Tag Archives: Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery

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5 Ways to Take Your Fiction Writing from Good to Great (with occasional references to The Princess Bride)

Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

#1 Learn how to improve.

Have you ever heard the advice to write every day?

There’s something about using your writing muscles every day that can help you stay in the flow of your story and keep you productive.

But don’t just write every day. Write to improve every day.

Yes, that’s right.

drop_your_sword

Make sure today’s ability to write stories is even better than yesterday’s.

#2 Prove that you’ve improved.

Look at the page you’ve written. 

You want to see real evidence of your new super powers physically on the page, in the texture of your story, in the characterization, plotting, conflict, and on and on.

There are thousands of things to improve.

Your stories themselves should be getting better.  The ideas.  The choices.  The drama.  And the language you use to project the illusion into the mind and heart of the reader.

If you want to be truly great, then it’s not just about increasing your understanding.  It’s about greatness ending up on the page.

“Writing is finally about one thing: going into a room alone and doing it. Putting words on paper that have never been there in quite that way before.”
–William Goldman, author of Princess Bride

#3 Surprise yourself.

It’s easy end up in the proven land of “things that work.”

So surprise yourself with things that shouldn’t work but do.  Come out of left field.

Create your own Cliffs of Insanity.

#4 Take risks, even when you think you’ll ruin everything.

There’s awfully good traction you can gain from playing out on the bleeding edge, where you could “ruin everything.”

If you start to panic too much, your friends will calm you down.

Then do it anyway.  Could be a pretty good scene.

From Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade, William Goldman talks about “that one scene” in When Harry Met Sally:

”What you cannot imagine now is the shock value of that scene.”

Some scene, eh?

#5  Learn how not to worry.

Sometimes all that improving and risk taking is scary.

But, really, all you need is a giant.

And you’ll be fine.

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Need more Princess Bride-inspired writing advice?

Read  JulieD’s “Have Fun Storming The Castle – Writing Lessons From The Princess Bride.”

Bonus:  Nice article about the process of converting visitors (or even potential readers) into customers (such as book buyers).

“Conversion statistics, rodents of unusual size and the finest swordsman that ever lived” Posted by: Scott Tuesday

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

fiction

1 Ice Pick, 1 Gun, & 10 Scene-Level Insights

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Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

FX Network’s Justified is a modern day Western, inspired by Elmore Leonard’s books and created by Graham Yost.   It’s some of the best writing out there, and you can learn a lot by following along.

Justified

Today, I’m featuring writer and creator, Graham Yost, director Michael Dinner, and editor Bill Johnson in a video on what it takes to create one simple scene.

Why?  Mastery, baby.  That’s why.

One thing that’s dang hard to communicate in writing fiction is how to have a “sure hand” in storytelling.  Well, here are 10 takeaways from these Big Guns on what it takes to put together a killer scene.

The catch? When you write novels, you have to be the writer, the director, the editor, and all the actors.  Just you.  So cowboy  up.

Justified episode: The Gunfighter (301)

Bad Guy: Fletcher Nix (Desmond Harrington), stone-cold killer for hire (or just because he wants to).

Good Guy: Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant), a deputy U. S. Marshall, enforcing justice in his backwoods hometown of Harlan, Kentucky.

Raylan’s Girlfriend: Winona Hawkins (Natalie Zea), the woman he loved, left, and came back to.

Hint:  Someone’s gonna die.

Insights

1) Parallel Scenes.

There’s cool power in crafting parallel scenes, where action, dynamics, and story repeats.  When it comes to the second time around, the reader/audience shows up knowing (and dreading) what’s going to happen.  She has insider information and expectations that make for a juicy payoff.

2) Recognize a good idea, even if it isn’t your own.

3) Orchestrate the action like a dance.

Do it by the marks until it flows, 1, 2, 3.  Then let it rip.  And remember, every character has his own rhythm.

4) It’s not right until you feel the electricity.

There’s an electricity that happens when things get real and the camera’s roll.  Everything else is just practice.

5) What’s he gonna do next?

It all comes down to powerful characters watching each other’s behavior, figuring out what’s gonna happen.

6) People develop a shorthand with each other, complete each other’s sentences.

This is also true of characters.  They remember what happened when they met before.  They develop a shorthand based on personality and experience.

