Most stories have two plots, the internal or emotional plot and the external plot. Which plot is the primary one depends upon the genre and the writer. Continue reading “A Two-Plot Problem”
Author: drdoyleeditorial
It Has to Go Somewhere
The question of “embedded exposition” came up again the other day, and I said: Continue reading “It Has to Go Somewhere”
Plotting in Corners
One of the things I like say about plot, on those occasions when I’ve been encouraged to pontificate about such matters, is that in my opinion plot is necessary but it’s not important — that it’s not the story, it’s just the ropes and pegs and tentpoles that make the story into a habitable space and not a flat puddle of metaphorical canvas. Continue reading “Plotting in Corners”
It’s More of a Guideline
Everybody in this business, it seems sometimes, has a set of Rules for Writing that they swear by. In no particular order, then, here’s my own set of ten (bearing in mind that this list, like all such lists, should be regarded as having a bright red In My Opinion Only/This is How it Works for Me sign posted above it in flashing letters): Continue reading “It’s More of a Guideline”
What You Do
True story: A few years back, I was talking with an aspiring writer who did the usual and ubiquitous Something With Computers for a living, and who was also a jazz drummer by avocation. He had, he said, been a professional drummer for a while, and had earned decent money playing the drums for groups who did the local bar and lounge circuit in his somewhat tourist-infested area.
“But I had to give it up,” he said. “I realized that if I had to do one more request for ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon,’ I was going to lose the joy of playing music altogether.”
Then he went on to ask me — because we were mostly talking about writing at the time, and people will ask writers questions like this — if I thought that he should quit his current day job and try to make it as a freelance writer.
“No,” I said. “Because if playing one too many requests for ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon’ nearly drove you away from jazz, the same thing would happen with fiction — because the sorry truth is that if you want to write fiction for a living, then one way or another you’re going to wind up playing ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon’ a hell of a lot of the time.”
Five Ways to Write a Chapter, and One that Worked
“Save the pitched-out awful pages someplace where you can find them again,” I said. “Sometimes the discarded bits turn out to come in handy later. I think I told the folks at Viable Paradise the story of The Five Different Chapter Nines and the Adventure of the Too-Short Novel didn’t I?”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, “though my memory is appalling. It sounds like a charming story. Do I have to go again this year to hear it?”
Nope, she didn’t, and neither do you. The way it goes: Continue reading “Five Ways to Write a Chapter, and One that Worked”
A Stylish Chapeau
This morning I wore my editor hat. Which is to say, I did a line-edit and a letter of critique for the first chapter of somebody’s novel. Continue reading “A Stylish Chapeau”
One More Week
If you’re thinking of applying to this year’s Viable Paradise workshop, the doors close at midnight EDT on June 15. Continue reading “One More Week”
Secret Weapons of the Prose Ninjas #1
When I was but a wee sprat of a college undergrad, back in the day of stone knives and bearskins, I discovered a secret weapon. Continue reading “Secret Weapons of the Prose Ninjas #1”
Why I Don’t Write (Many) Short Stories
I tend to think of short stories as “one-joke stories” (in which the joke isn’t necessarily a funny one): that is, a short story has the time and the room to do only one thing, and you have to be absolutely clear in your mind what that one thing is. Continue reading “Why I Don’t Write (Many) Short Stories”
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