Author: Marcy Kennedy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780992037161
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 88
Book Description
You've heard the advice "show, don't tell" until you can't stand to hear it anymore. Yet fiction writers of all levels still seem to struggle with it. There are three reasons for this. The first is that this isn't an absolute rule. Telling isn't always wrong. The second is that we lack a clear way of understanding the difference between showing and telling. The third is that we're told "show, don't tell," but we're often left without practical ways to know how and when to do that, and how and when not to. So that's what this book is about. Chapter One defines showing and telling and explains why showing is normally better. Chapter Two gives you eight practical ways to find telling that needs to be changed to showing and guides you in understanding how to make those changes. Chapter Three explains how telling can function as a useful first draft tool. Chapter Four goes in-depth on the seven situations when telling might be the better choice than showing. Chapter Five provides you with practical editing tips to help you take what you've learned to the pages of your current novel or short story. "Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction" also includes three appendices covering how to use "The Emotion Thesaurus," dissecting an example so you can see the concepts of showing vs. telling in action, and explaining the closely related topic of As-You-Know-Bob Syndrome. Each book in the "Busy Writer's Guides" series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so you have more time to write and to live your life.
Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction
Author: Marcy Kennedy
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780992037161
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 88
Book Description
You've heard the advice "show, don't tell" until you can't stand to hear it anymore. Yet fiction writers of all levels still seem to struggle with it. There are three reasons for this. The first is that this isn't an absolute rule. Telling isn't always wrong. The second is that we lack a clear way of understanding the difference between showing and telling. The third is that we're told "show, don't tell," but we're often left without practical ways to know how and when to do that, and how and when not to. So that's what this book is about. Chapter One defines showing and telling and explains why showing is normally better. Chapter Two gives you eight practical ways to find telling that needs to be changed to showing and guides you in understanding how to make those changes. Chapter Three explains how telling can function as a useful first draft tool. Chapter Four goes in-depth on the seven situations when telling might be the better choice than showing. Chapter Five provides you with practical editing tips to help you take what you've learned to the pages of your current novel or short story. "Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction" also includes three appendices covering how to use "The Emotion Thesaurus," dissecting an example so you can see the concepts of showing vs. telling in action, and explaining the closely related topic of As-You-Know-Bob Syndrome. Each book in the "Busy Writer's Guides" series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so you have more time to write and to live your life.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780992037161
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 88
Book Description
You've heard the advice "show, don't tell" until you can't stand to hear it anymore. Yet fiction writers of all levels still seem to struggle with it. There are three reasons for this. The first is that this isn't an absolute rule. Telling isn't always wrong. The second is that we lack a clear way of understanding the difference between showing and telling. The third is that we're told "show, don't tell," but we're often left without practical ways to know how and when to do that, and how and when not to. So that's what this book is about. Chapter One defines showing and telling and explains why showing is normally better. Chapter Two gives you eight practical ways to find telling that needs to be changed to showing and guides you in understanding how to make those changes. Chapter Three explains how telling can function as a useful first draft tool. Chapter Four goes in-depth on the seven situations when telling might be the better choice than showing. Chapter Five provides you with practical editing tips to help you take what you've learned to the pages of your current novel or short story. "Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction" also includes three appendices covering how to use "The Emotion Thesaurus," dissecting an example so you can see the concepts of showing vs. telling in action, and explaining the closely related topic of As-You-Know-Bob Syndrome. Each book in the "Busy Writer's Guides" series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so you have more time to write and to live your life.
Who Says?: Mastering Point of View in Fiction
Author: Lisa Zeidner
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393356124
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
A thorough, illuminating, and entertaining guide to crafting point of view, a fiction writer’s most essential choice. Who is telling the story to whom is the single most important question about any work of fiction; the answer is central to everything from style and tone to plot and pacing. Using hundreds of examples from Jane Austen to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Leo Tolstoy to Stephen King, novelist and longtime MFA professor Lisa Zeidner dives deep into the points of view we are most familiar with—first and third person—and moves beyond to second-person narration, frame tales, and even animal points of view. Engaging and accessible, Who Says? presents any practicing writer with a new system for choosing a point of view, experimenting with how it determines the narrative, and applying these ideas to revision.
