I've been thinking about the romance genre lately, trying to explain what it is that "happens" in a romance story. Obviously, it's about a couple finding each other (or realizing that they already know each other) and reaching their happily-ever-after moment (whether it does or doesn't last is another matter entirely, but unless you write … Continue reading Romance: Two Best-Selling Plot Types
Tag: Story
One of my friends has been trying to explain the ways, methods, and attraction of Dungeons and Dragons and other tabletop role playing games (RPGs). We've discussed how the game master gets to control certain aspects of the story, and yet the actual plot is left to chance (the dice) and the input and decisions … Continue reading Dealing with Other People’s Creativity #amwriting
For the very last post of the A-Z challenge, I wanted to write about narration. As authors, we have a number of options where narration is concerned, but the most common are omniscient narration, where an all-knowing narrator tells the story and can thus include the perspectives and feelings of a number of characters, or … Continue reading Zigzag Narratives #atozchallenge #writing
Readers like to know what they're getting into before they start a book. They want to know if it's a series, what genre, and what they can expect, overall, before they start reading (unless they trust you and your stories already, in which case they might just want to read without any foreknowledge). This is … Continue reading Synopsis: How Summing Up Your Story Makes All The Difference #amwriting #atozchallenge
I've been looking forward to writing this for some time. And now that we're at "P"...here goes! Early on, I'd never heard of the difference between pantsters and plotters. I just wrote. But then, as I interacted with other authors, I came to realize that everyone doesn't write a story in the same way. Some … Continue reading A Pantster or a Plotter: How Do You Write? #amwriting #atozchallenge
Climaxes can be the most memorable part of a novel. It's the moments when your characters' futures are decided. Everything has been brought together for a final struggle and...personally, my writing usually stalls right about then. And I think it's partly because of the nature of a climax. Just before the climax, you get to … Continue reading Crafting a Compelling Climax #atozchallenge #amwriting
I give my end-of-week post to other authors and bloggers whose work is worth noting. There are so many excellent articles out there, so many good poems and stories that I want to use my online space, once a week, to send all of you to read something you might otherwise miss. To see last … Continue reading Spotlight Saturday #6
I was recently talking to a friend about writing, and she said she never considered herself a writer because she isn’t interested in the mechanics of writing. She is a voracious reader, though, and she enjoys coming up with stories. This got me thinking about the different kinds of people that are drawn, in one … Continue reading Scribblers, Storytellers, and Authors: Which Are You?
Andrea Lundgren 