Think of a scene that maybe isn't flowing as easily as you'd like. Try telling it from a different point of view. If you're using first person, try third person or first person from the perspective of a different character. If you're using third person, try first person. Or try second person, with yourself as … Continue reading Scene Prompt #7: POV Shift
Scene Prompt #6: The Hot Spot
Imagine the scene you want to write. Instead of starting from the scene's beginning (if that's even how you normally start), sit back and identify what Raymond Obstfeld calls the scene's hot spot. It's "the moment that the rest of the scene is built around." It could be a big reveal or an action taken … Continue reading Scene Prompt #6: The Hot Spot
Scene Prompt #5: I keep coming back
This is another one adapted from one of Laura Deutsch's prompts. Do you have any piece of the story (it's usually backstory for me, but it could be a character or an object or a setting or a plot point or whatever) that you keep coming back to, but you're not sure how it fits? … Continue reading Scene Prompt #5: I keep coming back
Scene Prompt #4: What went wrong
This one comes from Steven James. Think of the scene you want to work on. Now, from the perspective of the scene's point-of-view character: Tell us what went wrong. That's it. Books Mentioned in this Post That's it for me!
Scene Prompt #3: The MacGuffin
Think of the most important object in your story. It could be the thing all the characters want that drives the story or just an item that acts as a metaphor--or both!--or anything in between. Start by describing the object's physicality and history from your protagonist's point of view. Then go into what it means … Continue reading Scene Prompt #3: The MacGuffin
Scene Prompt #2: One true sentence
This one comes from Hemingway. I have this quote written on a post-it note next to my monitor. When I'm having trouble getting into a scene, I use it as a mantra: Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. … Continue reading Scene Prompt #2: One true sentence
Scene Prompt #1: The still shot
I got this prompt from a book by Laura Deutsch. To prep for this writing prompt, imagine your point-of-view character in the scene you're working on. Take a mental snapshot . . . Better yet, google "guy sitting on bus" or "lady posturing before a fight" or whatever your character is doing, click the "images" … Continue reading Scene Prompt #1: The still shot
Perfect Rhythm: How Dan Brown did it in The Da Vinci Code
Several posts ago, we looked at how to create a regular, rhythmic beat, as discussed in The Bestseller Code* (which lists Fifty Shades of Gray* and The Da Vinci Code* as the only two (adult) books with perfect curves). I proposed sequences as a good way to plot for rhythm, and in this post we're going … Continue reading Perfect Rhythm: How Dan Brown did it in The Da Vinci Code
Microtension: What is it and how do we get it onto the page?
People talk like microtension began and now idles with Donald Maass. For Maass, microtension boils down to a conflict...a juxtaposition...a clashing of things, preferably emotions, but also ideas, concepts, anticipations, whatever--whatever's available for contradiction in your story. But is there more? More guidance? By random chance (or synchronicity?), I came across a book in the … Continue reading Microtension: What is it and how do we get it onto the page?
Hooks Big and Small–How the Masters Do It
We looked at hooks last week, both concept hooks that pique our initial interest in a story and in-story hooks that keep us engaged from start to finish. Today we’re looking at how a few New York Times bestsellers hook us. I pulled these loglines from the February 2, 2020 NYTBS list, and then looked … Continue reading Hooks Big and Small–How the Masters Do It
Writes With Tools 