The journal is the most distilled form of narration in fiction. In essence a character is jotting down their thoughts as they see fit. They are their only audience and are logging those thoughts for their own benefit. There is no outside influence to alter what they put onto the page. This can lead both … Continue reading The Journal: A Narrative Squared Problem
Tag: Editing
Action Scene Flow
There’re many ways to construct an action scene and wow an audience. Each providing its thrills chills, bright colors, and loud sounds. It’s a fun ride while you’re on it. Unfortunately much like most else in life there’re as many ways to get an action scene wrong as there are right. One of the fundamentals … Continue reading Action Scene Flow
Solely Spoken
After rereading Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants I noticed a similarity in style to that story and what I’m currently writing. There’s a high bar of quality to match and it has me contemplating the techniques used and how else they can be applied. If you’ve never read the story go straight there. It’s four … Continue reading Solely Spoken
Pausing a Character Arc
The ideal story will have the protagonist’s character arc run parallel to the advancing plot. As each scene flows into the next, the character will progressively advance en route to an end state materially different from whence they started. For most stories, this is the gold standard. But the methodology can differ for tales outside … Continue reading Pausing a Character Arc
Death of an Innocent Character
If you’ve ever written consistently you’re going to find yourself killing someone about one week in. No matter what genre, eventually someone dies. Like death itself, it’s natural and inevitable. But that doesn’t make it easy, unless you don’t care. For this character I’ve got on the chopping block now, I’m getting chewed up. That … Continue reading Death of an Innocent Character
Suspense in Fiction
Readers caught in the grips of suspense are kept locked upon their seats permanently so they may find answers to an unyielding question hopefully on that very next page. The means to obtain such an effect is through the proper use of information in your narrative. Boiled down to its basic components, all information reverts … Continue reading Suspense in Fiction
Travel in Fiction
Here, There, Everywhere, and Back Again
How to Edit Your Weaknesses
One of my standard phrases pertaining to writing that I’ve absorbed into my philosophy is, “I write my strengths and edit my weaknesses.” It’s a luxury of a non-live, correctable activity that if something is sub-par or simply doesn’t work, it can be fixed later. No basketball player can undo a three-point airball and move … Continue reading How to Edit Your Weaknesses
Clearing Out Infodumps
Even with the best intentions, you’ll write yourself into a predicament expounding on your story’s background information. Sometimes it’s necessary as you’re attempting to figure out what’s happening in your story because rambling about the broader facts and setting your characters contend with helps clear up where the story goes next and why. Actions gain … Continue reading Clearing Out Infodumps
Infallible Characters
Except in the eyes of some religious devotees and in the mirrors of narcissists, no one on earth is infallible. Everyone makes mistakes. I used spell check on narcissists ten seconds ago. What allows you to progress as a person is the ability to recognize why those mistakes arose from your own failings and work … Continue reading Infallible Characters
Colin Klawans 