Tip #298: Before and after

The before is the yardstick that allows the reader to measure the protagonist progress toward after.

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/gluing-plot-to-theme-and-character-to.html

Tip #297: IDEA to CONCEPT to PREMISE

How To Move From IDEA to CONCEPT to PREMISE

1. IDEA asks no questions and presents no action or character

2. CONCEPT asks a question (‘what if’) and the answer to that question is your story *

3. PREMISE is a concept that brings character into the mix; it defines hero’s quest.

* Use as many ‘what if’ sequences as necessary to reach your concept

http://www.bullishink.com/2012/10/19/how-to-find-your-storys-premise/

Tip #296: Meaningful deaths

{the} reader cared about these various character deaths because their deaths left an impact...

http://avajae.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/how-to-kill-characters-with-impact.html

because of how their subsequent absence will change the story, especially for the protagonist.

Tip #295: Is your theme a question?

instead of using the theme “justice,” let the events of the story pose a more engaging question: “What’s more important, telling the truth or protecting the innocent?”

Rather than giving the advice, “You should forgive others,” let your story explore a dilemma: “How do you forgive someone who has done the unthinkable to someone you love?”

Let your story do more than reiterate the cliché, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Instead, challenge that axiom by presenting your characters with situations that raise the question, “When do the needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many?”

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/5-story-mistakes-even-good-writers-make

Tip #294: On voice & starting

What I do scratch around for, and sometimes for a long time at the beginning of a book, is the right way to write it: the voice, the syntax, the POV, the balance of description to everything else. Each book so far may have similarities, but they are all sufficiently unique too, in the way that they are written. I used to worry that I still hadn’t found my voice as a writer, and was just trying different things out with each book, but I’ve come to realise that the actual stories demanded a certain style from me in order for the stories to work.

http://torbooks.co.uk/2012/10/22/five-question-interview-with-adam-nevill/

Tip #293: Attention-catching concepts

A good log-line is ironic. Irony gets attention and hooks interest.
 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/keeping-focused-nailing-the-pitch-understand-your-seed-idea/


Example:

A sparkly vampire falls in love with the one girl in the world whose blood might tempt him to break his vow not to feed on humans.

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/concept-begins-from-line-one-or-whats.html

Tip #292: When killing minor characters...

picture this scenario. We notice emergency lights ahead.  The oncoming traffic lane is shut down and looks like a debris field. Two mangled cars lay in ruins, and there are still figures draped with blue blankets surrounded by somber EMTs. Do you feel badly? Unless you’re a sociopath, of course you do.

Now…

You look into that same oncoming lane, and one of the cars you recognize. It belongs to the nice family you chatted with in line at Wal Mart when you had to wait 40 minutes in the customer service line. You even helped the dad load groceries and put away their cart so the mom could buckle in their babies. You had to stop for gas, but 30 minutes ago that family was alive and well and now the coroner’s van is showing on the scene.

Before you cared…now you are connected.

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/in-the-beginning-part-one-normal-world/

It's the difference between your audience knowing something's a tragedy and knowing why something's a tragedy.  The latter hits home.

Tip #291: Restraint as a tool

I’ve recently become enamored with the notion of restraint.  The idea that you can hold back your most vivid descriptions, your most wild gore, your most violent emotional explosions and unleash them at a key point to guarantee maximum emotional investment and subsequent shock from the audience.
 

http://samsykes.com/2012/03/literary-kitty-litter/

Tip #290: Story as a whole

"A story is designed," according to Cron, "from beginning to end to answer a single overarching question. As readers, we instinctively know this, so we expect every word, every line, every character, every image, every action to move us closer to the answer."

http://childrenspublishing.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/concept-begins-from-line-one-or-whats.html

Tip #289: Reader empathy

It has to matter to {the protagonist}, or it won’t matter to {the reader}.

http://www.stinalindenblatt.com/2012/10/writerly-quotes-tension.html

Tip #288: The antagonist (series)

There has to be a Big Boss Battle in your story or the story problem is not fully resolved. A lot of new writers are “writing a series.” And, oh, but Such-and-Such dies in book 12 of my series. No... the protagonist in every book MUST DEFEAT the BBT responsible for the story problem...

your Big Boss Troublemaker... will have emissaries... Depending on the type of story, usually the BBT will have a chain of command...

