I am a “List and Schedule” girl – I like to have a checklist when I build a scene to make sure I’ve inserted everything into it that I can to give it the strongest emotional impact. One of those checklists, and something commonly missed are the five senses. To really draw your Storyworld, you need to use your five senses to engage the reader’s emotions. Sight. Smell. Sound. Touch.Taste. When you walk into a room, all your senses are a part of your understanding of that scene. Before you sit down to write, make a sensory list of everything you perceive in that scene. You’ll use it as a “cheat sheet” as you build the scene. Sight, of course, is what a scene is usually built on, but remember […]
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Conversations: How to build emotion into your Storyworld
A glorious blue sky beckoned me onto the porch of the coffee shop where a light summer breeze rustled the impatiens in the containers, the tangy scent of deep friend donuts scenting the air. I took a sip of coffee, waiting for Sally, watching the lazy caress of the waves upon the rocky shoreline, listened to gulls cheering on the tourists. Today, I would talk to Sally about using storyworld to build emotions. A great story is about connecting with the reader at an emotional level. We want them to feel what the character feels and thus engage in their experience on the page. Storyworld helps build the emotional engagement. How? With the right use of nouns and verbs, and the way they are woven together, the reader receives an […]
Read the RestThe I’s have it. But should they?
Ever listen to a conversation where “I” was the predominate word? I did this, I did that, I went here, I went there… I, I, I, I. After awhile, the picture is etched that the person talking is really into themselves. The same idea applies to writing in first person. As the writer and storyteller, it’s easy for us to get going in the first person narrative and forget to not let the “I’s” have it. When I started working with editor Ami McConnell, she warned me. “Watch the overuse of I.” “Hnnm, in first person?” I thought, but answered, “Okay, I’ll do that, very good idea.” Yes, it’s way easier said than done. It takes time, rethinking and rewriting to avoid the over use of I, or starting every […]
Read the RestAct 2: Jumping back into the suspense!
Yesterday, I addressed Scene Flow, and how in a romance scene, you might decide to develop it a bit more, making it longer. In a suspense, sometimes it’s nice to develop that before you jumpstart the action again. Today, we’re going to jump back into the suspense, drawing that element forward. Just to make sure I’m on the right track, I want to go back to my synopsis. It’s still my roadmap, even though I’ve been taking a few day trips… Luke wants his sister, who is a giant MacKenzie Grace fan to meet her, and the dinner out at the roadhouse seemed to go without a hitch…maybe no one will recognize her. But what Luke doesn’t know is that someone has recognized Kenzie – the reporter from the […]
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