by Joslyn Chase |
Have you ever felt cheated when reading a book? Like the author held back information that would have enhanced your reading experience? Or neglected to include all the relevant details that would have allowed you to solve the mystery? Did the sequence of events in the story feel…off?
Think about this:
What if J.K. Rowling neglected to have Hagrid tell Harry about his parents’ deaths until the end of The Sorcerer’s Stone?
What if the writers of Die Hard had let Hans Gruber discover Holly was John McClane’s wife right up front?
What if Suzanne Collins had forgotten to alert readers to a rule change allowing tributes from the same district to win as a team in The Hunger Games?
Leaving out these vital pieces of information—or putting them in the wrong place—would have robbed these stories of a full measure of suspense. This would have dulled the impact of their final scenes.
As a writer, you never want readers to feel cheated or disappointed by your book. But how can you make sure you include all the relevant pieces of the puzzle, in the right order, to sustain suspense and satisfy your reader?
by Joslyn Chase |
Do you want to learn how to use Scrivener?
If you’ve ever felt like a scene doesn’t work in your manuscript, you can use elements of a scene and the book writing software Scrivener, a great tool for writers, to improve your writing project.
The scene is the fundamental unit of story. It’s what drives the story forward, instilling purpose, drama, and emotion.
It’s critical to understand the elements that make it effective and know how to employ them.
In this article, that’s what we’ll examine—what a scene is and how to write an effective one. You’ll also learn how to use an organizational tool, Scrivener, to do this better.
by David Safford |
Writing your story’s climax isn’t easy. And even when you outline it properly, including a great villain and a high-stakes task, putting it all into words can be quite a challenge. Perhaps the most challenging part of it, though, isn’t getting the words down. It’s getting the right words down.
by J. D. Edwin |
Have you ever felt your writing is flat, despite how many beautiful words you use? You might be overusing adjectives and adverbs. Luckily, there is an easy fix—use vivid verbs instead.
Although you might instinctively think adjectives will improve your description, strong verbs actually do a better job at electrifying your creative writing.
In this post, you can learn a two-step process to improve your writing skills, and start implementing these tips with a little help from a list of vivid verbs.
by J. D. Edwin |
We’ve all heard of passive vs. active sentences. Active sentences such as “three men stood by the gate” are more attractive and interesting than passive sentences such as “there were three men standing by the gate.”
But the concept of active vs. passive can also be applied to scenes within a story. Appropriate use of active and passive scenes can give your story an extra kick of life and can help with pacing as well.
