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Perscriptions: Writing Lits Part 1
During the September 2007 ACFW conference in Dallas, I (Rachel) presented a continuing session on writing Lits. The Book Therapists are bringing those sage lessons to you. 😉 It started with Chick Lit in ’96 with Helen Fielding’s popular “Bridget Jones Diary.” Wilkipedia defines chick lit a genre which features hip, stylish female protagonists, usually in their twenties and thirties, in urban settings (usually London or Manhattan), and follows their love lives and struggles for professional success (often in the publishing, advertising, public relations or fashion industry). The books usually feature an airy, irreverent tone and frank life themes. The genre covers the breadth of the female experience which deals unconventionally with traditional romantic themes of love, courtship and gender. In the USA, lits expanded to Mom Lit, Lady Lit, […]
Read the RestSelf-Therapy: Showing Emotions
Yesterday, in Doctor’s Notes, I talked about connecting the reader to the character by showing the appropriate emotions. But what if you have a tough guy, like my Rafe Noble, who is a bull rider. He doesn’t walk around weeping, that’s for sure. Still, he’s hurting. His best friend has been killed, his life is in shambles, and worses, he’s just gotten his heart broken by beautiful Kat Breckenridge. I didn’t want to show him curling up into a ball in the cab of his truck. But I wanted the losses to pile up on him, and take him down. So, I looked for the thing that mattered the MOST to Rafe, the thing he clung to for safety. If you have taken any of my plotting classes, you know […]
Read the RestDr’s Notes: Sympathy is not enough
By all accounts, I should love the new television show, the Bionic Woman (Jamie Sommers). I enjoy seeing a woman who knows a few self-defense moves, and someone who faces trouble head-on. The creators have even built in “sympathetic” devices — a little sister who Jamie has to deal with, the death of her boyfriend, the loss of her baby, the changes in her body. That should, in theory, make us feel for her. Even, like her. Except, I don’t. As I was watching episode 2 this weekend (had it on TiVo), I realized that the reason I can’t engage in the show is because I don’t believe this character. I am not connecting with her. Why not? I think it’s a lack of realistic emotions. What am I talking […]
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