Posts tagged setting
(Source: plus.google.com, via booklover)
London Underground Tube Map based on Alice in Wonderland.
The 21 Key Traits of Best-Selling Fiction
- Utility (writing about things that people will use in their lives)
- Information (facts people must have to place your writing in context)
- Substance (the relative value or weight in any piece of writing)
- Focus (the power to bring an issue into clear view)
- Logic (a coherent system for making your points)
- A sense of connection (the stupid power of personal involvement)
- A compelling style (writing in a way that engages)
- A sense of humor (wit or at least irony)
- Simplicity (clarity and focus on a single idea)
- Entertainment (the power to get people to enjoy what you write)
- A fast pace (the ability to make your writing feel like a quick read)
- Imagery (the power to create pictures with words)
- Creativity (the ability to invent)
- Excitement (writing with energy that infects a reader with your own enthusiasm)
- Comfort (writing that imparts a sense of well-being)
- Happiness (writing that gives joy)
- Truth (or at least fairness)
- Writing that provokes (writing to make people think or act)
- Active, memorable writing (the poetry in your prose)
- A sense of Wow! (the wonder your writing imparts on a reader)
- Transcendence (writing that elevates with its heroism, justice, beauty, honor)
To sell your fiction, you must pay attention to the Key Traits of Best-Selling Fiction. FYI, the twenty-one traits are arranged in a kind of rough order.
- Appeals to the intellect. The first five: utility to logic. To you, the writer, they refer to how you research, organize, and structure your story. These are the large-scale mechanics of a novel.
- Appeals to the emotions. From a sense of connection to excitement. These are the ways you engage a reader to create buzz. Do these things right, and people will talk about your novel, selling it to others.
- Appeals to the soul.Comfort through transcendence. With these traits you examine whether your writing matters, whether it lasts, whether it elevates you to the next level as a novelist.
The 21 key traits of best-selling fiction are excerpted from The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr.Source: Writer’s Digest
(via a-wesomesauce)
the third in a series of presentations I did about Creative Writing for students in my school who were interested in it (I’m in the business, so I was asked to talk about the things I’ve learned since my work was noticed).
I’m willing to send my presentations to those who want them :) apart from this I did one on creative writing in general and one on character crafting.
I’m also willing to answer questions about what it’s like to work with an editor and what kind of things will be asked of you. ^____^
(via writingfrenzies)
Writer's Relief Blog: "How To Revise Your Novel"
A good novel is often revised several times before it’s ready to be submitted to a literary agent or editor for publication. As daunting as this seems, revision (or self-editing) is simply part of the process of taking that first draft and turning it into a polished and coherent novel and, hopefully, one that will make you a star. Here are some tips about how to revise your novel.
If the revision process seems intimidating, break it down into manageable steps. Some writers make one thorough sweep, and others make multiple passes, concentrating on different areas each time (characterization, plot, theme). However you work best, take the time to find those weaknesses that could halt the flow of your plot or take credibility away from your main character.
Writer's Relief Blog: "Literary Locales: What Great Books Teach Us About Setting"
Whether or not they mow their own lawns, writers need to be landscapers. The landscapes (aka settings or locales) of books, stories, and poems can be just as important as characters, plot, and prose style in making a creative work bloom.
We’ve written in the past about how to make your landscapes multitask within your narrative, so we thought we’d offer examples of famous novels with memorable landscapes (novels many of our well-read blog visitors know well!). Why are these landscapes appropriate to these books? Why do they resonate with readers? We can all learn something from the way super-skilled authors establish settings.
(Source: lost-goldenthrills)
Writer's Relief Blog: "Five Tips For Your First Five Pages"
Previously, we’ve discussed how important the opening pages of your novel are if you want to attract the attention of a literary agent or editor. This time, we’re going to feature some important techniques that will help you be sure that your first five pages are as strong as possible.
(Source: amandaonwriting)