7) Have a concrete idea, but look for lucky accidents.

You’ve got to be confident enough to throw it all out the window,  because you found something even better.

8) Show the wheels turning inside your character’s head.

Make it visual.  Turn strategy into action, nuance, and the twitch of a muscle.

9) Look for moments that work beautifully.

That right there.  That’s the moment you want.

10) Give context and grounding, like the sound of trucks going by.

The sound of a truck can create the reality where it’s possible, just maybe, for a killer with an ice pick to lose.

Write on.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

fiction

5 Way To Turn a Dreadful Scene Into a Winner

Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

Does your scene suck?

There, there, Overly-Dramatic Literary Peep.  I hear your whimper, and, I– 

Hey!  Quit banging your head on the table.  Enough already.  It’s hard to type this column when the table keeps jumping backward a half inch at a time.

Much better.  Now one of the best things about writers is that we’re so darn perfectionistic and so seldom satisfied even if we reach it.  That’s what keeps us humble.

But if we’re going to get past the dreadful, we’ll have to move from drama to solutions. 

Here are the 5 easiest ways to mend a dreadful scene:

1.  Give your character a job. 

No, I don’t mean a career or a way to make money.  I mean, give your character a job in the scene, something she or he needs to accomplish, get done, or prevent.

In fact, give all your characters jobs.

In my experience, authors often kick-off a scene by dropping a character “somewhere” and then waiting to see what happens.  So, a whole lotta characters show up places and don’t know what to do.

Hence, nothing happens.  (Except for a dreadful scene.)

Solution: Job.

2.  Capture your character’s attention.

Sometimes characters just start noticing anything and everything, and thinking about it at length. 

They reminisce at the drop of a hat (or at the drop of an overused expression).  They wander around, equally delighted by everything they see and hear, just thinking and  free associating.

What you need is a sharp whistle to get their attention and to command them to do the scene assignment.

  • Sometimes the sharp whistle will be another character demanding attention. 
  • Sometimes it will be an ongoing plot problem that shouldn’t be forgotten about for one second. 
  • And at other times it will be blood.  Blood always does a good job and focusing a character’s attention.  Just a hint.

Solution: Sharp Referee Whistle.

3.  Get Rid of The Dialogue Swamp

If your scene sucks, I can almost guarantee you that your characters are bogged down in dialogue. 

They have to do something, right?  And they can’t just NOT talk, can they?

Yeah, yeah, but the pull of the dialogue swamp is pulling them under.  Sometimes, giving them a job will solve this problem.  Sometimes, that sharp whistle will do the trick.

But if those two don’t work, you’re going to have to realize that the entire dialogue stream has to change.  You won’t just write yourself out of it.  You’re stuck.

So go back to where the dialogue started, and have one of the characters say something totally startling, something so riveting that the other character stops dead in her tracks and says, “What?!”

Now you’ve got something to talk about.  You also diverted your characters before they reached the swamp of average, go-nowhere dialogue.  Instead, you’re on the firm ground of dialogue that matters.

Solution: “Say, What?!” Dialogue

4.  Cut it.

Seriously. If it can’t be fixed, why not write a new scene? Yes, a better one.

Snip. Snip.

Solution: Do Over.

5. Find The Passion.

Got a rise out of you, didn’t I?  You say, “But I CAN’T cut this scene?!”

Okay, that’s more passion than you have in your entire scene, and that’s what’s missing.

Give your character something to care so much about that she’ll fight to the death for it.

Yes.  In this scene.

Solution: Kick-Ass Passion.

That’s if for today.  And, here, have a tissue.  It’s time to write.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

advice, Business, fiction, resources

Gifts of Writing Love: a Valentine’s Gift for Our Writers

No matter what you write, these little gifts of writer’s resources will speak to the heart and soul of your writing life, with  unique, fresh insight (and some rappin’ too).

Career Survival

From award-winning novelist Jenny Cruisie:

Rats with Islands: How To Survive Your Publishing Career

Excerpt:  “My plan was to make this column about the realities of publishing, giving you all a head’s up on what you’re about to face. Then I realized that was a remarkably bad idea.

“Here’s the thing about reality: It’s not good for you.”

