Maybe you first heard of the “story spine” from Stanley Williams’ book, The Moral Premise. But I actually thought of the concept all by my lonesome the winter of 2011 at the first Deep Thinkers Retreat. Because it became clear to me we HAVE to know what the story is about in order to develop the character and the plot. The pitch is that one or two lines, the concept, of the story that you tell editors or agents. Or you friends when they ask, “What’s your story about.” You must be able to tell it in one or two succinct sentences. If you ramble or start telling too much, then you’re not nailing the core of your story. For example, my pitch for Dining with Joy was “It’s about […]
Read the RestTag Archives | Rachel Hauck
The Power of the Rewrite A #TBT Repost
Note: I’m swamped with my own rewrite! So here’s a throw-back-Thursday post from last year. The Power of A Rewrite Q: Dear Therapist, I hear that novels are not written they are rewritten. But I edit as I write. Is that considered rewriting?, all I feel I need is a final polish. Why should I spend time with a rewrite? What do I gain? A: I love this topic. To rewrite or not to rewrite… that is the question. Let’s just say up front, everyone has a different writing process. Fast, slow, edit-as-you-go, write and rewrite. Early risers, late nighters. A thousand words a day. Five thousand words a day. Writers come in all shapes and mind-sets. Some writers plot to the minute detail. Others have a loose idea of […]
Read the RestLearning from Fairytales: Creating An Enchanting Heroine
Fairytales heroines nab our attention because they are either princesses, become princesses or encounter the supernatural. Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, The Snow Queen. Even the heroine in Rumpelstiltskin marries the King who locked her in a room, demanding she turn straw into gold. (What’s up with that, by the way? Marrying the greedy guy put you in a tower?) But fairytale heroines are often tools in a morality story. A symbol. A two-dimensional character that shuffles the plot along to teach a valued lesson. For a novel, we need a heroine readers can relate to, who looks someone like them even if they are a princess, or meet a prince, or who’s superpower is strictly her beauty. From the web site Den of Geeks: “We don’t care who they are, […]
Read the Rest
Learning from Fairytales: Story World Building Part II
Fairytales can’t exist without story world. Where would we be without Cinderella’s magic garden with the fairy godmother? Or Snow White’s dash through the evil forest to meet up with seven spunky dwarfs? How about Beast’s castle? The enchanted place where Belle found herself detained? The last time on the fairytale blog, I talked about the elements of story world being visual, emotional and symbolic. Today we’ll look at mystical and societal. Mystical Below is an excerpt from the book I just finished about a long lost princess returning to her great grandmother’s country. She looks out the palace window to see a glow in the forest. “You don’t see a white light? Kind of sparkly? In the woods?” Franz stared ahead, his hand wrapped around the thick curtain cord. […]
Read the Rest
