A National Reading Group Month event is on October 11, 2014 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at Books, Inc., Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. It’s co-sponsored by Women’s National Book Association, San Francisco Chapter, and Litquake. Three award-winning authors will discuss their new novels over wine and hors d’oeuvres. Katie Crouch discusses […]
Author Quotes about Writing a Novel
How do authors write their novels? I’ve included some examples. Who are plotters and who are pantsers? Katherine Anne Porter said, “If I didn’t know the ending of a story, I wouldn’t begin…I always write my last line, my last paragraphs, my last page first.” “I start at the beginning, go on to the […]
The Protagonist’s Role in the Climax
The beginning of a novel establishes a question. For example in Norman in the Painting, the question is, will Jill be able to help Norman remain in 3D? More questions follow, since it’s a romance, will Jill and Norman develop a relationship? The story involves mystery as well. Who is committing the murders in town? […]
Cause and Effect in Writing
Novels today are tighter than Nineteenth-century novels, for example. With busy lifestyles readers now want the writer to stick to the point instead of going off on tangents and filling pages with descriptions and conversations that may be well-written but aren’t relevant to the plot. Writers are expected to use every item, every conversation, every […]
How Do Other Characters in your Story View the Progagonist?
If we imagine other characters in our story seeing the protagonist through a keyhole view, what would they say or write? If the story is written with a single point of view, the thoughts of the other characters can’t be used or we’d be head hopping. Their judgements can be revealed in dialog, directly in […]
The Power of Three in Writing
The power of three in writing a novel is the idea of using an object, symbol, or some reference three times. For example, in Norman in the Painting, Jill Steele worries about security. She has double locks on her doors, an alarm system, and an extensive collection of Foo dogs. In Feng Shui, Foo dogs […]
Protagonist’s Positive and Negative Traits
Our characters have positive and negative traits like people do. As writers we give characters flaws to prevent the protagonist from being too perfect. Some writers are afraid to do anything that might make the hero or heroine less likable. But the character who exhibits flaws is more believable, more human. Their flaws often worsen […]