For Writers

(Today’s entry is on the elements of memory, which I find some of the coolest stuff ever!) The Elements of Memory Out in the real world—not the fictional one–when you are paying attention, you collect sensory information. This includes sight, sound, smell, taste, touch. It also includes a lot of other minor senses, like the […]

I’m going to have to write a LOT more about opinion later, but for now I did need to cover how it works with regard to details.  The thing I hadn’t realized until this morning as I write this, is that this IS how to pull off unreliable narrators. Looking back on Gone Girl or

(We are covering the elements of immersion, starting with verisimilitude; we started at sensory details, then covered emotion. This week, we’re gonna drift even further from sensory details, but it’s all in service of the same goal of immersing the reader!–Side note, I’m posting October and November posts on the 2-week schedule ahead of time,

When I drafted this post,  I felt like I did a good job. Then I went to post it, realized there were things I hadn’t said, wrote them, and felt like I WAS GIVING AWAY SECRETS.   So if there are a few typos this time (well!), it’s because I hit “publish now” before I

(We are talking about the elements of verisimilitude, that is, how to make fiction feel similiar to reality. I’m extending the idea of verisimilitude from sensory details to some other things that make sensory details more effective.) Emotion The obvious thing that overrides logic is emotion! However, merely stating that a character is feeling sad

I started out this section, merrily wrote some good stuff about what makes fiction memorable, and went, “I FORGOT TO DESCRIBE HOW TO USE ACTUAL SENSE DETAILS.” UGH.  A lot of writers skimp on the details. It’s surprisingly hard to stay focused on writing them.–It’s a lot like when you zone out on the way

(Sensory details! Ta daaaa!) Paying Attention: Sensory Details In order to understand the difference between a sensory detail and a summary detail, we have to talk about how a reader’s mind tends to work. How we notice and remember things is vital to understanding how to write sensory details. It’s also important for deciding when

(I said we were going to talk about the five senses, but I suddenly remembered I needed to explain a couple more things on the road to sensory details.) 1. Immersion: It’s All in the Details In Volume 2 of Writing Craft, I talked about how immersing the reader was like brainwashing them using good

If you’ve taken any of Dean Wesley Smith’s online classes, you probably know about “details” and “fake details.” Fake details are the details that rely on the reader’s imagination to fill in the blanks. Readers are wonky and imagine all the wrong things, don’t you know? Except when you already have control over a reader,

BUH. The last week has been draining. I didn’t actually work any overtime (although I did work Sunday, then took Monday off). It’s just being back in “news cycle” space that is so terrible, with constant terrible news updates about the situation in Afghanistan, knowing that so much work is being done to try to