Category: Writer’s Block

Dial Log

Dialog allows characters to interact with their setting, with each other, and with the reader. Dialog challenges the writer in both use and execution, both technically and artistically. The rules of use follow the same pattern as the use of description and exposition, but because dialog feels like a different animal the temptation to treat it differently can be excruciating.

Dialog serves the same purpose as exposition, and can be treated the same way. There is nothing intrinsically special about dialog to set it apart from narrative or descriptive exposition, only the “voice” and perceptions of the speaker should differentiate it from the surrounding text. As small a thing as this is, it serves the very important purpose of introducing variety into the reader’s experience and serves to break up descriptive and narrative passages. read more

A Brief Time of History

Exposition lays out all the groundwork in a novel that the reader cannot experience directly. Description provides those images and sensations that can be sense or felt, completing a mental picture of the setting and the characters. Dialog helps shape character through verbal interaction, and informs the reader at the same time that it moves action forward. Exposition fills in the gaps left by relying on purely observable description and involves the reader more intimately with the source material. Properly employed exposition addresses history, functionality, or purpose with information the reader needs but cannot witness or easily deduce. It may be presented in dialog, descriptively, or in narrative passages. read more

Scene It

Action in a novel happens through dialog, description, and exposition. Dialog is the beating emotional heart of your characters, but it cannot stand alone; dialog needs setting and motion in order to give it meaning. Setting the scene needs to be high on a writer’s priority list in order to give his characters a place to act and emote. Description treats the current setting of the story, detailing those persons, places, and things around which the action is currently taking place and often are performing those actions themselve. Exposition provides the reader with information that cannot be observed, or explicitly lays out information that must be deduced. Description and exposition provide the foundation for dialog, and we will treat all three this week. read more

Reading Verbs

Know your verbs and your story will flow smoothly and read naturally. Verbs find two expressions relevant to the storyteller, tense and voice. Voice defines the perception of the action, controls transitions, and enables the dynamic presentation of both action and description. Verb tense controls the pacing of the action, aligns the reader’s perception of time passage with the events of the story, and affects the readability of the material. The correct technical use of verbs will do more for your story than any other technical element of writing. read more

Map and Compass

The Cub Scouts of America earn a belt loop for master the Map and Compass requirements. Its more than just learning how to use these tools; this belt loop signifies that the scout has the skills to know where he’s going and how to get there. The writer undertaking a novel needs the same skills when embarking on his story. Novels follow several very general lines of construction, mixing and matching them more often than not. Strictly outlined stories have all the action and character points laid out before the story even begins. Some stories set goals that the characters need to accomplish in order to progress the plot. Character-driven stories rely on their characters to provide the bulk of the plot development. read more

Best Foot Forward

The importance of a novel’s opening chapter cannot be overstated. When a reader starts on the opening words of the opening paragraph of the opening chapter of a novel, one of two things is happening: 1) the reader has already committed to reading your book, or 2) the reader is trying to decide if he wants to read your book by examining how it starts. In both cases, this is the right time to put your best foot forward and show the reader what you’ve got.

If the reader has already purchased your book, he’s made a commitment to you as a writer. You have his money. He is looking for an immediate return on that investment. The reader wants to know that he has made a wise choice by purchasing your book, and he wants to know right away. The opening of the book is just the right place to reward that purchase by plunging the reader directly into the web of intrigue and drama that lies under your carefully woven plot. There will be time for subtlelty later, engage your reader in the good stuff right away. Open with a car chase. Stumble upon a dead body. Realize to your heroine’s dismay that her ideal lover loves someone else. Whatever your tactic, by the end of the first chapter your reader should be glad he’s found the rare treasure that is your novel. read more

Know Thyself

Over the years, the aphorism “Know Thyself” has carried many meanings. The Ancient Egyptians said, “Know thyself and thou shalt know the gods.” The Ancient Greeks inscribed it over the temple of Apollo at Delphi, as a maxim to remember one’s place in comparison to the gods and in public perception. Modern philosophers from Hobbes to Emerson proclaimed knowledge of one’s self to be the highest form of introspection and the foundation of personal empathy. Coleridge essayed a poem on this maxim that ended with, “Ignore thyself and strive to know thy God!” read more

Spring Benefit Book: The Least of These

Critical Press Media is committed to publishing two books annually for the purpose of raising money and awareness for selected charities. This presents an ideal opportunity for amateur writers, writing enthusiasts, and students to get professional critical feedback on their writing and possibly even publish a story! No submission will be turned away unread!

Matthew 25:34-40 (NIV)

34″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ read more