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HOOK ’em Dano Examples (Okay, I’m in a Hawaii 5-O mood since I’m going somewhere warm!)

By on March 12, 2008 in How do I start my Scene?

Stirling McRae should have known he couldn’t escape his duty, even deep inside the forests of northeastern Alaska, a hundred miles from civilization. No, it found him in the form of a grimy terrorist in an orange hunting vest and cap. Only, said terrorist hadn’t a prayer of escaping the McRae brothers. At least that’s what Mac told himself as another branch slapped him across the face and he plowed through a bramble of thistle berry. So much for having some hang time with his brother. Brody would probably deck him the next time Mac suggested they go fishing together. ~~ That’s the HOOK paragraph of my book Expect the Sunrise. It’s in the prologue, so I have another powerful hook in Chapter 1, but this sets the tone of […]

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How to Hook your reader!!

By on March 11, 2008 in How do I start my Scene?

“One of the most difficult things is the first paragraph. In the first paragraph, you solve most of the problems with your book. The theme is defined, the style, the tone. At least in my case, the paragraph is a kind of sample of what the rest of the book is going to be.” Gabriel Garcia Marquez…who won the 1992 Nobel Prize for Literature (100 years of solitude which sold over 10 million copies.) wrote that. I have it taped to my computer monitor, to remind me of the impact and the importance of that HOOK paragraph. Today, briefly, we’re going to talk about the HOOK. What do you do when you pick up a book? Probably read the back cover blurb, and then open to the first page. Then, […]

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Where in the World are we on the Journey?

By on March 10, 2008 in The Hero's Journey Simplified

Happy Monday! This week we’re going to do something a little different at MBT – Rach and I are both going to run away from home this week (in fact – we’re going to run away together, with three other authors to a booksigning in hardy, AK. If you want to stop by, you can find the deets at http://www.wordsafterwords.com/) ANYWAY, we thought we’d take this blip in time to catch us all up to where we are in our Year with a Hero! We’ve spent the last couple months learning: Premise Elements of a heart-stopping hero Elements of a strong heroine The Greatest Devices (Greatest Dream, Greatest Fear) to construct the black moment and the Happily Ever After Storyworld And…Inciting Incident So, here’s where I let you in on […]

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The Winning Inciting Incident!

By on March 8, 2008 in Crafting the Inciting Incident, House Calls

*** Feeling along the wall, she found the edge of the secret door, camouflaged with thin stones to mimic the rest of the structure. Her right hand sought the key tucked between her bodice and under gown for silence; she’d even switched the chain that held it for a leather thong to prevent the clink of metal on metal. Her free hand groped the wall for the keyhole. Waist-high, five forearms from the corner. She found it, and bent to slide the key inside. To the left. Chink. Karel straightened to gain better control of the key as she used it as a doorknob to ease the door open. Quietly, if possible. The door shifted an inch, then two. Something tickled the back of her neck. She didn’t have time […]

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