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393356124
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
A thorough, illuminating, and entertaining guide to crafting point of view, a fiction writer’s most essential choice. Who is telling the story to whom is the single most important question about any work of fiction; the answer is central to everything from style and tone to plot and pacing. Using hundreds of examples from Jane Austen to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Leo Tolstoy to Stephen King, novelist and longtime MFA professor Lisa Zeidner dives deep into the points of view we are most familiar with—first and third person—and moves beyond to second-person narration, frame tales, and even animal points of view. Engaging and accessible, Who Says? presents any practicing writer with a new system for choosing a point of view, experimenting with how it determines the narrative, and applying these ideas to revision.
Deep Point of View
Author: Marcy Kennedy
Publisher: Tongue Untied Communications
ISBN: 9781988069043
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158
Book Description
Do you want readers to be so caught up in your book that they forget they're reading? Then you need deep POV. Deep POV takes the reader and places them inside of our characters-hearing their thoughts, feeling their emotions, and living the story through them. Compared to other writing styles, it builds a stronger emotional connection between the reader and our characters, creates the feeling of a faster pace, and helps avoid point-of-view errors and telling rather than showing. In "Deep Point of View," writing instructor and fiction editor Marcy Kennedy brings her years of experience into showing you how to write deep POV. You'll learn specific, practical things you can do immediately to take your fiction to the next level. Each book in the "Busy Writer's Guide" series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story, with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so that you have more time to write and to live your life.
Publisher: Tongue Untied Communications
ISBN: 9781988069043
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158
Book Description
Do you want readers to be so caught up in your book that they forget they're reading? Then you need deep POV. Deep POV takes the reader and places them inside of our characters-hearing their thoughts, feeling their emotions, and living the story through them. Compared to other writing styles, it builds a stronger emotional connection between the reader and our characters, creates the feeling of a faster pace, and helps avoid point-of-view errors and telling rather than showing. In "Deep Point of View," writing instructor and fiction editor Marcy Kennedy brings her years of experience into showing you how to write deep POV. You'll learn specific, practical things you can do immediately to take your fiction to the next level. Each book in the "Busy Writer's Guide" series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story, with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so that you have more time to write and to live your life.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel
Author: Jessica Brody
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
ISBN: 0399579753
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success. Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel writing. Revealing the 15 "beats" (plot points) that comprise a successful story--from the opening image to the finale--this book lays out the Ten Story Genres (Monster in the House; Whydunit; Dude with a Problem) alongside quirky, original insights (Save the Cat; Shard of Glass) to help novelists craft a plot that will captivate--and a novel that will sell.
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
ISBN: 0399579753
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Book Description
The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success. Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel writing. Revealing the 15 "beats" (plot points) that comprise a successful story--from the opening image to the finale--this book lays out the Ten Story Genres (Monster in the House; Whydunit; Dude with a Problem) alongside quirky, original insights (Save the Cat; Shard of Glass) to help novelists craft a plot that will captivate--and a novel that will sell.
The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression (2nd Edition)
Author: Becca Puglisi
Publisher: JADD Publishing
ISBN: 0999296353
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Book Description
The bestselling Emotion Thesaurus, often hailed as “the gold standard for writers” and credited with transforming how writers craft emotion, has now been expanded to include 56 new entries! One of the biggest struggles for writers is how to convey emotion to readers in a unique and compelling way. When showing our characters’ feelings, we often use the first idea that comes to mind, and they end up smiling, nodding, and frowning too much. If you need inspiration for creating characters’ emotional responses that are personalized and evocative, this ultimate show-don’t-tell guide for emotion can help. It includes: • Body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for over 130 emotions that cover a range of intensity from mild to severe, providing innumerable options for individualizing a character’s reactions • A breakdown of the biggest emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome them • Advice on what should be done before drafting to make sure your characters’ emotions will be realistic and consistent • Instruction for how to show hidden feelings and emotional subtext through dialogue and nonverbal cues • And much more! The Emotion Thesaurus, in its easy-to-navigate list format, will inspire you to create stronger, fresher character expressions and engage readers from your first page to your last.
