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Ten Common Author Mistakes. #5

By on September 15, 2011 in Author Mistakes, Editing Basics, Rachel Hauck

It Was Raining, You Know? Did I Tell You It Was Raining? A Nor’easter If Ever There Was One Rehashing what the reader already knows. Definition: Hanging on a plot point too long as a way to make sure the reader gets it, OR as a way to boost word count. This is a big struggle for a lot of writers. I see this in published books all the time. The heroine ponders the hero’s invitation to dinner for three chapters. The hero ponders asking the heroine to dinner for a whole chapter. The heroine ponders her future husband while pondering what she has to do to save the family estate – for sixty pages. Don’t linger! Move the story forward. Set the problem once and move one. Hint at it one more […]

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Crafting your First Chapter for a Suspense – Application

By on September 13, 2011 in Editing Basics, Suspense, Writing your Suspense Chapters

The first chapter in a suspense novel is the most important. You want to introduce your characters, create sympathy for the, hint at the stakes or danger, and hook the reader to turn the page.  How do we do this? I’m going to apply the questions from yesterday to my WIP today. Below is the link to the first scene of chapter One of Limelight, a novel I wrote for MBT teaching purposes. For your FYI, here is the Premise: She’s a movie star with a cause – fighting to stop human trafficking. In fact, she’s gone far as to write, produce, fund and star in an independent film about the horrors of human trafficking. Except – someone doesn’t want it shown, and has bad-mouthed the movie onto Hollywood’s black list. […]

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How to Craft the First Chapter in a Suspense

By on September 12, 2011 in How to write a Suspense, Suspense, Writing your Suspense Chapters

Summer’s Over.  I know because, well, the kids went back to school last week. And we had our first conference football game (which we won!) And the Minnesota Vikings lost yesterday.   *sigh* But most importantly, the August blogging hiatus at MBT is over, and it’s time to start working on our suspense WIPS again! We spent the first seven months of this year studying Suspense, the four components that go into powerful suspense structure, and what each component contains.  We talked about the elements of the ignition, the deadline, and crafting villains and heroes who can save the world. Now it’s time to put it all together! Writing a novel is a two part process – the creating of characters, the gathering of the elements and the plotting of the […]

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By on August 25, 2011 in Editing Basics

It Was Raining, You Know? Did I Tell You It Was Raining? A Nor’easter If Ever There Was One Rehashing what the reader already knows. Definition: Hanging on a plot point too long as a way to make sure the reader gets it, OR as a way to boost word count. This is a big struggle for a lot of writers. I see this in published books all the time. The heroine ponders the hero’s invitation to dinner for three chapters. The hero ponders asking the heroine to dinner for a whole chapter. The heroine ponders her future husband while pondering what she has to do to save the family estate – for sixty pages. Don’t linger! Move the story forward. Set the problem once and move one. Hint at it one more […]

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