28 March 2014, this blog is about writing in scenes. I’m focusing on the tools to build scenes. I’ll leave up the parts of a novel because I think this is an important picture for any novelist. I’m writing about the rising action.
1. The beginning
2. The rising action
3. The Climax
4. The falling action
5. The dénouement
Announcement: My publisher just announced that I would be receiving the proofs for Sister of Light on Monday and Sister of Darkness the next Monday. That means by the time you read this, the novels should be in print. I’ll keep you updated, but my publisher also wants to put about 10 of my novels on contract.
Today’s Blog: The skill of using language in a large degree comes from the ability to put together figures of speech that act as symbols in writing.
Here are my rules of writing:
1. Entertain your readers.
2. Don’t confuse your readers.
3. Ground your readers in the writing.
4. Don’t show (or tell) everything.
5. Immerse yourself in the world of your writing.
The things that will throw me out of the story:
Grammar issues
Historical issues
Word overuse
Science issues
Logic issues
Bad word choices
1. Difficult words
2. Words that don’t match
3. The wrong word
4. An illogical word
5. An incorrect word
6. A vulgarity
7. An unnoticed pun
8. A misused word
9. A colloquialism
We will look at, Words that don’t match due to:
1. Science (not invented yet)
2. Culture (word exists, not used)
3. Culture (not invented yet)
4. Groups or people out of time
5. Substance (not invented yet)
6. Concept (not used in the culture)
7. Idea (not used of the word)
8. Place (not existing at the time)
9. Words that don’t fit
The point I’m trying to make is that all authors must write at least 1 million words before they can write well enough to matter. I quote Outliers as well as a host of other works and studies in making this point. Until you write that many words (in coherent stories or novels), you likely don’t have the ability to understand the “fit” of words. Not to say you aren’t learning, but let me tell you, from novel 1 to novel 23 (that I am writing at this moment), my skills and ability at writing and understanding writing has changed radically.
I’ll write more tomorrow.
For more information, you can visit my author site www.ldalford.com/, and my individual novel websites:
www.aegyptnovel.com
www.centurionnovel.com
www.thesecondmission.com
www.theendofhonor.com
www.thefoxshonor.com
www.aseasonofhonor.com
