Handshakes communicate dominance, submission, or equality. When hands meet, if one person turns his or her palm facing down, it’s called the Upper Hand and means that person wants control of the meeting. The submissive handshake is from the person whose palm faces upward. In social situations, women often offer a soft handshake to men […]
The Rhetorical Term Oxymoron
Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which seemingly contradictory terms appear side by side. Often we read them as normal unless we think about the incongruity. Some examples I’ve heard and read several times in the past are deafening silence, dull roar, and crash landing. In Norman in the painting, my novel in progress, […]
Red Herrings in Writing
A red herring is a diversionary tactic. In a mystery, a red herring can be a character, an object, a significant time, day, week, year, weather, or place. It appears to be a clue, but it’s a logical implication that leads readers on a false trail. The key is logical. Writers don’t use them only […]
Five Author Quotes For Inspiration
Lisa See says, “Read a thousand books, and your words will flow like a river.” How many of you have read her Snow Flower and the Secret Fan or my favorite, Peony in Love? I met her at the San Francisco Writers Conference a few years ago. She’s friendly and talked about how she frequently […]
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? […]
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 […]