Tag: arc
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Protected: Of Pacing, Tension and the All-Important Artistry of Holding the Reader’s Attention…a
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
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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 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 Judas, Kali, and Transcendence…
Without Judas, the Crucifixion may not have taken place. In the absence of Ma Kali, with her teeth dripping of blood, Lord Siva would have no consort to usher in a time of death and rebirth manifested through the fiery dance he performs when angry. Upon raising the knife above his head, Abraham, out of…
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Of Dilemmas, Alice in Wonderland, and Shifts in Consciousness…
There comes a time in every story or novel when the main character stands in the midst of her or his dilemma like Alice does in Wonderland. The protagonist ponders, How do present circumstances differ from my immediate past? This place, like that of Alice in her wondrous, and yet frightening Wonderland sits between the…
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Of Cause and Effect, Twin Universes, and Sacrifice…
The protagonist’s decision to act constitutes a cornerstone moment in the life a novel. It signifies the shift from the beginning or set-up of the novel to the middle characterized as a process of action and reaction, better known as cause-and-effect. Still others term this area of the novel, and quite aptly, causality-and-build. Cause-and-effect emphasizes…