Cancer A death in the family A house fire A tragic accident A baby’s birth A new job The “phone call” from a publisher… We all have those “inciting incidents” in our lives that change everything. From that moment on, our road veers from its previous course, the landscape changes and we’re venturing into unknown territory. It’s easy to feel scared. Alone. And, if we let the trees and unfamiliar surroundings overwhelm us, we can feel lost, and tell ourselves that God has abandoned us. We’re going to be talking this week in MBT about the “Inciting incident” – that moment in the life of our hero when everything changes. But as we focus today on our own “inciting incidents” I thought I’d share something with you I got from […]
Read the Rest
About Susan May Warren
Former Russian Missionary Susan May Warren is the best-selling author of more than 40 novels and novellas with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill, and Summerside. A Christy award and RITA winner, and multiple finalist for the RITA, Christy and winner of Inspirational Readers Choice contest, Susan currently has over a million books in print. A seasoned women’s events speaker and writing teacher, she is the founder of http://www.mybooktherapy.com an online community for writers, and runs a fiction editing service teaching writers how to tell a great story. Visit her online at: http://www.susanmaywarren.com.Author Archive | Susan May Warren
Great Storyworlds!
Wow, I’ll tell you we have some excellent writers among us! I really loved the entries I received – so many just captured their story world with such active description they pulled me right in. It was so hard to choose! Here’s a couple of my favorites: ***** The minute she stepped onto the beach, hot sand filtered into her shoes. The faint scent of coconut tanning oil carried on the scorched breeze. Sweat trickled down her ribcage. A gorgeous hunk of a man jogged around the edge of the lake. Talk about eye candy. Too bad she was on the career advancement diet. No sweets for her **** When I stepped out of my dressing room into the dim hallway, I should have heard death’s gentle taunting. I should […]
Read the RestWooing your Reader with Words
What makes a great book stand out? Is it the story? The words? The characters? All of the above. In today’s competitive market, a story has to sing, it has to woo the reader with its premise, a hero or heroine who stands out from the mundane, and sentences that connect with oue hearts. However, the truth is…most readers don’t even notice these components. They say – wow, what a story, I loved the characters. Or, it made me cry. But, most don’t know the secrets that are embedded in every page. But you will. *g* We’ve been talking over the past weeks about premise, and characters, even setting, but today, we’re going to turn our attention to the words we put on the page that beckons our reader into […]
Read the RestPopulate your Storyworld
Every book, regardless of what kind – Suspense/Romance, Fantasy, Thriller, Historical romance – every book starts out someplace. In a world. At a moment. And, in today’s literature, with a person. Whether it’s a firecracker start to a book, or something that begins with a wide-angle view, drawing into the scene, it needs to have action. Movement. A place for your reader’s eye to land, and a perspective with which to view it. A good way to see storyworld is to watch the opening scenes of a movie. Note the details of the scene, and how they pinpoint on just a few and then move into the action with the character. I recently wrote a book that started in Night Market, in Taiwan. I could have started with description, the […]
Read the Rest
