This is the flip side of last week's prompt. We're creating those peaks and valleys found in mega bestsellers. So, building that rollercoaster . . . Given that you're taking the time to write this character's story, there's almost guaranteed to be a moment that makes his list of five all-time worst moments ever. Right? … Continue reading Scene Prompt #20: Worst Moment Ever
Scene Elements: Beginnings = Orientation
Scenes! They begin at their beginnings. But what, exactly, does that mean? What elements do you need to ensure you include in a scene's beginning? 1. Beginnings Element: Scene Positioning, aka Reader Orientation "Generally, when you look at published fiction to isolate and examine scenes, you may experience some initial difficulty locating the start of … Continue reading Scene Elements: Beginnings = Orientation
Scene Prompt #19: Highlight of My Life
You're telling this story for a reason, right? Because something happened to your main character that was memorable. Probably a rollercoaster of memorable, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Given the fact that you're taking the time to tell this story, one of the scenes in this story almost has to make the character's list … Continue reading Scene Prompt #19: Highlight of My Life
Scene Purpose: How James Patterson (and his cowriter) does it
In the last scenes post we looked at the scene purpose, of which Larry Brooks says, "James Patterson has mastered this, and it has become the accepted model of effective scene writing today: One mission per scene." So I picked up a Patterson book (actually a Patterson/Richard DiLallo book) from my library, the most current … Continue reading Scene Purpose: How James Patterson (and his cowriter) does it
Important Note to Subscribers
First off, thank you for subscribing to WWT's blog posts. I really appreciate it. Here's the news: FeedBurner is ending their email subscription support. This means that if you want to keep receiving WWT posts, we'll need to get your email moved to a new subscription manager. It turns out that WordPress provides their own … Continue reading Important Note to Subscribers
Scene Prompt #18: The Elephant in the Room
Pick a scene you want to write. This will work best if there's a very important noun involved. Person, place, thing, concept, your choice. That thing? It's now the elephant in the room. And what's the deal with the elephant in the room? No one mentions it. At least not by name, not in your … Continue reading Scene Prompt #18: The Elephant in the Room
Scene Elements: The Scene’s Purpose
According to the craft masters, scenes should have a purpose (also called a mission, intention, focus, point, or function). In other words, it needs a reason for being in your story. This isn't the character's reason for entering the scene. (We'll get to that later.) This is your, the author's, reason for including the scene … Continue reading Scene Elements: The Scene’s Purpose
Scene Prompt #17: The Frozen Moment
I'm taking this one wholesale from Tom Spanbauer. Forever ago, I took a week-long class from him, and he gave us a pre-class assignment (your prompt): Write about a moment after which you [or your character] were different. That's it. That's all he said. No further explanation. I, however, will give you a little more: … Continue reading Scene Prompt #17: The Frozen Moment
Scene Structure: Elements of a Scene
So what all goes into writing a scene? Let's find out. As mentioned in the first scene post, these posts are ordered from the macro to the micro (more or less), so this post is mostly another overview post: We're getting a sense of all the elements that make up a scene, with a focus … Continue reading Scene Structure: Elements of a Scene
Scene Prompt #16: The Imitation
For this prompt, we're not going to think about our own work. At least not yet. Instead of the Imitation, we might call this the Borrow or even the Steal. (But not the Copy!) What's the saying? Bad artists copy; good artists borrow; great artists steal? Something like that? Well, whatever... Think about some of … Continue reading Scene Prompt #16: The Imitation
Writes With Tools 