The main character has a dilemma. It’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation–but there’s damnation, and then there’s damnation. The character has a problem, or is called in to deal with a problem. The character has to choose between a couple of craptastic options. They try to avoid choosing. But eventually, they […]
Simple Horror Plots, Part 2: Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Read More »
(A writer emailed to ask, “What makes a book engaging?” I, who am constantly in need of topics upon which to write blog posts, did a little huzzah.) What makes a book engaging? Back up. What does a (fiction) book actually do for a reader? What is this mysterious “entertainment” that writers aspire to? Escape.
For some reason, nailing down horror plots is harder for me than mystery plots, so this is even more tentative than usual. There is a problem. The backstory* is so epic that it dominates the present or real story. Wait wait this problem comes from the epic backstory that we never talk about and didn’t
Simple Horror Plots, Part 1: That One Thing We Don’t Talk About Read More »
So let’s say you have a series of books, movies, TV episodes, TV seasons, etc. Any given series of storytelling. Doesn’t have to be linear in time. Doesn’t even have to be about the same characters (a la romances about a number of sisters, etc.) With or without an overarching plot. Could just be “monster
Okay, the frame as a narrative device. Most writers have at least heard of it. There’s a story within a story. But let’s look at this from a mystery perspective: A crime happens or is discovered (in the case of a long-past crime). The main action of illustrating the crime happens on another level, for
I was reading a P.D. James novel and realized I hadn’t added this most basic plot of all. It honestly feels more like a technique than a plot. A crime happens. The solver either mentally or literally lists the suspects, their motives, their methods, and their opportunities to commit the crime, as if on one
I found another one! (Two, actually; another one tomorrow.) The mystery revolves around the fact that there are multiple versions of the truth (or conjectures of the truth), which are structured as separate chapters/sections of the book. A crime occurs. Various people try to solve the crime, or are called upon to give their version
I’ve been struggling with this one, which seems stupid. I mean, isn’t this something that all writers should just know? There was a reason you wrote the book in the first place, wasn’t there? And yet: I regularly go through phases of, “Everything I write is terrible.” Therefore, why would anyone want to read the
Copywriting Technique: What Do Readers Want When They Want Your Book Read More »
So atmosphere is weather, and even background sounds. But what do you do for atmosphere if you’re indoors? Well, first, you can make the scene atmospheric by adding fog. No reason not to add fog to any setting, indoors or out. Or you can make it dark, so that most of the details are obscured and
So the other day I joked about how atmosphere is literally just the weather (mostly fog). But there’s more to it than that. There’s also background noise.* Go back to your list of atmospheric movies and/or novels, and pull up a scene/page from one of the items on the list. The first movie on my
Atmosphere Part 2: Okay, Also Atmosphere is Literally Just Background Noise Too Read More »