Book I) BBT–> (Book II) BIGGER BBT–> (Book III) HOLY MOLY! AN EVEN BIGGER BBT!!!!

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/structure-part-3-introducing-the-opposition-2/

In Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time and J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, the protagonist is given the opportunity to battle and defeat a watered-down (but still very powerful) version of the BBT before the final battle.  While they can't be irrevocably defeated until the last book, the plan which caused the protagonist so much trouble in the current book should be pretty much permanently foiled and the protagonist's victory should cost the BBT significantly.

Tip #287: The antagonist

The Big Boss Troublemaker is whoever or whatever causes the hero’s world to turn upside down {inciting incident}. The BBT creates the story problem that must be resolved by the end of your tale. The BBT is also who or what must be present at the Big Boss Battle. In Star Wars, the BBT was the Emperor. It is his agenda that causes the inciting incident and it is he who must be faced in the final battle or the movie ain’t over... In the beginning, your protagonist should be weak. If pitted against the BBT, your protag would be toast…or actually more like jelly that you smear across the toast...

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/structure-part-3-introducing-the-opposition-2/

Example:

In Fried Green Tomatoes, Evelyn is her own worst enemy. She is spineless and weak. But, the real enemy resides in those who desire to control and bully Evelyn. In each act of the movie, we see Evelyn learning confidence so that by the end, the BIG battle, she can tell her abusive mother-in-law to stuff it.
 

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/structure-part-4-testing-your-idea-is-it-strong-enough-to-make-an-interesting-novel-2/

Tip #286: Something to ask before you start writing

Does this story problem lend itself to a KNOCKOUT ending?

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/structure-part-4-testing-your-idea-is-it-strong-enough-to-make-an-interesting-novel-2/

Tip #285: On describing characters

I never use more than three {physical} details to describe a character... if I choose tons people will pick and choose which they remember... so I try to choose three really good ones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTjAM2XHo1g&feature=relmfu

Quote from video: words may not be 100% accurate.

Tip #284: The end

For me, the point of a novel is the end. Everything is structured to give emotional weight to that end, to resonate with it.

http://www.challengingdestiny.com/interviews/sagara.htm

Tip #283: Plot is not optional

literary fiction must also have a plot. The only difference between commercial fiction and literary fiction is that the character arc takes precedence and plot is of lesser importance

Given Example:

in The Road by Cormac McCarthy, there is a plot. Man and Boy must make it to the sea. But it is more important HOW they make it than IF they make it. If the Man and Boy resort to cannibalism, that is an epic fail. They must make it to the sea, but without sacrificing their humanity.

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/great-characters-the-beating-heart-of-great-fiction/

Tip #282: Finding your core audience

“Let’s just say I will give you $50,000 if, in the next hour, you can find 5 people who would love your book.”

...Now, with $50,000 on the line for a mere hour’s worth of work, your mind begins racing. You get super specific. You think of the core themes or topics in your book; you think of competitive books who have an already established audience. Then you consider the exact physical places you can go to reach these readers; the ways these people are already organized – already self-selected and filtered based on previous behavior and interests; you think about who has access to these people; you consider where these people are online and off; you focus on actual names of people you can call at this very moment.

http://writerunboxed.com/2012/08/24/do-you-know-who-your-audience-is-no-really-do-you/
Why is finding your core audience important? These are the people who will tell others "you have to read this book!"

Tip #281: Story & plot

Hero, problem, antagonist, respond, change, attack, regroup, grow, DO SOMETHING HEROIC, solve the problem.

A story is about characters DOING things... The sequence and sum of what they DO is the story.

Plot is the stage upon which your characters reveal themselves.

http://storyfix.com/when-your-passion-kills-your-plot

Tip #280: Reactions & audience

the biggest laughs always come from watching characters react, think and take action... humor that's specific to the situation and the characters.

http://sevencamels.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/true-comedy-comes-from-character.html

It's fascinating stuff for the audience, even if you aren't writing humour, as peoples' reactions vary so widely.

Start with their visceral reaction. That’s the involuntary physical reaction we have no control over, that just happens despite all our best efforts to suppress it or hide it. These reactions occur immediately, before any thought processes or deliberate actions... Next, show an immediate thought-reaction, like Ow,or Oh no, or Damn, or Omigod, or That can’t be.

