Write your lecture as an image in a scene, a face, a hand, a landscape, as seen by a person.
Thanks for reading!
Here’s two interesting 99c short stories for you to read: (More fiction coming soon.)
Nag Is Hindi for Cobra (All Formats)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
How to Not Lecture in a Novel
In fiction: description and images are rarely confused with lecture.
Write your lecture as an image in a scene, a face, a hand, a landscape, as seen by a person.
Write your lecture as an image in a scene, a face, a hand, a landscape, as seen by a person.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
How to Start A Short Story or Novel
How should a story start?
After looking at a bunch of excellent short stories and some novels, an excellent formula is: a character, an action, and a thing that is a symbol.
Examples:
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." Gabriel García Márquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa) One Hundred Years of Solitude
"I am an invisible man." Ralph Ellison Invisible Man
"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway
"We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall." Louise Erdrich Tracks
"Vaughan died yesterday in his last car-crash" .J. G. Ballard Crash
My favorite:
"He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it—was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters." Virginia Woolf, Orlando
It's not the only way to start a story, but it is an effective one.
After looking at a bunch of excellent short stories and some novels, an excellent formula is: a character, an action, and a thing that is a symbol.
Examples:
"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." Gabriel García Márquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa) One Hundred Years of Solitude
"I am an invisible man." Ralph Ellison Invisible Man
"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself." Virginia Woolf Mrs. Dalloway
"We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall." Louise Erdrich Tracks
"Vaughan died yesterday in his last car-crash" .J. G. Ballard Crash
My favorite:
"He—for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it—was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters." Virginia Woolf, Orlando
It's not the only way to start a story, but it is an effective one.
Thanks for reading!
Here’s two interesting 99c short stories for you to read: (More fiction coming soon.)
Nag Is Hindi for Cobra (All Formats)
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
How to End Your Novel or Story
How to end a novel or story. Honesty = trust -> happiness.
That's how you do a happy ending, not just a smooch.
That's how you do a happy ending, not just a smooch.
Thanks for reading!
Here’s two interesting 99c short stories for you to read: (More fiction coming soon.)
Nag Is Hindi for Cobra (All Formats)
Monday, June 27, 2011
What you need to have in order to write a darn good novel
Got a life?
In order to write, you need to have a life.
You do have one, even if you're trying to make the family's ends meet. You don't have to run with the bulls in Spain or get killed in a Greek civil war. Be mindful of your own life: the drama, the people, the symbols, what people are working through, how they do things.
That's all fodder for the mill.
In order to write, you need to have a life.
You do have one, even if you're trying to make the family's ends meet. You don't have to run with the bulls in Spain or get killed in a Greek civil war. Be mindful of your own life: the drama, the people, the symbols, what people are working through, how they do things.
That's all fodder for the mill.
Friday, June 24, 2011
How to Tell if Your Idea for a Story is a Good One
How do you know if an idea is a good one?
Think about *conflict.*
Is there conflict within the character or in the situation.
If not, then you need to find how conflict is intrinsic to the character or situation. If you can't find the conflict, it might not be a good idea for a story.
Does all fiction have to have conflict? Well, maybe, and probably.
You need to consider what fiction is for. Nonfiction writing is to inform. Fiction is either (1) to entertain, or (2) to forge the consciousness of the (human) race. Both of those jobs are dependent on conflict within the story. You may have a different idea of what fiction is for. Consider whether or not your philosophy needs conflict, but your story probably does.
Think about *conflict.*
Is there conflict within the character or in the situation.
If not, then you need to find how conflict is intrinsic to the character or situation. If you can't find the conflict, it might not be a good idea for a story.
Does all fiction have to have conflict? Well, maybe, and probably.
You need to consider what fiction is for. Nonfiction writing is to inform. Fiction is either (1) to entertain, or (2) to forge the consciousness of the (human) race. Both of those jobs are dependent on conflict within the story. You may have a different idea of what fiction is for. Consider whether or not your philosophy needs conflict, but your story probably does.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
For writers: describing things without cliches or adjectives
Stuck for how to describe a color that isn't a cliche? Try a verb plus a noun. That red and orange sunrise? It's like bleeding peaches. That blue and green dress? It's like ivy growing on the ocean. Stars in the sky? Like sugar spilled on a black table. Use judiciously.
You can receive these writing prompts daily by liking us on Facebook: Dr. Kenyon’s Writing Apple or by subscribing to the RSS/Atom feed at Blog: Dr. Kenyon’s Writing Apple Blogspot .
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
How To Write the First Line of A Story
Stuck for how to start a story? Go find a really good first line and "mimic" it. Break down the sentence structure and voice and use it to get a running start. Is your story told from the first person at a later time than the events? Rebecca. Is your character doing something active and characteristic and you have a strong theme? Orlando. Etc.
100 Best First Lines of Novels
100 Best First Lines of Novels
You can receive these writing prompts daily by liking us on Facebook: Dr. Kenyon’s Writing Apple or by subscribing to the RSS/Atom feed at Blog: Dr. Kenyon’s Writing Apple Blogspot .
Thanks for reading!
Here’s two interesting 99c short stories for you to read: (More fiction coming soon.)
Nag Is Hindi for Cobra (All Formats)
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