As writers, we should never stop learning the craft. The more we write, the more we learn. I’m very fortunate to work with a brilliant editor who sees the art beneath all my mistakes and gently guides me in the right direction. Haven recently rewritten a book with my editors guidance, here are three things I’ve added to my arsenal. Dialog. Yes, of course, I’ve always used dialog. I consider it one of the most important factors of fiction writing, but dialog must count. In 2008, I honed the idea that dialog creates momentum, moves the story forward. Don’t slow it down with paragraphs of description or internal thought. Keep action tags and speaker attributes behind the dialog as much as possible. Of course, the “rule” can be bent, but […]
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Layers of Emotional Writing
Okay, so remember Darla from the plane yesterday? (Like I’m ever going to forget her!) ~ We’re going to talk about writing character emotions today, and the three main layers that authors use when writing them. Feel free to refer back to Dear Darla during the examples. (Or maybe she’s already firmly embedded in your mind) 1. The first layer of writing emotions is simply that surface emotion – the name of the emotion. Darla turned me and said: “I’m a little nervous.” She stated her emotion. Examples of this first layer: ~ She stood at the entrance to the gateway and fear gripped her. ~ She could not watch the children in the playground without feeling sorrow. ~ Never had she know such happiness as when she saw […]
Read the RestTricks or Treats
So you’ve figured out your BIG EVENT, and made it believeable and compelling and immediate and threatening. But to really create a great suspense, you new a few TRICKS! Here’s the first one: Grab ‘em with a HOOK from the first line. The suspense Hook is essential for a great story. Your hook should, set the tone, start with your hero/heroine in action, hint at the stakes and raise a story question. However, there is one key that every suspense hook needs to have: Intrigue. Why? How? What? It needs to raise one of these questions right at the beginning. Here are some of my hooks: The past had picked the worst time to find her. (What?) from Flee the Night Out of all FSB Agent Yanna Andrevka’s bright ideas, masquerading […]
Read the RestThe Big Event
Okay, so you’ve introduced your hero and heroine, and the stakes of the story, even hinted at their fears at the outset of the book…now, how do you weave in the SUSPENSE. First, let’s take a look at the defition of a suspense: An everyday hero or heroine confronts a believable, compelling, immediate and terrifying threat, and using their unique abilities, learning more, confronting their own lies and eventually finding a new strength, they overcome and win the day. The key to that definition is the word: EVENT E – Event – The EVENT in a suspense is the bad thing that will happen if the hero/heroine don’t stop it. It’s what is at STAKE in the story that propels our h/hn to face their darkest fears, summon their courage […]
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