Publisher: JADD Publishing
ISBN: 0999296353
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 541
Book Description
The bestselling Emotion Thesaurus, often hailed as “the gold standard for writers” and credited with transforming how writers craft emotion, has now been expanded to include 56 new entries! One of the biggest struggles for writers is how to convey emotion to readers in a unique and compelling way. When showing our characters’ feelings, we often use the first idea that comes to mind, and they end up smiling, nodding, and frowning too much. If you need inspiration for creating characters’ emotional responses that are personalized and evocative, this ultimate show-don’t-tell guide for emotion can help. It includes: • Body language cues, thoughts, and visceral responses for over 130 emotions that cover a range of intensity from mild to severe, providing innumerable options for individualizing a character’s reactions • A breakdown of the biggest emotion-related writing problems and how to overcome them • Advice on what should be done before drafting to make sure your characters’ emotions will be realistic and consistent • Instruction for how to show hidden feelings and emotional subtext through dialogue and nonverbal cues • And much more! The Emotion Thesaurus, in its easy-to-navigate list format, will inspire you to create stronger, fresher character expressions and engage readers from your first page to your last.
Showing and Telling in Fiction
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780992037147
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
You've heard the advice "show, don't tell" until you can't stand to hear it anymore. Yet fiction writers of all levels still seem to struggle with it.There are three reasons for this. The first is that this isn't an absolute rule. Telling isn't always wrong. The second is that we lack a clear way of understanding the difference between showing and telling. The third is that we're told "show, don't tell," but we're often left without practical ways to know how and when to do that, and how and when not to. So that's what this book is about.Chapter One defines showing and telling and explains why showing is normally better.Chapter Two gives you eight practical ways to find telling that needs to be changed to showing and guides you in understanding how to make those changes.Chapter Three explains how telling can function as a useful first draft tool.Chapter Four goes in-depth on the seven situations when telling might be the better choice than showing.Chapter Five provides you with practical editing tips to help you take what you've learned to the pages of your current novel or short story.Showing and Telling in Fiction also includes three appendices covering how to use The Emotion Thesaurus, dissecting an example so you can see the concepts of showing vs. telling in action, and explaining the closely related topic of As-You-Know-Bob Syndrome.Each book in the Busy Writer's Guides series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so you have more time to write and to live your life.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780992037147
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :
Book Description
You've heard the advice "show, don't tell" until you can't stand to hear it anymore. Yet fiction writers of all levels still seem to struggle with it.There are three reasons for this. The first is that this isn't an absolute rule. Telling isn't always wrong. The second is that we lack a clear way of understanding the difference between showing and telling. The third is that we're told "show, don't tell," but we're often left without practical ways to know how and when to do that, and how and when not to. So that's what this book is about.Chapter One defines showing and telling and explains why showing is normally better.Chapter Two gives you eight practical ways to find telling that needs to be changed to showing and guides you in understanding how to make those changes.Chapter Three explains how telling can function as a useful first draft tool.Chapter Four goes in-depth on the seven situations when telling might be the better choice than showing.Chapter Five provides you with practical editing tips to help you take what you've learned to the pages of your current novel or short story.Showing and Telling in Fiction also includes three appendices covering how to use The Emotion Thesaurus, dissecting an example so you can see the concepts of showing vs. telling in action, and explaining the closely related topic of As-You-Know-Bob Syndrome.Each book in the Busy Writer's Guides series is intended to give you enough theory so that you can understand why things work and why they don't, but also enough examples to see how that theory looks in practice. In addition, they provide tips and exercises to help you take it to the pages of your own story with an editor's-eye view. Most importantly, they cut the fluff so you have more time to write and to live your life.
