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Most authors who have tried to get published have heard of high-concept fiction, though the concept (pun totally intended) can be a little fuzzy. Let’s talk about what ‘high concept’ means and how you can make it part of your writing repertoire. ‘High concept’ defined The idea is fairly simple: high-concept writing places high value on the story’s concept. I boil it down to these four qualities, …
[Read more...] about What Is ‘High-Concept’ Fiction, And How Can I Write It?
Twenty years ago, you might not have heard of George R. R. Martin, who, at that time, would have been merely the author of the modestly successful fantasy novel A Game of Thrones. In the years following, he would produce the sequels A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows, all of which made big splashes in the world of fantasy literature but didn’t stray beyond their own niche …
[Read more...] about 5 Things George R. R. Martin Can Teach You About Writing
It’s true that sports have had a difficult time breaking out of nonfiction (after all, there’s certainly no shortage of sports memoirs, biographies, and histories); despite the efforts of writers including Ernest Hemingway, Alan Sillitoe, Nick Hornby, David Foster Wallace, and Haruki Murakami, sports rarely seem to muscle into the literary sphere, and that’s a shame. Done well, a sharp game of …
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Sometimes, the best way to prove that something in your story is dangerous is to throw a character at it. Want to show how threatening a character or situation is? Have them immediately kill someone, because who could deny that evidence? Of course, it’d be a shame to use up a real character just to prove that the villain isn’t messing around, so the next logical step is to create a character …
[Read more...] about How To Avoid Writing A Redshirt Character
Salman Rushdie is well known for his outspoken nature and the deadly fatwa issued in answer to his work. His novel Midnight’s Children won several awards and made it onto Modern Library’s 100 best novels list, but many are also familiar with the book that sent him into hiding, The Satanic Verses, and his riveting, third-person memoir, Joseph Anton. He’s dabbled in children’s literature, published …
[Read more...] about 6 Ways Salman Rushdie Can Improve Your Writing
Sometimes, the thing that makes a story pop isn’t the exact events of the plot or the details of the characterisation, but the context in which the story is presented. Sometimes, it’s setting up a question or expectation with an unusual title, like in A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters and John Dies at the End; sometimes, it’s adopting unusual chronology, recounting events out of sequential …
[Read more...] about Can A Framing Device Improve Your Writing?
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