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/show-visceral-reactions-first.html

Tip #279: Protag, meet antag

Far too often, I read about characters who should get together and they never do. For example, are you writing about a serial killer, and your detective never meets him before the climax? Boring. It’s much more interesting to get them together early on.

The same often happens in epic fantasy, where a young hero face a godlike foe that he never sees. Figure out how to put them together

http://www.davidfarland.net/writing_tips/?a=135

Tip #278: Self-interested readers

Consumers buy books according to the principle of self-interest. They need to know what’s in it for them... {whether} pure entertainment, personal inspiration, or fascinating information.

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2012/discoverability-without-spreadability-is-a-marketing-disability/

romances, fantasy, westerns, and so on – sell so well precisely because the audience does know within certain parameters how the story will end {and the emotions that will be evoked}.

http://davidfarland.net/writing_tips/?a=37

It's important to be clear about the things you're promising with your title, back cover copy/query and first pages & chapters. A reader who's looking for a cosy mystery and ends up reading a blood-splattered thriller by accident is unlikely to leave a 5 star review.

Tip #277: The best POV for a story

you can really mess with the reader by choosing the right point of view... some peoples' perceptions are really off.

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/08/the-story-board-episode-1/

Tip #276: Choosing your protagonist

{With} either a first-person or tight third-person narrative, the protagonist is the reader’s guide to the story. We’re committed to seeing everything from his point of view.

So if that protagonist is too passive to ask relevant questions the reader wants to know, or not sufficiently nuanced in his worldview to be able to observe in useful detail, or too unpleasant to be good company for a few hundred pages, the reader may feel slightly cheated. Yes, even if the plot is very exciting: would you want to go on a tour of a haunted house with a guide that steered you away from the dark corners, did not seem to know much about the house’s history, or declared every fifteen seconds that anyone who believed in ghosts was an idiot?

http://www.annemini.com/?cat=3143

Tip #275: The writer's metaphorical camera lens

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.

http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/second-sight-an-interview-with-executive-editor-cheryl-klein/

Tip #274: Triggering audience empathy

One trick many writers use to create immediate, low-level empathy for their protagonist is to introduce the character in a situation that the reader is likely to have physically experienced.  The trick usually serves dual purpose by also generating curiosity as to why the character is in that situation.

Given examples:

bored/shivering whilst waiting for something/someone; eyes swollen with crying; standing/walking in a cold wind.

H.R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, July 2012

Tip #273: Make them human

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.

http://queryshark.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/223.html
(Emphasis added.)

What makes your protagonist special to those who know him/her?

Tip #272: Compelling emotional stakes

Emotional stakes are created by a character acting to prevent the loss of something important to themself and/or others.

Given examples of Important Things:

Love, a loved one, a secret, safety, life, a long-time goal, an emotionally important object, a pet, integrity, self-appreciation...

To make those stakes compelling, add in or increase one or more of the below:

Feeling of responsibility for risk/character at risk
Love/respect/strong emotion for character at risk
Risk/fear of failure
Difficulty of character recovery from failure
Another important thing/character at risk from the same threat (house of cards)
Importance of IT to character at risk physical/mental well-being
Character at risk deservingness
Act of bravery (overcoming fear)
Act of sacrifice (character accepts & bears a loss/hurt)
Catch 22 (has to choose to sacrifice one character for another character, or one IT for another. No decision = both lost.)
Failure

All increase how far the acting character is prepared to go, what they are and aren't willing to do. Like spices, a little goes a long way. 

H.R. Filmore's Reminders to Self, July 2012


...Is it just me or is that also the definition of a story up there?

Tip #271: Backstory & plot

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?

http://thewholemegillah.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/second-sight-an-interview-with-executive-editor-cheryl-klein/

This backstory tends to be one of the reasons why this story could have only happened to this person in this way.

Tip #270: Setup to response

The {First Plot Point} shifts the context of the narrative from the Part 1 SETUP to the Part 2 RESPONSE... {It is} a change imbued with a quest and journey for the hero... With problems to solve, foes to conquer (including the dreaded inner demons), obstacles to navigate, with stakes in play... it defines the revisions of your Part 1 and the very nature of the rest of your story.

http://storyfix.com/the-moment-that-makes-or-breaks-your-story

Tip #269: Scenes

scenes... are defined not by our words as much as they are by what happens in them.

http://storyfix.com/an-empowering-perspective-on-writing-scenes