In my writing class, we have finished studying Wired for Story. We have gone on to Catherine Brady’s Story Logic and the Craft of Fiction. Revision is always a topic in class and as I read Brady’s Chapter 4, p.68, I appreciated her statement: “Revision is not engine repair; it’s not possible to lift out […]
Subtext in Writing Fiction
Subtext in dialogue give readers a glimpse into the characters’ underlying feelings. The words they say may mean the opposite of how they feel or how they act. Subtext is the truth which sometimes the characters don’t realize and sometimes they do but they keep it hidden. Readers need to sense the truth from the […]
What’s in the Background of your Scenes?
Jordan E. Rosenfeld’s book, MAKE A SCENE, offers many writing tips. I particularly liked her paragraphs about Foreground and Background. She says that like paintings, scenes can have backgrounds, but she meant more than setting. Plant “subtle messages and emotional layers in the background through actions” while the reader’s attention is on what’s happening in […]