WIP: First Paragraphs
Writing » Historical, NaNoWriMo, Victorian, Women's Fiction, Work-in-ProgressNovember 13th, 2007
Caricature drawn by Worderella
Everyone talks about how important a first line is, how important the first page is, of any good piece of writing. We go on about how the idea needs to grab the reader, to hook them as one might hook a fish. But we never really give our own examples, unless we’re sure we’ve got it down. And the thing is, I don’t know if I have it down. I’m fairly certain I don’t, if only because I’m a type A perfectionist who second-guesses herself a lot.
So this is what I’m going to do: here are the first lines of my working!title Trentwood’s Orphan.
NaNoWriMo
Writing » NaNoWriMo, Work-in-ProgressNovember 6th, 2007
How many of you are doing NaNoWriMo this year? I did it last year, my first time ever, and I loved it. I won, which was exciting, and it inspired me to go back and start First Draft B of working!title Trentwood’s Orphan. I don’t have time to do it this year, which I’m sad about, but I’m being extra crazy and doing it again this year, to motivate me through the last half of my WIP. I started browsing the website and, not so surprisingly, I was sucked back in. I also want the following from their store: the “Can’t talk, noveling” mug and the 2007 t-shirt.
“Gender Genie” saves the day
Writing » Character Development, Dialogue, Fun, LinksOctober 16th, 2007
So about a week ago I read about an author who was having trouble with her hero’s voice… that is, she couldn’t seem to make him actually sound like a man. And then she remembered a great online tool created from an actual study in which some academics discovered men and women do, in fact, speak differently: The Gender Genie. They even came up with an algorithm that predicts whether the person speaking was a man or a woman.
From the Notebook: Victorians and the Environment
Writing » Fun, Research, VictorianOctober 15th, 2007
By the High Victorian era, which describes the 1870s and beyond, many activists and doctors were starting to connect the welfare and livelihood of Londoners to their environment around them. In the 1860s, the Thames in London was so fetid, so polluted, that Parliament scheduled its activities so the smell wouldn’t sit stagnant in the heat. It was too hot to sit in the rooms with the windows shut, but with the windows open, the smell was so unbearable that men compared it to actual torture. Cholera, spread by bacteria in liquids, was a great epidemic in the 19th Century because of the sanitary conditions.
Article: Hold on to Your Plot Part 3
Writing » Craft, PlotOctober 13th, 2007
And now, the finale for the article on how to hold on to your plot!
Article: Hold on to Your Plot Part 2
Writing » Craft, PlotOctober 5th, 2007
A continuation from the article I posted here, read about how you can hold onto your plot by working with your characters, etc.
Article: Hold On to Your Plot Part 1
Writing » Craft, Plot, Synopsis, TipsSeptember 30th, 2007
When we begin writing, we have this core idea, this main plot that keeps the story together. But as we get deeper into subplots and secondary/tertiary characters, sometimes we lose our main idea. We obsess over the little things. We forget the forest for the trees. We see the colors but not the rainbow. I could go on, but I won’t, for your sake. The following series of three entries will focus on Mike Phillips’s essay showing how he keeps his plot in line, with his hints on how to help you stay focused.
Quote: Tight Plot
Writing » Plot, QuotesSeptember 25th, 2007
Boiled down to its basic elements, a plot is comprised of people with motives which meet resistance, creating conflict and leading to consequences. Scenes must either advance the plot or develop one or more of your characters so avoid waffling on if it isn’t relevant. If when re-reading you do find a section which is a touch on the flabby side, rewrite so that it works with the plot and characters, or steel yourself and press the delete key.
- Mike Philips
Storyboarding
Writing » Outlines, Plot, Work-in-ProgressSeptember 11th, 2007
I am an alpha personality: I live by lists, I like things ordered a certain way, I like to be in charge, I like to be on time. So you would think I use storyboarding to plot my novels, right?
Wrong! This past weekend was the first time I ever attempted a storyboard. And let me tell you: It was wonderful. I started out by drawing a line across an 11 x 24 sheet of paper for a timeline. I’ve always loved timelines, so it made sense for me to do it this way. Plus, my story has a backstory spanning ten years.
A Recent Conversation
Writing » Character Development, Work-in-ProgressAugust 25th, 2007
Me: Really well! I mean, I got up to chapter 18 and I was flowing and everything. Wrote a couple thousand words last month, but then… (sigh)
Mina: …?
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