Archive for May, 2007
The mystery of mysteries
by Darcy Pattison
I am trying to write a short story mystery. Mysteries have always been mysterious to me until I read one day that mysteries are really two time lines: there’s the time line of what really happened and the time line of the detective finding out what really happened.
So, here’s my current process and [...]
Openings: 5 Ways they Go Wrong
Openings are incredibly important. This was brought back to me recently as I was judging a contest. Those manuscripts that kept my interest for three pages were rare. Usually, they lost me by the middle of page two!
Am I harsh? I don’t think so.
Grab the Reader with Your Opening Lines
Noah Lukeman has it right in [...]
In Eight Languages!
by Darcy Pattison
I just received copies of 19 Girls and Me (Philomel) in Arabic from an Egyptian publisher. I’m now published in eight languages. Or, I will be when the German version of this book arrives sometime later this year. And here’s the cover in Chinese from a Taiwanese company!
Hero’s Journey
by Darcy Pattison
Star Wars as a Model for Hero’s Journey
Have you ever used the Hero’s Journey to plot? Last night on the History Channel, I watched, “Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed.” Essentially, it went through all the elements of a hero’s journey and talked about how the six Star Wars movies epitomized the hero’s journey [...]
Voice Friday: Sentences
Recap: We’ve spent three weeks talking about how words affect voice.
Voice Friday: Word Choices
Voice Friday: Word Connotations
Voice Friday: Word Sounds
Today, in discussing voice, I want to return to the two examples with which we started the discussion of words. But now, we’ll look at sentences.
Voice Friday: Sentences
Voice Friday: Sentence Control
From The Boggart by Susan Cooper:
The [...]
Update on S&S Rights Reversion Clause
This was sent to members of the Author’s Guild his afternoon. As you can see, The Author’s Guild still objects to the new S&S rights reversion clause.
UPDATE ON SIMON AND SCHUSTER
Simon & Schuster is irked that we went public with our information about their unannounced new contract language. They’ve sent a release (you can read [...]
Revision: Smaller Segments
by Darcy Pattison
I am working on my teacher resource book. One topic is how to plan a mystery.
Oh, my, gosh! Mysteries are so complicated.
Two time lines: what really happened;the detective’s timeline of figuring out what happened in the first time line.
Three characters: victim, villain, detective.
I had broken it down into sections and then let D. [...]
Music While You Write?
by Darcy Pattison
Do you listen to music while you write? I find that music with lyrics takes my mind off the words that I’m writing. Instead, I like soundtracks from movies. Something about that kind of soundtrack works. I think it’s because the music is echoing the narrative arc of the story. But I’m going [...]
Novel Secrets Retreats
Novel Secrets Series
Author Nancy Sharp has designed a series of three retreats, which is unique in the writing world. It takes writers from an initial idea to a finished manuscript and an evaluation by an agent or editor–in JUST ONE YEAR. Awesome!
Cynsations website is running a series of interviews with the speakers. One of [...]
Real Dialogue
Notes from the Field
If you’re revising a novel or picture book, one step is to look at the dialogue of your characters and sharpen it. Tom Chiarella, in his book,Writing Dialogue suggests recording dialogue — yes, you get to EavesDrop! — around you for a day. At least for a couple hours. If [...]
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