CLAUSE – contains both a SUBJECT AND A VERB Fred lost his keys. Is a clause, since it contains the subject noun, Fred, and the verb, lost. PHRASE – contains NO SUBJECT or independent verb. After losing his keys, Is a phrase because it contains no subject. MAIN CLAUSE – (independent clause) stands alone CATEGORIES…
If we break a book down into its constituent parts, starting with the smallest part, we get the following: words – sentences – paragraphs – scenes – chapters In the last blog, we discussed words. Now lets look at sentences. SENTENCES – Always keep in mind that sentences don’t generally occur in isolation. Be aware…
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN “TELLING” (NARRATIVE STYLE) AND SHOWING One of the surest ways to liven up your story is to look for passages where you’ve TOLD when you could have SHOWN. Consider the following: Debbie looked at Halley’s growing belly with a wistful smile, remembering all the dreams she had of being a mother and…
When writing dialogue in fiction, there’s lots of ways to ascribe speech to your characters. These indicators are called “speech tags”. The most common way is to use the word, “said”. “Don’t forget to take out the trash,” his mother said. Opinions vary on what’s acceptable and what’s not. Some critics claim the word, “said”,…
Imagine the headline: America’s Most-Loved Dog – Snoopy, Dead at 87 Beloved Beagle Flattened by Eighteen-Wheeler “I’m devastated,” said Charles “Charlie” Brown, longtime owner of the charismatic, but aloof pooch. “I don’t think I can go on without him.” When asked for a reason for killing off the world’s most-beloved canine, Peanuts creator, Charles Shultz,…
WITHHOLDING – MAKING THEM BEG Withholding is a subtle art form. Remember, you’re not withholding from your reader, you’re withholding from your protagonist. But when you withhold from your protagonist, your readers begin to identify with them. THINGS TO WITHHOLD – Many time your characters are on their way somewhere. They need to GET SOMEWHERE…
PREPARATION – Writing a fight scene requires a bit of patience. And unless you’re an expert in various forms of combat like sword fighting, you’ll probably need to do some research as well. Because if you DO write about sword or spear fighting or other medieval types of warfare, you must always assume that out…
The most important part of any story is the characters. Indeed, the characters ARE the story. If you don’t have believable characters, you don’t have a story – no matter how good the rest of the writing may be. When creating fun and realistic characters, the thing you want most is for your characters to…
HOW TO USE PUNCTUATION I love the saying, “There are five rules for writing fiction. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” As aspiring writers, we all want to know the do’s and don’ts that the pros follow. Because if we don’t, if we send a poorly written manuscript to an agent or publisher, we…
FINDING THE RIGHT WORD – Taking the extra time to construct your sentences with just the right words is worth the effort. Using the right word, you can build tension, create wonder in the reader, and energize what might otherwise be a boring scene. It just takes time, patience, and sweat. WORDS MATTER – The…
ABS (SOLUTELY NOT) (OVERLY) GREAT EXPECTATIONS Don’t you love it? You meet a character in fiction who spends his nights drinking and carousing. Then he passes his days lounging by the pool, drinking double martinis, while his only form of exercise seems to be bedding a different woman every night. And yet…. “Tabitha held her…
OVERCOMING WRITER’S BLOCK SILENCING THE INNER CRITIC – Overcoming writer’s block sometimes involves shutting up the little green monster that sits on the writer’s shoulder (particularly the beginning writer) telling them that everything they write is “stupid”, and that they’ll never make it as a writer. Find a way to build confidence, and trust yourself….