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Of Sword Fights, The Himalayas, And so on… And so on…

Have you ever watched a scene from a movie where two sword fighters are going at it?

And then they begin to move up the stairs, one sword fighter, moving in reverse up the incline of the steps, danger closing in, his back against the wall of conflict?

Remember how you felt? Your chest growing tighter, you engaged with what was happening rooting for one or the other swordsmen.

It goes the same with writing fiction.

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Of Pacing, Tension and the All-Important Artistry of Holding the Reader’s Attention…a

Author, Ken Follett, writes, “There is a rule which says that the story should turn about every four to six pages. A story turn is anything that changes the basic dramatic situation. It can change it in a little way or change it in a big way. …You can’t go longer than about six pages without a story turn, otherwise the reader will get bored. … Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, follows the same rule. In Dickens it’s the same; something happens about every four to six pages.”

The author of at least 20 novels, many of which are thrillers that have achieved international success, this list includes Follett’s well-received historical works, The Pillars of the Earth and World Without End, the latter of which made the New York Times Best Seller List.

Adapted for film, The Pillars of the Earth debuted July 23, 2010 on Starz as a mini-series.

When it comes to pacing, Follett’s admonishments are well taken. But what is he really talking about?

Pacing. Read the rest of this entry…

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Of “Android Karenina,” Content, and the Ability to Imagine…

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“Imitate form, not content. The tendency to imitate form and not content seems to relate directly to talent.”

–Peter Selgin, 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers

The present world of fiction sees many young writers interweaving the works of previous writers into the young author’s new creation.

I recently read an article about a young German writer who won an award for her work that had used large excerpts of a previous writer’s work in young novelist’s creation.

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Of Writing, Cinema, and What Only Books Can Provide…

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Hay-on-Wye Cinema Bookshop “If books merely convey plots and characters why in the age of cinema read a book? What can books give us that movies can’t? In two words: beautiful writing?“ —Peter Selgin, 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers I diligently pondered this question while working my

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Of Reversals, Plausible Endings and the Artistry of Thwarting Expectations…

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“A successful resolution thwart the our expectation; it doesn’t (fully) satisfy them.”—-Peter Selgin, 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers

Reversals sit at the heart of a successful resolution. And since novels consist of a continual list of crises fostered by a string of obstacles, both physical and human writers must embed our stories with a minefield of reversals.

But what is the true nature of a reversal?

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Motion, Identification and The Inertial Frame of Reference…

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“Everything moves. Everything …motion is just a manifestation of going from one spot to another spot in space. When we are trying to understand motion all of the things that we measure from have to come from an inertial frame of reference. An inertial frame of reference is a reference frame that is moving at a constant speed and not changing direction.”

–Motion and Relativity, Dr. Charles Liu, Research Associate @ the Department of Astrophysics, American Museum of Natural History

The backbone of a story, particularly an entertaining and engaging one is motion, movement from one place in conscious and consensual reality to another.

Amplifying the reader’s engagement with the internal movement of the story, the emotional thread requires clarification of setting and displaying the subtle shifts that take place and occur in perception of setting reflective of one’s internal changes.

These changes are usually transmitted, or rather shown through the eyes and physical senses of the protagonist who is also the point-of-view character.

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