Powerful Technique

From Mary Jaksch at Write to Done:

Why Disconnectors Are Critical In Keeping Your Readers Awake A guest post by Sean DSouza of Psychotactics

Excerpt: “Disconnectors create a jolt

“Imagine you’re driving a car. And the highway stretches in front of you straight as an arrow. Mile after mile of the same, same seems to suck you into vortex of yawns.

“Then suddenly you you see a curve in the road.

”The curve is the disconnector

“It’s the thingamajig on the journey that jolts you back to life. You’re all alert. You’re all eyes and ears. And you’re paying close attention.”

Insanity vs. Humor

from LifeHacker:

How to Work from Home Without Going Insane

Excerpt:  “When you work at a location of your choice you can control what distracts you. If you want to work for 4 hours and not use the bathroom you can do it; if you want to work with 2 lbs of nachos taped to your face like a beard while wearing a sombrero filled with nacho cheese for snacking you can do this. Most people think they will be far more productive due to being able to control large blocks of time, but I found that the experience was quite jarring.”

Making the Professional Leap

From Junhax 

The 10 Blogs That Taught Me (Almost) Everything I Know (And Why You Should Be Reading Them)

“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” ? Mark Twain

Excerpt: “Truer words have never been spoken.

“I was a failing student before I started my blog; I went to community college just because my parents told me to — yeah, I know, I was one of those guys.

“But when I started my blog, I had a sudden epiphany: I started to read many books (and as weird as it sounds, I used to never crack open a book), I read many blogs, took advantage of newsletters and Google Reader (RSS), and put what I read into action.

“My life from last year till now is a completely different book; I established myself as a writer, I’m about to publish my first eBook, I met many new friends and networked with incredible people, and overall my attitude and mindset became positive. I learned to live frugally, to be content, to stay focused and follow my passion.

“I’m thankful for all the positivity and people that came into my life, but there’s a reason for all of this: I read all the right blogs.”

Making It Yours

Fron LatinaPen 

2011 Best of Writing Articles and a Rap on Writing

 

 

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

fiction

5 Reasons Your Novel’s Protagonist Hates You

Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

Dear Author Dude,

You have some ‘splaining to do. 

The Novel and Short Story Protagonist’s Guild (in league with the Heroes’ Union) has done an extensive survey of members, and we find evidence of a widespread campaign by authors to diminish our stature in fiction.

super-hero

In short, as “the main doer” in your stories, we demand a little respect.

#5 Give Us A Clue. 

Quit making us oblivious to the evils in the world.  We’re tired of being perpetually shocked, confused, surprised, sideswiped, and devastated by the mercurial nature of being alive a world where Bad Things Happen. 

Why, oh, why do we always have to believe that our lives are picture perfect and destined to stay that way… until BOOM, you drop conflict, tragedy, and upheaval into our laps.

Would it really be so bad if this wasn’t the first problem we’ve had to handle?

#4  Good = Weak, Strong = Villain

Ug.  There’s nothing more frustrating than signing up for a noble, heroic role only to find out that, once again, we’re frail, sincere, and ill-equipped to handle the story ahead.

Well, actually there is something more frustrating.  It’s getting to play a well-equipped hero, only to find out that your definition of heroic means that we’re here to out kill, out torture, and out destroy the villain. 

You think we won’t notice you’ve made us into villains? 

Yeah.  We end up in therapy.  Angels weep.  Humankind forgets the mythic roots of story.  And somewhere, a reader’s dim memory of epic story flickers out.

#3 Oh, look, we’re so deep.  (Eyes rolling)

No, wait.  What you really mean is that we’re self-involved, depressed, angry, untrusting,traumatized,  jaded, pessimistic, and perpetually unhappy.

We call that a cheap and easy substitute for deep.  

It’s your job to think, to make the hard decisions and plumb the depths of humanity.  Yet, time after time, you resort to the easy answer.  If you want a “deep” protagonist, you make him unhappy, suicidal, antisocial, and angst-ridden.

Newsflash: Emotional, spiritual, and intellectual depth are seldom explored when stuck in depression.  When someone is traumatized, they do not suddenly become deep.  And pessimistic people latch onto every negative they hear and totally give up. Huh.  That looks kinda thin to us. Not a lot of character depth required in jumping to ‘life sucks, so why try?’

