Q: You talk about meaningful action behind dialogue. How do I get my story to flow? Dialogue comes naturally for me. But how do I make meaningful action seem natural? The Doc says: Every day my husband comes home from work and we sit in the kitchen and talk. During that time, I clean the sink, I chop vegetables, I check over homework, maybe feed the dog, sometimes he’ll set the table. Our conversation, behind the words, is about family, and life. You can tell that I care about family by my actions. Likewise, your characters will have things that are important to them, meaningful actions that define who they are and what is important to them. These are the things happening behind the words. Ask: What is a part […]
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Prescriptions: How to hook your reader on the first page! Wk 1
In today’s competitive book market, a writer needs to capture their reader in the first paragraph, if not the first line. A good hook sets the tone for a book, it gives voice to the character and immediately draws the reader into the story. This class will reveal how to use Stakes, Sympathy, 5 Ws, Action, and Story Question to teach participants how to create a hook that will catch your reader and won’t let go. I have a quote by Gabriel Garcia Marquez over my computer (He won the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature for (100 years of solitude). BTW, it sold over 10million copies. “One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph.. in the first paragraph, you solve most of the problems with your book. The […]
Read the RestSelf-Therapy: Research Matters!
Yesterday, I talked about research and how it can provide plot ideas. But, even if it doesn’t generate new ideas, getting it right is essential. I recently wrote a book about a bush pilot who crashes a plane in the Alaskan wilderness.(Expect the Sunrise). I wanted one of the survivors to have an injury that would force the group to leave the crash site, and yet not kill her. So it had to be potentially life-threatening. So…I gave her a head injury. Here’s the rough draft: (In Andee’s pov) Being a bush pilot was only half her life. “I went to EMT school and in the summer I live in Iowa and work for a local hospital.” She glanced at Sarah laying in arm’s reach. “She was my college roomie […]
Read the RestDoctor’s Notes: Reserach for Plotting!
One of the things I love about writing is all the cool stuff I learn. Over the past five years I’ve learned how to fly a small engine aircraft, how to rope and ride a bull, how to work with a SAR K-9, how to fight a fire, how to dress a wound in the woods. I’ve been to cool places for research, like the Waldorf Astoria, and Trump Tower. I’ve interviewed ranchers, and green berets, and bush pilots. I love my job. But the best thing about research is that good research helps you plot. Say, for example you have a story about a fire chief who is afraid of losing one of her firemen. In my research I discovered that firefights carry an emergency locator that goes off […]
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