My Yahoo! + Movable Type Blog

Beginnings and endings are hard enough, but that in-between stuff will kill ya!

I don't know about you, but when I face an empty page, it's usually not the beginning or the end that I'm staring at, but the middle. It is here that my story tends to drag if I'm not careful.  The middle has to carry on with the story just as if each page is the "beginning," as if each page is letting go of a little more information and climbing up to the ultimate climax of the story. It's like the slow unvelling of a masterpiece. When you finally observe the entire picture your critical eye scans each color, every curve and line of the background and foreground and, of course, the main scope of the masterpiece.  Nothing about the masterpiece should fall short of the "whole" picture. Every brushstroke has been important. No brushstroke was flippantly painted on the canvas to "fill up" space.

So, try this. Take your favorite fiction/non-fiction story/book. Read it again, but this time on paper, summarize each paragraph for the short story and for the novel, each chapter.  Then study your summary. Notice how the story/book progresses. See how each paragraph/chapter relays "new" but "crucial" information.

Now, take your short story/book and do the same.  How does it fare? Is the information you're relaying really "crucial" to plot and character.  If not, consider "chunking" it.  It's very difficult to chunk. I know. I've done it many times. And many times (and I mean many) I've completely started over, same characters, same story, but relaying them it in a completely different way.  And 100% of the time it has turned out to be a better story.

Have fun with this. Share your experiences with the "middle." It's always good to get different takes on different writing experiences.

Posted by mswriters at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A writer's life can become very lonely with only the company of pen, paper, computer, books and the sound of keys on a keyboard or the tip of a pen dragging across paper. 

To keep "your" life in perspective and yet still appreciate your writing goals, finish each day with a review of "your" day. List in detail everything you experienced, from seeing to hearing to touching and smelling:

1) The conversation with your neighbor

2) The telephone call from your daughter

3) The scent of your Lean Cuisine

4) A song on the stereo

You get the picture. Honestly review your day, whether you thought it was productive or fun or restful or boring or wasted, etc.  List ways you might improve on it tomorrow. Also, in this journal, list your goals, not as a writer, but as an individual.

We are writers, but we are also individuals and when we lose sight of that, it affects our personal and writing lives. Allow yourself time to live and to reflect on it.

Share some of those reflections with us.

Richelle

Posted by mswriters at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Story beginnings should start in the middle. By that I mean, stories should start in the middle of an action crucial to plot and character.

When a reader/editor picks up a manuscript, they wanted to be swept up immediately into your fictional/real world. Just as the previous "Beginnings" blog shared the importance of the "first" sentence, this "Middle Ground" blog tells you where to start. In the middle.

Below are a few starters for you to work with that start in the "middle." See what you can do with these and then create your own.

"And you expect me to believe this story?"

He had grown tired of killing people.

She peered into her rearview mirror at the black cadillac that had been following her for miles.

He lifted her white veil to kiss her and she knew she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life.

As you can see, all these sentences start in the middle of the action, not at the beginning.  There is no backstory, no foreshadowing, nothing.  Of course, you might develop "backstory" and "foreshadowing" as your story moves on, but then again you might not, as with thrillers and mysteries that keep you guessing every step of the way.  Don't give too much away and when you do give something away, do it a little at a time.  Readers love mystery even if they're not actually reading a "mystery."

 But then that's another blog.

Richelle

Posted by mswriters at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Can you describe your short story, essay, or book in one line?  Yes, one line. This sounds impossible, but it isn't.  And the truth is, this will be necessary when pitching your idea to an agent or editor. Though your one line can be "long," it should not be a William Faulknes sentence.

 PRACTICE:  Watch a movie, several times if you have to. Then in one sentence, describe the movie as if you are pitching it to a producer.  Do this with several movies.

 Now, move on to written material. Start with short stories if you have to and graduate to books. Do this with the several books.

For assistance, here's a great website:

http://www.kathycarmichael.com/generator.html

This form not only helps you to summarize your project, it will teach you "how" to summarize your projects.  Notice that the main focus is specifically on "Character" and not on "Plot." That because your character is the driving force of all plots, so keep your focus there.

And don't forget to try a few out on us. 

Richelle

Posted by mswriters at 04:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)