So yesterday, we went through a high action scene, working through the details that went beyond structure to words and cadence. “But, Susie, I don’t write a thriller!” you say. Not a problem. You can still write a riveting scene using the basic princicples I laid out yesterday…. First, we: Start with Setting and the Current State of Affairs Then we establish the Goals of the scene And we won’t forget to fortify the Motivations of your characters action/decisions Finally we can write the Action of the scene. And we’re going to pay special mind to the sentence structure and words we use to create mood. This excerpt is from Finding Stefanie – it’s a subplot character named Gideon who wakes up in Stefanie’s house after […]
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Come with Me over the mountains
We worship God in song and prayer, reading the Word. Perhaps with our money and time. Most of us like to think we are humble and submitted to God in most areas of our life, but… Are we partnering with Him? One common phrase I heard from Believers in this election season was, “Well, God’s in control. He’s going to do what He wants.” Not to discourage my Reform and Calvinistic friends because there is a truth and reality to God’s sovereignty, but we are His Elect. A royal priesthood, a chosen nation. As we humble ourselves, He hears. In Song of Solomon, Jesus the Bridegroom beckons us to partner with Him. “Come with me my fair one. Over the mountains and through the valleys.” We are called to interceded […]
Read the RestHe’s a new man
So, now that our hero has confronted his Darkest Moment, and seen the light, we’ve come to the last step of character change…the New Man. The changed person he/she has become, complete with new skills, new beliefs, and new courage. New Man usually happens before the finale – before the final storming of the castle, so we can see our New Man using his newfound skills/character change. Sometimes they are even tested… For example, remember the scene in the Hunt for Red October where, after they’re on the submarine, and AFTER Sean Connery says (in his terrible Russian, I might add), to Jack Ryan “Oh, I remember you – you wrote that book, and got it all wrong” – jack has a mini black moment there. A realization that he’s […]
Read the RestThe Black Moment in Character Change
It seems ironic that today we’re talking about the Black Moment in character change, the day after we have one of the closest political races in history. Half of America is waking up looking at the blue skies, the other half see the gloom. Regardless, it’s an opportunity for everyone to examine what they believe. And, if you’re a McCain follower, it’s an opportunity to say, what now? How then shall I go forward? A Character at the crux of their Black Moment needs to ask the same questions. If you’ve been following My Book Therapy, think back to the beginning of the year when we started developing our characters. We talked about a character’s greatest fears, and why they had them, and then used that to create the Black […]
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