WRITERS POTPOURRI
The Tips and Tidbits Page of Writing
On these pages you will find words of wisdom and writers' tips
WORDS TO MOTIVATE AND INSPIRE
Meredith March:
Inspired and motivated when the actor Harrison Ford had quoted, "The Force is within you. Force Yourself."
(Meredith did just that and finished her book, which subsequently sold to Harlequin Temptation)
Jackie Manning (heard at a NEC meeting):
"Set the alarm an hour earlier than you get up. When you're jarred awake, then ask yourself, 'Do you want to sleep an extra hour or be published?"
WRITING TIPS
What to Do When You Don't Feel Like Writing . . . Re-evaluating Your Story
by
Jackie Manning
If you'd rather have root canal than spend time with your writing, you better find out why.
Maybe your characters aren't interesting enough. Maybe the story no longer fits your characters. Remember, plot is the action that your characters need to go through in order to reach their goals. If the action is only so so, then maybe there's not enough at stake. I'll wager that the problem is the characters. Maybe the author hasn't delved deeply enough into the characters' backstories. Who are these people? That's where an author can mine the gold nuggets of motivation and goals. So find out who these people are, what they really want, or what they want to avoid, and what/who's going to stop them. Throw the worst thing that you can think of at them and watch them squirm. Who wouldn't want to see this play out?
Make the Time for Writing
by
Jackie Manning
I always ask my students: "How many pages are you planning to write this week?" Then I ask: "Specify a day and time in which to accomplish this goal." Then I ask: "What will you give up to make the time?" This might seem easy, but we all have just 24 hours in a day. Professional writers like Jayne Anne Krentz, Sandra Brown, (fill in your favorites) have families, personal crises, etc. that get in the way just as we do. Published authors know that you have to "make the time" to put those words on paper. It doesn't just happen when there's nothing else to do. So, what are you going to give up? Yes, sometimes it's the sacrifice we must make that produces that special scene or that new beginning for a chapter. It takes planning and hard work. Keep at it and your book will be finished!
How to Write Well-Crafted Scenes and Sequels
by
Meredith March
Whether you're building a dream home, or writing a soul-satisfying and marketable book, you need to have a vision, a plan and all the appropriate tools.
Scenes have often been described as the building blocks of fiction. I believe well constructed scenes are as essential to your story, as rooms are to a house. Scenes provide the space within which your story people live and love.
In a house, the floors, walls and ceiling provide structural support; while in a scene, the structual elements are called goal, conflict and disaster. If these elements aren't properly aligned, your story (or house) won't hold a buyer's interest. Well-crafted stories, like well-crafted houses, stand the test of time.
SCENE
In a good story, your main characters should each have a compelling need or desire s/he wants to obtain. (I'll use examples from my first Harlequin temptation to illustrate my points.)
Example: In "The Rocky Ridge Man", Sonya Duncan's story goal is to secure the vice-presidency of the advertising firm she works for. In order to achieve this goal, she has to ensure the success of an advertising campaign for Rocky ridge Blue Jeans. And to do this, she needs to find the man with the best derriere in the West!
Goal
Each scene goal should be a step the main character takes towards his/her story goal.
Example: In one particular scene, Sonya's goal is to sign Clint Silver as the model/spokesman for Rocky Ridge Blue Jeans.
Conflict
Someone or something stands in the way of the character trying to achieve his/her goal.
Example: Clint won't sign the contract unless Sonya adds certain conditions.
Disaster Either the main character doesn't achieve his/her goal at all,or, by achieving his/her goal, s/he puts him/herself in a worse situation.
Example: Sonya can obtain her goal, but only if she agrees to conceal both Clint's face and his identity.
Do you see how Sonya's situation has just become worse? Her entire advertising plan will have to be redesigned, which could threaten the success of the campaign and, thus, jeopardize her chance at securing the vice-presidency.
SEQUEL
The sequel is the connector (hallway) leading from one scene (room) to another.
Like a hallway has a floor, walls and ceiling, the three elements of a sequel are: reaction, dilemma and decision.
Reaction
The character responds logically and/or emotionally to the implications of the 'disaster' revealed at the end of the scene.
Example: Astonished, Sonya doesn't believe Clint is serious.
Dilemma
The character examines his/her options as to how s/he can still achieve his/her story goal.
Example: If she agrees with Clint's demand, there's a possibility a revised advertising plan won't be as successful as her original one. As a result, she could risk losing the vice-presidency. On the other hand, if she doesn't hire Clint, it's guartanteed she'll lose her chance to be vice-president.
Descision
As implied, the character has to choose a new course of action that will, hopefully, still move him/her closer to his/her goal.
Example: Sonya chooses the lesser of the two evils,knowing she'll have to redesign the entire advertising plan.
Of course, things don't go as smoothly as Sonya anticipates...!
I hope this has helped you bettter understand the importance of scene and sequel. For further information on these important writing techniques, I recommend you read the following resource books:
Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain ISBN 0-8061-1191-7
Scene & Structure by Jack Bickham ISBN 0-89879-551-6
The Rocky Ridge Man
By
Meredith March
An August 1999 release by Harlequin Temptation
THE WOES OF A WRITER
We've all been there ...
"There's nothing to writing. All you have to do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein." (Red Smith)
"What has night to do with sleep?" (John Milton)
"Manuscript: something submitted in haste and returned at leisure." (Oliver Herford)
"Easy reading is damned hard writing." (Unknown)
"Just get it down on paper, and then we'll see what to do about it." (Maxwell Perkins)
"Writing is easy. All you do is stare at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead." (Gene Fowler)
"I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil." (Truman Capote)
"They can't yank a novelist like they can a pitcher. A novelist has to go the full nine, even if it kills him." (Ernest Hemingway)
"The cure for writer's cramp is writer's block." (Inigo de Leon)
"There are three rules for writing the novel. Unfortunately no one knows what they are." (W. Somerset Maugham)
"Writing a book is long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon whom one can neither resist nor understand." (George Orwell)
"The trick is to have a really good story and really good characters." (Lucy Gannon)
"Writing is so difficult that I feel that writers, having had their hell on earth, will escape all punishment hereafter." (Jessamyn West)
"Don't get discouraged because there's a lot of mechanical work to writing ... I rewrote the first part of "A Farewell to Arms" at least fifty times ... The first draft of anything is <crap>" (Ernest Hemingway)
"I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork." (Peter De Vries)
"A blank piece of paper is God's way of showing a writer how hard it is to be God." (Joel Saltzman)
"Let's face it, writing is hell." (George Simeon)
