Monthly Archives: March 2011

Don’t Show (or Tell) Everything

Posted on March 31, 2011 by L.D. Alford

I gave three of my dictums yesterday in one post. Don’t confuse your readers. Entertain your readers. Ground your readers in the writing. Today, I want to give you another one: don’t show your readers everything. People ask me all … Continue reading →

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Sequence of and in Scenes

Posted on March 30, 2011 by L.D. Alford

Sequence within and of scenes is an interesting question. What I mean by sequence is the time based formation of the action and of the scenes. This applies to time within the context of the novel as well as your … Continue reading →

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More on Why Dialog

Posted on March 29, 2011 by L.D. Alford

I don’t want to over make this point, but I think it is an important one. The question was: why use conversation (dialog) to drive a scene instead of description. The answer was that conversation allows the author to show … Continue reading →

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Why Use Conversation to Move a Scene?

Posted on March 28, 2011 by L.D. Alford

If you note the way I write scenes, you will find that most of them are composed of nearly 90% conversation. This would imply that the most important element in my writing is the dialog of the characters. This observation … Continue reading →

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Outlining in Scenes

Posted on March 27, 2011 by L.D. Alford

I use scenes to outline the development of each chapter. I also focus a chapter on a scene or scenes. I unimaginatively write in chapters and aim for 20 pages or about 5000 to 6000 words per chapter. This may … Continue reading →

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Building a Scene through Conversation

Posted on March 26, 2011 by L.D. Alford

I like to drive a scene through conversation. You can see in yesterday’s example, I used a snippet of conversation between Byron and an anonymous girl to introduce Dana (Diana). This is the power of conversation. You can express many, … Continue reading →

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Writing in Scenes, Why and What

Posted on March 25, 2011 by L.D. Alford

Why and what: you need to begin scene writing with the input and a “what.” The “what” is something that will be entertaining to your readers. Let’s continue with the example of Dana-ana. The main character has been accused of … Continue reading →

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Writing a Scene, Basics

Posted on March 24, 2011 by L.D. Alford

It would be impossible for me to tell you everything you need to know to write a scene. There is already a lot of great writing on this specific subject. What I will try to do is tell you how … Continue reading →

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How I Start, Writing in Scenes

Posted on March 23, 2011 by L.D. Alford

I write in scenes. This is why all my novels are centered on a scene and a theme question that then develops into the overall plot and storyline. The scene in my latest novel Dana-ana http://www.Dana-ana.com/ (working title Diana–still searching … Continue reading →

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Approaching a Novel: the Elements of Story and Plot

Posted on March 22, 2011 by L.D. Alford

Before I get deep into writing in scenes, I’d like to discuss a little about the over all character of a novel.  A novel, as I mentioned before, is around 50,000 to 150,000 words.  I strive for around 100,000 words … Continue reading →

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