no matter what you do with your life someone will criticize you. Cashier? Waiter? Truck driver? Someone isn't going to like something that you did. Some people were born to be d***s.
So fuhgeddaboutit. Write, be criticized, and keep writing. If you're going to be criticized, be criticized for telling your own stories/doing your own thing.
HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY... Even if you’re writing a Die Hard rip-off, have something to say about Die Hard rip-offs.
When a particular character isn't coming to life, I... write out what s/he would say for themselves in an interview.
'Why I did this...'
'why I'm ging to do that...'
'Why I'm right...'
...The reasons and excuses aren't so important, but the perspective is... an assertion of {the character's} own perspective...
self-justifications... don't get into my novels. They do influence... the scene where a character is confronted by the truth about themselves.
Pick two people on the same side of a conflict, but give them completely different motivations for fighting on that side.
That which is unspoken defines the relationship.Given examples:
Those things you won’t talk about.http://writerunboxed.com/2013/12/13/things-left-unspoken/
The apology never given.
The explanation never provided.
The promise never followed through on.
The secret never shared.
The unspoken things that affect our relationships can also be those truths we keep from ourselves rather than the other person. We often hate most in others things that we fear in ourselves.
when you’re looking for an opportunity to create surprise in your plot, ask yourself, “What couldn’t possibly happen?” In other words, stretch your imagination... you’ll probably come up with some surprising directions for your story.
Plot is simply the actions the characters take, the results of their action, and what they decide to do next. Except this can’t be any old action and result. It has to be action and result that builds the anxiety of suspense, surprise, and the mystery or puzzle...
There are four possible answers to the question of “did the hero’s action solve the problem?”: yes, no, yes but, no furthermore.
For example. Yes, you killed the monster. No, you didn’t. Yes, you killed the monster, but it bit you and now you have the virus that’s going to turn YOU into a monster. No, you didn’t kill the monster furthermore you woke up its mumma.
Of those four possiblities, only the last two build suspense and curiosity. The first removes it totally. So it’s out{ except at the end}. And a no answer leaves suspense unchanged. All you’re doing is delaying things with that. What you want to do is ratchet it up.
pick a word that describes your character. For example: He’s compassionate. Then find another word that can also describe your character, but make it a polar opposite—terrorist... Giving a character a dual nature creates an instability, a lack of balance, that probably can’t stay forever.
How far will that character go to fulfil their desires? Will he sacrifice the life of a member of his family to stay alive? Will she sacrifice her own life to kill him?
Try imagining the book that would light your heart and mind on fire if you came across it in a bookstore—the one that would quicken your pulse and keep you up all night reading. What would it be? Details, details: when, where, what, who? Think it up, imagine it fully, then bring it forth. That’s the book you should be writing.
to sift through an array of possible motivations... The way to do that is not to ask, “What would make one man kill another?” Unless you’re a telepath... Better to ask, “What would make me kill someone?”
Brick walls are not there to keep us out. Brick walls are there to show how badly we want something.
A powerful story motif occurs when the anti-hero, because of the unfolding events, is forced to join the community.
Audiences don’t love set-pieces. They love characters who do amazing things during set-pieces.
In my story, I want to highlight how exceptional a particular relationship is, so I’m making sure to include horrible relationships in my plot as well.
how close you are to the action, what you allow your reader to see vs. what is left out, what you linger on narratively, the speed through which you move through the action. . .This all affects the reader's perception and mood.
If you’re just getting to know a narrative world you’re creating, think of yourself as a camera moving through the action, and try to write down as much of what you see as you can. Then, after some time has passed, look at that piece of writing again, and edit down the details so that they serve the primary story you want to tell and ideas you want to convey.
When you have limited space to entice a reader one of the biggest challenges is making your main character sound enticing... When I want to tell people about Charlaine Harris, I don't start with her success. I start with how nice she is. How generous... the stuff that makes her special to us all.
your protagonist should have an emotional backstory that enhances or complicates the plot of this book now.Given example:
If he’s falling in love in the plot: What has his experience with love been like before this?
scenes... are defined not by our words as much as they are by what happens in them.
I have a very simple definition... A story arc is created when something in your writing gets repeated three times.http://talktoyouniverse.blogspot.co.uk/2011/02/three-points-make-story-arc.html
