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Posts from the ‘Craft’ Category

Aug 27

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Write your book blurb first to stay on track

In working on my new manuscript, one of the things I do from time to time is look at my main idea to make sure I’m on track or to see if it’s changed. In The Writer’s Guide to Writing Your Screenplay by author and screenwriter Cynthia Whitcomb, she suggests that you spend a little time figuring out if you can tell your story in an abbreviated fashion.

She’s talking about screenplays here, but the advice also holds true for novels or nonfiction books:

“Write the ad copy. Write the TV Guide blurb. Write what people will tell their friends about this great movie they saw last weekend. Word of mouth is powerful…. This simple exercise, done before you write the script, could be helpful all the way down the road. If you can tell it in a strong, abbreviated version now, it will be easier for you to get it right as you write (And then to pitch it, too).” Read more

Aug 22

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Try these techniques to amplify emotion in your writing, part 2

I’m intrigued by the ways writers can show emotion through words and pacing.

Recently, I wrote a post about how author Sigrid Nunez used several literary techniques in A Feather on the Breath of God to show how the narrator of her novel felt distanced from her father, a Chinese-Panamanian immigrant.

Here is another example of how Nunez employed a rhetorical device called anaphora –repeating a word or two in successive clauses or sentences to create emphasis. Nunez also used cliches to represent distance and the lack of understanding and communication the narrator felt with her father.

“Chinese inscrutability. Chinese sufferance. Chinese reserve. I recognize my father in the clichés.” Read more

Aug 20

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Practice will get you published

Practice, practice practice. That’s what it takes to be a published writer, says author Anjali Banerjee.

“It’s good to go to the end,” she says. “If you don’t write a manuscript from beginning to end, you might get stuck on the first chapter, rewriting the beginning ad nauseum. Or you might ditch the manuscript altogether and start another one for whatever reason — fear of failure, fear of success, or a difficult problem with the storyline.”

Banerjee has made it to the end of nine published books (and two unpublished ones). Enchanting Lily, her most recent novel, is about a young widow who’s content to hide out in her vintage clothing shop on a Pacific Northwest island until a cat runs in and turns her life upside down. For a deleted scene told from the cat’s point of view, read Banerjee’s guest post at Melissa’s Mochas, Mysteries, and More.

Banerjee offers insight and tips for writers: Read more

Aug 16

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Try these techniques to amplify emotion in your writing

I like to say that good writing is about getting the right words in the right order.

In the novel, A Feather on the Breath of God, author Sigrid Nunez infuses her sentences with a tone of sadness and distance by using several techniques, including lists and a rhetorical device called anaphora.

Anaphora is a technique that involves repetition of a word or words at the beginning of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences. It lends emphasis and can enhance the emotional impact. Read more

Aug 15

When to break the rules in writing

I wrote a nonfiction piece recently that blended elements of essay with elements of narrative nonfiction. I took it to my writing group for their critique and one person expressed concern that my piece was blending two genres that shouldn’t be blended.

I thought his comment was interesting, considering he’d only read three of my five pages and didn’t know how the piece ended. In his mind, essays were one type of beast and narrative nonfiction another.  In a way, he’s right. They’re both nonfiction but with different intents and purposes.

Writers have been blending genres for years and are still coming up with new combinations. When is it okay to try something new, to blend elements together that aren’t normally seen together? The answer is—when it works. As you mature as a writer, you’ll know when it works and when it doesn’t. In the meantime, get feedback from others. Read more

Aug 14

Great storytelling is more than a sensational event

To craft a truly great story requires craftsmanship and skill. Unfortunately, many storytellers rely on sensational events or scenes to grab a reader or listener’s interest.

Kevin Hartnett, a staff writer for The Millions, wrote about storytelling in a post, “A Night at The Moth: The Worst Thing that Ever Happened to Me,” that made me think about the anatomy of stories and about first person or dramatic events, in particular.

It can be a temptation to rely on “The worst thing that ever happened to me” stories and think your audience will find them gripping, Hartnett said. But intensely personal or sensational stories have a way of “crowding out the audience,” sucking the life out of them. Read more

Aug 13

Storytelling and the art of letter writing

Lakshmi Pratury,  co-host of TEDIndia 2009, gives a 6-minute talk about the profound effect her father’s handwritten notes and journals had on her after he passed away.  See how she plans to carry forward his legacy.

Handwritten letters are a way to keep us connected with one another and practice our storytelling. In Carly Sandifer’s blog post, “Anton Chekhov’s six writing principles,” she discusses the different ways in which the great author used letter writing to advance his craft and inspire others.

Who do you write letters to?

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