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Naming characters is a mercurial task. Sometimes, characters arrive in your mind wearing a name badge. Sometimes, their name is so hidden that you get the impression they’re only joining your story to lay low. Generally, experimentation is the answer, but I’m not here today to give you tips on where to find names. That’s something we covered in The Definitive Guide To Naming Your Characters, …
[Read more...] about 6 Things Authors Forget When Naming Their Characters
Sometimes, you’re midway through a story and you suddenly realize what you need to change to make it work. A later development requires some earlier foreshadowing, or you need to remove a detail so your new path makes sense. It’s a lightbulb moment, and often the point where a story really comes together for many writers, but what do you do if you can’t make the change? In fact, what do you do if …
[Read more...] about ‘Retcon’: How To Rewrite Details In An Ongoing Series
Like a lot of literary theory, the concept of carnivalesque literature works on a number of levels. The first of these is pure inspiration; it’s a source of striking narratives and imagery that can spark ideas and add to your narrative. The second is as an observation of societal behavior – the carnivalesque describes a consistent model of cause, effect, and motivation that, if understood, allows …
[Read more...] about What Authors Need To Know About Carnivalesque Literature
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?
When was the last time you were afraid – I mean really afraid? Close your eyes and play the scene. Try to capture everything: the sounds and the smells, what you saw and how your body reacted. What did you do afterward to cope with those feelings of fear? Can you identify why the event made you afraid in the first place? Fear is such a universal and primal emotion. When it comes to exploring it …
[Read more...] about How To Handle Fear In Your Novel: The Dos And Don’ts
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 …
[Read more...] about Write Better Sports Fiction With These Tips
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