Writing with the Master
Author: Tony Vanderwarker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1628739150
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 189
Book Description
With seven unpublished novels wasting away on his hard drive, Tony Vanderwarker is astonished when John Grisham offers to take him under his wing and teach him the secrets of thriller writing. “The beginning and the end are easy,” Grisham tells him. “It’s the three hundred pages in the middle that’s the hard part.” To ensure his plot doesn’t run out of gas, Grisham puts Tony though his outline process. Tony does one, and then Grisham asks for another … and another … and another. As they work together, Grisham reveals the techniques that have helped him create compelling bestsellers for more than two decades—for instance, “You’ve got to hook your reader in the first forty pages or you’ll lose them.” After a year of constructing outlines, Grisham finally gives Tony the go-ahead to start writing. Writing with the Master immerses the reader in the creative process as Tony struggles to produce a successful thriller. It’s a roller coaster ride, sometimes hilarious, and often full of ups and downs. Grisham’s critiques and margin notes to Tony reveal his nimble imagination and plot development genius. For Grisham fans, Vanderwarker’s memoir pulls back the curtain on his writing secrets, and for aspiring writers, it’s a master class in thriller writing. In the end, Tony resolves to take Grisham’s teachings to heart and eventually decides to write what he thinks he was meant to: a book about the creative process and his incredible two years working with John Grisham.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1628739150
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 189
Book Description
With seven unpublished novels wasting away on his hard drive, Tony Vanderwarker is astonished when John Grisham offers to take him under his wing and teach him the secrets of thriller writing. “The beginning and the end are easy,” Grisham tells him. “It’s the three hundred pages in the middle that’s the hard part.” To ensure his plot doesn’t run out of gas, Grisham puts Tony though his outline process. Tony does one, and then Grisham asks for another … and another … and another. As they work together, Grisham reveals the techniques that have helped him create compelling bestsellers for more than two decades—for instance, “You’ve got to hook your reader in the first forty pages or you’ll lose them.” After a year of constructing outlines, Grisham finally gives Tony the go-ahead to start writing. Writing with the Master immerses the reader in the creative process as Tony struggles to produce a successful thriller. It’s a roller coaster ride, sometimes hilarious, and often full of ups and downs. Grisham’s critiques and margin notes to Tony reveal his nimble imagination and plot development genius. For Grisham fans, Vanderwarker’s memoir pulls back the curtain on his writing secrets, and for aspiring writers, it’s a master class in thriller writing. In the end, Tony resolves to take Grisham’s teachings to heart and eventually decides to write what he thinks he was meant to: a book about the creative process and his incredible two years working with John Grisham.