We hereby recall the word "’deep’.’  In its place, from now on, use the word ‘profound.’ 

#2 You’ve made us ‘realistic.’ Gee thanks.

Why is it you confuse realistic with skeevy, mean, snarky, lacking in morals, and pretty much everything related to jackassery.

While there are real people with those traits, do you honestly believe that character’s aren’t realistic unless they’re a pain in the ass?  (This would explain much, if your answer is yes.)

We’d like to introduce you to the idea that  an author’s keen eye in observing his fellow humanity should extend past the current trend of celebrating protagonists who are jerks.

#1 Protagonists Do; Victims Don’t

Make up your mind already.  Are we the protagonists of your stories or the victims?  Victims are a whole other union, and we’re tired of being tricked into playing victims in your books.

As protagonists, we’re the doers of your story’s action. 

Victims don’t do.  They twist their wimpy ankles. They wait for the next badness that you have planned, knowing they need to be rescued, but unable to make it go.

Many of you writer-types already get that.  But what you don’t get is that we protagonists care deeply about what’s happening now and about what will happen next. 

We’re not neutral, nor do we float along.

We don’t just wake up the next day a blank slate, unable to make up our minds or unaware of the current story and our part in it.

We care, we decide, we act, we react.  And we certainly don’t give up.

Victims may care, but they’re prevented from deciding, acting, and reacting by the plot or their own inertia.

So, let’s be clear.  If you hire us protagonists, we’re gonna need to Get It On.  None of this sitting around, falling into things, or not knowing what we want.

Bottom line, we have a powerful function in your stories.  We’ve earned your respect over centuries.  And we’re banding together to say, “You can do better by us.”

(Or else we’ll contact the Villain’s Union, if you get our meaning.)

Sincerely,

Protagonists For Narrative Good, Inc. ( a fictional production)

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.

fiction

5 Strange (But Helpful) Tips for Writing A Great Novel

Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery by Diane Holmes, Chief Alchemist of Pitch University

#1 Learn to recognize a really great idea.

Most writers have lots of good ideas.  Workable ideas.  Ideas that seem interesting and full of promise.  But most writers have very few GREAT ideas. Showstoppers. Strokes of pure genius.

eureka

Learning to recognize the difference between a good idea that is probably publishable and a great idea that could launch a bestselling career is a pretty neat skill to have.

So start training yourself to rate ideas, plot points, twists, and all the ways that plot conveys story.

Try using a 10 point scale, where 10 is HOLY COW, and 5 is what you see in most published books.

Shoot for a 10.

Now do the same when you build your characters.

#2  Learn to wow 2 people on every page.

You and your reader.  You haven’t hit wow until you are amazed at what you wrote… and so is your reader.

#3 Write to devastate your characters (and your reader).

Don’t be neutral.  Don’t be small.  Don’t pull your punches.  Don’t relegate trauma to off-stage.

Show us the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical blood of your story, right on the page.

Let us know that this story matters.  Not just in this sentence or paragraph, but in the nuclear fallout of every scene after that.

#4 Don’t do the work for the reader.

One of the greatest joys as a reader is…

  • piecing together the subtext of what your characters are scheming,
  • following the threads of meaning to the awful truth,
  • understanding (or speculating about) the repercussions of ever single action, every word spoken, and
  • drawing awful conclusions about what is to come.

There is tendency for writers to rob readers of this joy by spelling out every motivation, every piece of backstory, every conflict, every thought as if the character has spent years in therapy and now understands “the universe” with startling clarity and clinical detachment.

Stop that.  It sucks the fun out of reading.

It’s annoying to have everything explained in a sanitized “sound bite” before we, the readers, even know we need it.

#5 Build to a staggering conclusion; deliver even more.

Don’t let yourself off easy.  Build a powerful ending, and then blow the doors off that.

Readers have already seen al the powerful endings.  Whatever it is that you’re writing, your reader has read a hundred or so books just like that.

Do more.  Pull it off like no one has done before.  Reach into the guts of your story and rip out all the meaning and power you can.  And then take it all the way home.

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clip_image004Diane writes two alternating columns for Freelance-Zone:Fiction-Zone: Leaps in Fiction Mastery and Marketing-Zone:Marketing-Zone: Marketing Yourself and Your Book.