Tag: conflict
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So You Want to Write a Novel: Obstacles
Every good story needs an interesting and compelling character, centered in a riveting set of events that force her or him to reveal their best, and worst qualities. What do we call these set of events that push and prod the major character to show her or his mettle, their tenacious and persevering personality? Obstacles.
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So You Want to Write a Novel: Situation and Story
If you want to write a novel then you must begin to think of the situation, and the story. Situation is context, the nature of events that brought about the story. Story is sequence of events regarding the preceding change.
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No Escape
Writing is exhilarating. Crafting stories holds a rare type of excitement. And yet it can, and often stirs a fair amount of discomfort within the writer. Much of the angst we experience when writing relates to the aspect of revising, choosing the write word and phrasing, re-ordering paragraphs, re-scripting and re-organizing scenes.
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The Suffering of Our Protagonist
The word protagonist is rooted in the word agony, pain, and suffering. Protagonist means principal, or leading character. Good stories depict a central character in struggle, usually a fight for her or his life on some level. Memorable stories depict this main character rising above their pain oftentimes by helping others.
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Inhabiting Your Character: Journeying to the Ends of the Earth
Crafting a novel requires a major character with whom the author is willing to spend at least the next year. Much of the time spent with that character requires inhabiting her or his skin, living inside their situation that we have created. As writers we expend a significant part of the energy of our imagination…
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The Screenwriter and the Fiction Writer
Screenwriters hold a wealth of knowledge that benefits the fiction writer. Screenwriter and playwright, Kendall Williams who runs Morningside Writers’ Group sees himself as a dramatist-teacher. Along with facilitating fiction writers and memoirists to learn the basics of story telling–character, plot, point of view, dialogue, setting, and theme, Kendall also teaches workshop participants how to…