Tag: action
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Of Reversals, Plausible Endings and the Artistry of Thwarting Expectations…
“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…
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Of Symbols, Change and Arc of Growth and Transformation…
The display the revelations that take place during the denouement and resolution, end, of a novel must take place in scene, not summary. End of story revelations work much like the action taking place during the crisis and climax points where the immediacy of the characters’ actions impress upon readers the significance and meaning of…
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Of Strategizing, Pawns and Plotting…
Playing the game of chess demands that individuals strategize their moves. To accomplish this each player must think ahead, considering what character or pieces they can move upon the chessboard, and to what square, empty or filled by one the opponent’s characters, and then the various moves their opponent can make in response.
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Of Queens, Personalities, Wishes and Desires…
In chess, the Queen stands to the right of the King. Her major job is that of protecting the King. The dilemma of preventing the King’s capture rests upon the Queen’s head. As such the Queen’s movements are central to winning the game of chess. Establishing the major dilemma or problem in a story is…
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Of John Gardner, Writing and The Worm Hole Experience…
“Any event that seems to the given writer startling, curious, or interest-laden can form the climax of a possible story.” –John Gardner in The Art of Fiction Climax is that place in the story or novel where the protagonist, the main character, reveals in action, that she or he has integrated knowledge gained through the…
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Of Peeling Onions, Surrender and Writing from The Zone…
The stage of renewal in a story offers a second opportunity for rebirth. Unlike the crisis, the scenes of renewal focus on the inner life of the major character. Through the action of deciding and choosing to share the good news of her or his triumph in both word and deed, the protagonist now heads…
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Of Crises, Experience and Goals…
Surviving a crisis bestows special knowledge garnered and held by few. It also grants admittance into various orders of wisdom yielded by experience. Every novel or story a writer crafts tells the life of a certain crisis, and chronicles a central character’s survival of that crisis. The process of writing that novel flows out of…