Mastering the Process
Author: Elizabeth George
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984878328
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
As the author of twenty-four novels, Elizabeth George is one of the most successful--and prolific--novelists today. In Mastering the Process, George offers readers a master class in the art and science of crafting a novel. This is a subject she knows well, having taught creative writing both nationally and internationally for over thirty years. "I have never before read a book about writing that is so thorough, thoughtful, and most of all, helpful." --Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women For many writers, the biggest challenge is figuring out how to take that earliest glimmer of inspiration and shape it into a full-length novel. How do you even begin to transform a single idea into a complete book? In these pages, award-winning, number one New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George takes us behind the scenes through each step of her writing process, revealing exactly what it takes to craft a novel. Drawing from her personal photos, early notes, character analyses, and rough drafts, George shows us every stage of how she wrote her novel Careless in Red, from researching location to imagining plot to creating characters to the actual writing and revision processes themselves. George offers us an intimate look at the procedures she follows, while also providing invaluable advice for writers about what has worked for her--and what hasn't. Mastering the Process gives writers practical, prescriptive, and achievable tools for creating a novel, editing a novel, and problem solving when in the midst of a novel, from a master storyteller writing at the top of her game.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984878328
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 336
Book Description
As the author of twenty-four novels, Elizabeth George is one of the most successful--and prolific--novelists today. In Mastering the Process, George offers readers a master class in the art and science of crafting a novel. This is a subject she knows well, having taught creative writing both nationally and internationally for over thirty years. "I have never before read a book about writing that is so thorough, thoughtful, and most of all, helpful." --Lisa See, New York Times bestselling author of The Island of Sea Women For many writers, the biggest challenge is figuring out how to take that earliest glimmer of inspiration and shape it into a full-length novel. How do you even begin to transform a single idea into a complete book? In these pages, award-winning, number one New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth George takes us behind the scenes through each step of her writing process, revealing exactly what it takes to craft a novel. Drawing from her personal photos, early notes, character analyses, and rough drafts, George shows us every stage of how she wrote her novel Careless in Red, from researching location to imagining plot to creating characters to the actual writing and revision processes themselves. George offers us an intimate look at the procedures she follows, while also providing invaluable advice for writers about what has worked for her--and what hasn't. Mastering the Process gives writers practical, prescriptive, and achievable tools for creating a novel, editing a novel, and problem solving when in the midst of a novel, from a master storyteller writing at the top of her game.
Whale Song
Author: Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Publisher: Kunati Books
ISBN: 1601640072
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
What if you can't remember the most horrible day of your life? A shocking tragedy leaves Sarah with partial amnesia. Torn by nightmares, she must face her fears...and remember.
Publisher: Kunati Books
ISBN: 1601640072
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 210
Book Description
What if you can't remember the most horrible day of your life? A shocking tragedy leaves Sarah with partial amnesia. Torn by nightmares, she must face her fears...and remember.
Story Engineering
Author: Larry Brooks
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1599632810
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
What makes a good story or a screenplay great? The vast majority of writers begin the storytelling process with only a partial understanding where to begin. Some labor their entire lives without ever learning that successful stories are as dependent upon good engineering as they are artistry. But the truth is, unless you are master of the form, function and criteria of successful storytelling, sitting down and pounding out a first draft without planning is an ineffective way to begin. Story Engineering starts with the criteria and the architecture of storytelling, the engineering and design of a story--and uses it as the basis for narrative. The greatest potential of any story is found in the way six specific aspects of storytelling combine and empower each other on the page. When rendered artfully, they become a sum in excess of their parts. You'll learn to wrap your head around the big pictures of storytelling at a professional level through a new approach that shows how to combine these six core competencies which include: • Four elemental competencies of concept, character, theme, and story structure (plot) • Two executional competencies of scene construction and writing voice The true magic of storytelling happens when these six core competencies work together in perfect harmony. And the best part? Anyone can do it!
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1599632810
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 288
Book Description
What makes a good story or a screenplay great? The vast majority of writers begin the storytelling process with only a partial understanding where to begin. Some labor their entire lives without ever learning that successful stories are as dependent upon good engineering as they are artistry. But the truth is, unless you are master of the form, function and criteria of successful storytelling, sitting down and pounding out a first draft without planning is an ineffective way to begin. Story Engineering starts with the criteria and the architecture of storytelling, the engineering and design of a story--and uses it as the basis for narrative. The greatest potential of any story is found in the way six specific aspects of storytelling combine and empower each other on the page. When rendered artfully, they become a sum in excess of their parts. You'll learn to wrap your head around the big pictures of storytelling at a professional level through a new approach that shows how to combine these six core competencies which include: • Four elemental competencies of concept, character, theme, and story structure (plot) • Two executional competencies of scene construction and writing voice The true magic of storytelling happens when these six core competencies work together in perfect harmony. And the best part? Anyone can do it!