I’m a big proponent of keeping a “PET Sentence Journal,” a simple practice you can do as a reader to become a better writer.
PET stands for: Persuasive, Emotive, True.
All you have to do is jot down published sentences that move you.
You might already underline in books or highlight in Kindle, but I suggest going a step further to write out sentences you admire in a dedicated journal/document.
I’ll explain how this practice helps deepen your craft with a couple of PET Sentences I pulled from All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker.
Read more...When I read, I’m always on the lookout for craft, narrative technique, and story fundamental examples I can share with writers.
So, I was delighted during a recent breakfast chat with author Suzette Mullen, when she articulated a beautiful example of her books’ Take Aways.
Naming your book’s Take Away aka Point aka Controlling Idea aka Main Theme aka Story Guiding Principle can act as a lighthouse-in-the-fog as you write and revise, but this enormously helpful story fundamental is often misunderstood or overlooked.
No wonder, with so much confusing terminology! But it all boils down to one powerful tool for the author.
Read more...Every genre needs "stakes."
The term often brings action and thriller books to mind, so developing the stakes in "quieter" genres such as literary fiction and memoir can get overlooked.
Stakes simply refer to what is at risk for the protagonist. Any story event immediately becomes more riveting to readers when the stakes are on the page.
So how do writers develop literary stakes on the page?
WHAT IS THE CLIMACTIC MOMENT?
Your book will have many pivotal moments, big and small, but “the Climactic Moment” refers to an archetypal plot point leveraged in many popular books.
The Climactic Moment is one of five major archetypal turning points that include:
This post breaks down three adages about “good” writing, and provides an exercise to supercharge your writing, at any phase!
1. Good writing is focused writing.
This universal truth goes beyond personal preferences of genre, voice, tone, and style.
Focused sentences control story time and remain in a character’s point of view. Control of story time includes remaining “in scene,” as well as artfully transitioning in and out of scene.
Read more...
