[A word from Susie: About 9 months ago, I birthed a new…idea! I really wanted to help a handful of serious writers dive into their stories and mentor them through the process of writing a great book. God blessed me with an amazing and dedicated first group of women who not only loved fiction but were willing to roll up their sleeves and work hard. Nine months later, most of them have finished their novels and moved onto the next ones. A handful of them are finalists in either the Genesis or Frasier, and quite a few are planning on pitching their novel at ACFW. After the retreat, they started a support group within MBT Club Voices to encourage each other which has now spilled out into […]
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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
Word Painting for Emotional Effect
[taken from the July issue of the MBT Ezine. Read more about Word Painting at: http://voicesmag.mybooktherapy.com] I love word painting. It’s the last element of texture I add into a piece before I move into polishing. It’s adding those eloquent, specific words and cadences to a sentence or paragraph that not only makes it come alive … but adds in the right emotion. A book is all about connecting to the reader’s emotions, and word painting is the finite art of wooing your words into your reader’s heart. It’s going beyond naming and telling emotions to using the painting of words to evoke the correct feeling. Let’s take a look. Here’s a piece of word painting from my current novel, Sons of Thunder: Markos speared the water. The cool lick […]
Read the RestA Therapist Thought…taken from the July Voices Ezine.
Ever read a book and think, “Wow, how did she figure out how to put that sentence, or that paragraph together? How did she pick those words, that item to focus on? How did she … word paint?” In my feature article in the current issue of the Voices Ezine, “Word Painting for Emotional Effect,” I talk about using the metaphorical word pool to find the right symbol and images. But I also use a handy acronym to help me develop a word painted description. It’s called FOCUS: First Impression Observations Close Up, Simile (or Metaphor) First Impression is all about giving us that overview of the setting. For example, if you were walking into a conference room, you might say: The conference room was small but comfortable. But you […]
Read the RestI’m Important Too! (the care and feeding of Secondary Characters!)
The use of Secondary Characters: I’m important too!! So, I’m sitting here at my husband’s office, mulling over today’s blog, and the front desk guy (a friend named Jim) asks me, of course, what I’m writing about: Me: The Use of Secondary Characters in a book. Him: Or misuse. (he’s an avid reader). Me: (because I haven’t had my coffee yet…) Huh? Him: Well, think about it, just the name: Secondary Character. How would you like to be called a Secondary Character? They’re important, too! He’s brilliant! And right! See, secondary characters are key to a great story. Think of Watson, to Sherlock Holmes. And Danny Glover to Mel Gibson (sorry to bring him up, but again, I’m needing coffee), and how about um…Bert and Ernie? […]
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