Tag: Reader

March 31, 2016

Character Reactions Are the Laugh Tracks of Books

Any TV show that’s filmed live has little signs that tell the audience when to applaud. Almost all TV shows use laugh tracks so that audience members know when to laugh, and movies have soundtracks that tell the audience when they should feel happy or sad or scared. What do books have? Books have words. (duh) They have words that shape the...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/General Thoughts & Updates/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques Comments: 0

February 19, 2016

Double Meaning & Truth(s): How to Lie without Lying

If you need to hide a truth in a truth, double-meaning is your best friend. I know that doesn’t sound like it makes sense, but I promise it actually does. A double meaning (also known as a double entendre) has a pretty accurate name – it’s when a statement or action has multiple meanings (or truths). The only part of...

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February 17, 2016

Plot Uniqueness: The Macro vs. Micro Problem

For all that people say that there are only 2-3 stories, no one wants to be the author who makes people grimace and say that he (or she) writes the same plot over and over again. At the same time, a plot that jumps around completely out of left field can leave the story feeling disconnected and jarring (or just plain bad)....

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 2

January 8, 2016

The Stuff An Author’s Dreams & Nightmares Are Made Of

The greatest power and the greatest terror of being an artist is the amount of ourselves that we put into our art. As good as our imaginations are, they are powered by our dreams and our nightmares: experiences, hopes, wishes, fears, and more. Our lives. Our souls. We expose little bits of ourselves with each piece we create. Yet at the...

Categories Creative Process/General Thoughts & Updates Comments: 0

November 26, 2015

5 Great Reasons for Writers to Be Thankful in 2015

Yes, I’m going to be predictable and talk about being thankful on Thanksgiving. As a writer in 2015, however, there is plenty to be thankful for. Be glad I’m only going to talk about my top 5. 5 .  Novel Writing Classes Let’s face it. Fiction as we know it is only around a hundred years old (and that’s pushing...

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November 19, 2015

6 Methods to Hook Readers

Anyone else learn about hooks in high school? You know, those one-line bits of magic that supposedly made your college application essay more interesting and enthralling to the poor brain-numbed grader? They’re baaack… Joking aside, hooks are in everything – or at least the concept of hooks is. A hook isn’t necessarily a one-liner. It can be an idea, a...

Categories Characterization, Plot, & Setting/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques Comments: 3

November 4, 2015

The Top Tool for Realism Is Imagery

It’s hard to talk about realistic writing without talking about imagery. What I said yesterday about realism related to research, experiences, and believability is true, but it was still framed in big ideas (almost more related to plotting: what situations or experiences will the reader believe are real?). Imagery is more about the small details of the experience, and it is one...

Categories General Thoughts & Updates/Literary Devices & Writing Techniques/Research & Worldbuilding Comments: 6

November 2, 2015

Do Authors Tell Stories Or Lies?

A friend of mine is a teacher for a private enrichment company, and one night, she had a student who was determined to argue. Whatever the topic, he could find something wrong with it. When they got to fiction, he pretended to be horrified, saying that fiction is a lie (and, therefore, morally wrong). It was obvious that he was deliberately...

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November 1, 2015

You Can’t Scare Your Audience Without Suspension of Disbelief

All this talk about horror seems like the perfect time to mention suspension of disbelief – the ability to set aside reality long enough to enjoy the story. As readers or audience members, we have to accept the underlying “lies” of the story (supernatural monsters, magic, amazingly advanced technology, talking animals, or even people bursting out into song and dance),...

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October 29, 2015

When Complications Go Too Far: The Lazy Reader Issue

As I was getting distracted on Facebook instead of doing what I got on FB to do (again), I clicked on yet another post about Disney character remakes as this or that. It’s kind of old hat now, but I enjoy seeing them – if it doesn’t take too much time or energy. That’s the problem. See, as soon as...

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