Tag Archives: Writer

Anticipation

“Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin’ me late
Is keepin’ me waitin’ ”

Does anyone remember this song?

In February of this year I attended a free writers conference. From that contacts were made from small press publishers. I submitted my first novel to one in late March and within a couple of weeks the rest of the MS was requested. It was told to me that the time frame of hearing anything would be 4-6 weeks. Cool! Now I had to sit down and wait and not obsess over this every single hour of every single day. Piece of cake NOT well at first anyway.

In that time I completed the second volume to the book, edited 80 percent of my NaNoWriMo book of 2011 and now just a couple of chapters shy of another novel being finished. The days have gone faster since the concentration has been back on my writings and not waiting for the call whether the news be positive or negative. I don’t think of it daily like I use to thankfully for that made for some long days.

Though to be perfectly honest my mind has spread out into dream land if I get the call and receive the news most writers wait for. It is hard not to fantasize of getting one’s first book in print the traditional way. I do have two short stories that were published in an ebook anthology and that still gives me a little woohoo especially when I look at the book on line.

But to get one’s book in print and hold it in our hands well let’s just say I really really would love to know how that feels. It use to be when I started writing it was with thoughts of money. But over the last two years it has mellowed to just loving to write and homing in on my craft. Interacting with fellow writers whether that be on line or in real life gives me a burst of energy that is so hard to explain. For they get what I am trying to do and understand why I am doing it. They get me.

I just love to write. Hopefully some day down the road people will not only pick up one of my books but enjoy it to where it gives them a smile. If I can accomplish that then I am successful.

Test Time

Plot is more than dramatic action. It involves having character emotional development, dramatic action and thematic significance. This is also known as how your protagonist acts or reacts. By doing these three things he or she is changed and something is learned. When stories get stuck it is likely that one of these three key elements has been ignored. One might concentrate on the action only, forgetting that character provides interest and is the primary reason people read books.

Organizing solely around the character can make one overlook the fact that dramatic action provides the thrill that each story needs. One might forget to develop the overall meaning of the story or the thematic significance. When the dramatic action changes the character at depth over time, the story becomes significant.

The Power of Character

In a story line, the characters grow and change in reaction to the dramatic action. This growth does not rely solely on a physical level. The challenges the characters face must create emotional effects, the deeper the better for reader. An effective way to do so is the use of a Scene Tracker. A scene tracker will ask you to fulfill seven essential elements in every single scene, with the biggest being focused on the character emotional development.

For example:

The Crisis: The crisis is an event in a scene that works like any crisis we may come across in our real life. Its job is to shake things up in such a way that the protagonist has to act. It takes on dramatic proportions when it is seen as the highest point in the dramatic action plot up to date in the story.

It has been fortunate for me so far that I have not gotten stuck yet. But knowing that there is a guideline of things that need to be included is a good thing to know. Plus it is a good tool to put my stories to the test and see if they have the three key elements that is needed. I can use it as a checklist of sorts to see if my works are well working. I need all the help I can get.

Links

Between the writing classes that have been taken, some useful links have been discovered. I thought this would be a good time to share them with my readers.

Online Communities

SheWrites

www.shewrites.com

Writer’s Digest Community

www.community.writersdigest.com

Backspace

www.bksp.org

Authonomy

www.authonomy.com

NaNoWriMo

www.nanowrimo.org

Writing.com

www.writing.com

Useful Websites

The Writing Room

www.writingroom.com

For Writers

www.forwriters.com

Writing World

www.writing-world.com

Explore Writing

www.explorewriting.co.uk

State and National Organizations

North Carolina Writers’ Network

www.ncwriters.org

Mystery Writers of America

www.mysterywriters.org

Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators

www.scbwi.org

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

www.sfwa.org

Some books of interest that one can find in the library:

Creative Writing by Dianne Doubtfire

Jump Start: How to Write from Everyday Life by Robert Wolf

Breathing Life Into Your Characters by Rachel Ballon

The Writer’s Idea Book by Jack Heffron

A Writer’s Guide to Fiction by Elizabeth Lyon

Two books that I refer to a lot are:

Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One and Never Lets Them Go by Les Edgerton

On Writing by Stephen King

I will be upfront and admit my bias for Mr. King. Being from the same state, we are rather proud of him.  Hopefully one of these links will bring some ideas, tips or resources to you. Good luck with your writings.