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

1 Comment / ... anjuellefloyd ..., Articles and Essays /

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.

Of Sword Fights, The Himalayas, And so on… And so on… Read More »

Of Writing, Integrity and The Company We Keep…

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“When we set out to judge—ridicule pillory, condemn, sneer at or…impugn our characters–we fail at our objective. Instead of making our characters look bad we make ourselves suspect.”
—-Peter Selgin, 179 Ways to Save a Novel: Matters of Vital Concern to Fiction Writers

We are known by the company we keep. In the case of a writer, that company consists of our characters and our attitude towards them.

Simply put, what kind of person would choose to writer 60,000 words, or there about, centered on a person or persons our words demonstrate that we dislike, hold little or no respect for, or even loathe?

Would you as a reader trust anything this writer has to say?

Of Writing, Integrity and The Company We Keep… Read More »

Of Plot, Authenticity, and Knowing Who We Are…

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“A story should generate it’s own actions and emotions organically…A story should be authentic…made of stuff that has never been appropriated from other forms of narrative art…other stories…movies or television. Or it has it should be sufficiently re-processed through the author’s unique sensibilities so the resulting work has its own authenticity.”

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

A story should have it’s own unique characters and plot.

Well if this be the case why are writers encouraged to read for more than the experience of learning writing technique?

Of Plot, Authenticity, and Knowing Who We Are… Read More »

Of Setting, Change, Action, and Dilemmas…

Articles and Essays /

What creates setting, both physical and emotional?

And what goes into creating a setting that stimulates a reader to feel?

What is the challenge of creating a formative and transformative setting?

What needs to remain static and constant in a setting?

And what needs to cry out for change?

These questions point out the importance of setting and the challenge of meeting the needs that setting addresses in a story or novel.

John Truby, author of The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Masterful Storyteller, advises that the setting of a novel needs to include 2-3 separate and distinct places.

His belief debunks the idea that a good story needs to have a list of settings in order to sustain interest and hold the reader’s attention.

Of Setting, Change, Action, and Dilemmas… Read More »

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