emotion of the scene. […]
Read the RestTen Common Author Mistakes. #5
It Was Raining, You Know? Did I Tell You It Was Raining? A Nor’easter If Ever There Was One Rehashing what the reader already knows. Definition: Hanging on a plot point too long as a way to make sure the reader gets it, OR as a way to boost word count. This is a big struggle for a lot of writers. I see this in published books all the time. The heroine ponders the hero’s invitation to dinner for three chapters. The hero ponders asking the heroine to dinner for a whole chapter. The heroine ponders her future husband while pondering what she has to do to save the family estate – for sixty pages. Don’t linger! Move the story forward. Set the problem once and move one. Hint at it one more […]
Read the RestTen Common Author Mistakes. #4
You do realize these common author mistakes I’m blogging about are my opinion only and not subject to any known or award winning authors. I formulated these ten things while on a reading spree this summer. So, take them for what they are worth. Okay, numero quatro! He said, She Said. They Came, They Saw, They Went Leaving the reader suspended in time and space. This one actually surprised me. But I read several novels recently — one a YA and the other an historical — and I was lost on where I was as the reader. I wasn’t sure how much time had advance. The scene’s stage had little to no description. I couldn’t get a feel for the “space” the characters lived in. In the YA, the protagonist […]
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