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When you write or revise a novel, you must pay careful attention to the first chapter. Opening Chapters of Novels MUST Accomplish These Goals Grab your readers attention. Something must grab the reader’s attention immediately. This can be an unusual use of language, a unique voice, a startling action, a bit of dialogue, an active [...]
I’ve written before about Different Styles of Critiques and When to Ask for a Critique. Today focuses on the different types of critique groups. Different Critique Groups Meet Different Needs I’m heading off today to my local critique groups and I realized I have several different types of critique groups, each one filling a different [...]
Every Novel Needs a Scene In my WIP, I need to write a big scene: cast of dozens, culmination of major plot threads, emotional high for major characters. Big scenes should be a part of every novel, because there should be places where characters, plot events, outer and inner narratives arcs, and subplots intersect. The [...]
Stiff Competition for These Picture Book Topics Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months before the conference, she kept track of her slush pile picture book submissions by category. This resulted in my 2007 posting 12 Picture Book Topics to Avoid, one of the more popular [...]
Within the picture book genre, there are certain sub-genres and I’ll cover some of these in the next few days. First, the ABC books. How to Write a Good ABC Book Story Oriented Alphabet Books. If you want to write an ABC book, you should first read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, a rollicking story with [...]
UPDATE: See the 2009 List of Picture Book Topics to Avoid Dial editor, Liz Waniewski (ONE–es-key) spoke at the Arkansas SCBWI 2007 conference. For a couple months before the conference, she kept track of her slush pile pb submissions by category. Here are the top 12 picturebook topics that she received–thus, the top 12 to [...]
30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book Fiction for children, especially younger children, comes in the form of picture books. This series of 30 posts explains how to write and edit the basic picture book, and goes on to discuss specific types of picture books. Get regular updates from Fiction Notes Email Address Close var [...]
At what point do you let others read a draft? First Drafts are $#@# It’s an open secret that first drafts are awful and the best thing about a first draft is that it is finished. So, do you prefer that outside readers read this draft or wait for a more polished draft? Do you [...]
Time Away from a Novel Can Give you Perspective One of the most important things I do to improve my novel is to take a break sometimes. That’s what I’m doing this weekend. I’m attending a quilting workshop and playing with color instead of with words. Our teacher for the weekend is Mary Lou Weideman. [...]
Connecting Emotional and Narrative Arcs The emotional arc is the inner conflict; the narrative arc is the outer conflict. How do you get these two arcs to mesh? Peter Dunne, in his book Emotional Structure: Creating the Story Beneath the Plot has a simple suggestion. Dunne says to write the headline of a scene on [...]
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