Tag: character
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Character, Goals and Obstacles
A writer has three questions she or he must answer before or when beginning a story. Who is my protagonist? What does she or he want? And what is getting in her or his way? Each of these aspects delivers an important component of story. Together they create a force that propels plot. A story…
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The Business of Writing
“It’s way harder to establish a career as a working writer than to get published by a traditional New York publishing house.” —Lisa Unger on the Business of Writing Whether the author achieves publication of their work through traditional means, or chooses to self-publish, she or he must play an active role in the promoting,…
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An Idea for a Story…
I have the idea for a story. It may turn into a novel. For now it opens with, “…The great god Maui, it is said, created the island Maui, by tricking his brothers into thinking he had caught a huge fish. He told them to paddle faster so that he could pull the fish to…
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Premise
What’s the premise of your novel? Do you need one? Why would you not? Premise is the combination of character and situation. What if Person A is forced to confront Situation F?
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Once Discovered, What Then?
“Every book, or body of writing, is a new experience,” explains author, and writing coach, Elizabeth Stark. “Each work holds its own internal structure, that says, ‘This is how you read me.’” The opening of a novel or story must be explicit in revealing this. Presenting a confusing pattern or one that lacks this information…
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Around and Around We Go
Revisiting scenes in the cycle of character actions and interactions allows for the reader to notice through the eyes of the major characters. It also presents symbols and signs held within the context of the settings that indicate not only more about the specific settings and what they have to say regarding character, but also…
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So You Want to Write a Story: Where the Action Is
Once you have established the general place and time of a novel there remains the specifics of where the majority of action takes place. Eager to supply a healthy amount of action and avoid writing a stagnant and boring read, young writers often craft a story that holds a infinitesimal number of places where the…