 |
|
|
Plot And Structure | Free Tips For Writers | Writing Screenplays
Home | Bookmark This Site | Search This Site For Free Writing Tips | Site map
Click Here: Professionally Recommended Books
And Software By Writers For Writers
* Double Click On Any Word On This
Site For
Automatic Definition Or Information *
Thanks! Give us a review, share, or bookmark on:
This Instructional Begins Here On Page #1 - Click To Begin
Fast, and Dirty Free Tips For Writers, Page 3
(Double-click any word you want defined.)
Free tips and advice for writers: Beware the Evil Cliché--the hackneyed, the trite, the commonplace--words and images. You will lose your soul to them, and the momentum of your story.
You can check your work here for clichés.
Cliché Killer
Click MeJust tell it the way you visualize it and keep the story moving forward--don't go for a swim in that pool of stocked phrases.
See? That ^ up there?
"...stocked phrases." You can always take a cliché (like, "stock phrase") and make it your own--coin something new, or just avoid it.
Again, OK, no Pulitzer, but I will cheerfully refund twice your money if not satisfied, mate.
Double click on this word: CLICHE.
Constantly ask yourself, "What is this book about; what does the character want; what is this scene for; what do the characters each want in this scene."
What the hell am I writing about?
This will go a long way in helping you round the characters out and keep them and your story on track. It will find their qualities for you. Think about it.
If they don't want anything, then make them want something. It's a terrific way to motivate them and get them to help you write the tale. It's amazing. Try it.
Just write the story and don't stop for hell or high water.
Strike that.
Write the story and don't stop for anything--volcano nor flood.
Get it down no matter how bad it looks. You can pretty it up later. The important thing is to Write. Double click on this word: WRITE.
The part of the above that interests me is this:
"...an Indo-European root *wreid- meaning to cut out, scratch, tear, sketch..."
Don't do a big backstory on a character. Just give the reader what s/he needs to get started. Then, you leak the rest of it--what's important--into the work as needed. Use dialogue as much as possible. Show me, don't tell me. Have the character Do things or have something say things that give the necessary facts.
Bernice peeked through the blinds. They sun made her squint, but she could see it was still there on the lawn.
Her mother never got rid of the old swing set she and Bunny Lake put up that summer. Before Bunny vanished.
"They never did find her," Bernice's mother said, somehow suddenly in the room, right behind her.
Bernice turned to look at the woman, how she'd aged since Bernice was graduated from pre-med.
"Sheriff said, you were lucky that day, Bernie. Could of been you that day."
"I know Mom. Thank you reminding me," Bernice said, shoulders tight.
"But you had it wrong, Mommy. Bunny and I were never lovers.
"And we didn't steal your cocaine.
"Happy birthday, Mommy," Bernice said, and pulled the trigger.
See?
Backstory. Dialogue. Action.
The story's the thing. Remember that. It's not about the research or the facts or how bloody clever and poetic you are.
Never get sidetracked into a performance, because it could be a freak show. Stick with only what you need to advance the action. And keep the action moving. Keep the ball bouncing down court.
I'll have these players Play something.
I'll have grounds More relative than this...
The play's the thing...Hamlet | Act II, Scene 2
Back To Part 2 | Free Tips For Writers, Next page
More Free Tips For Writers
Plot and Structure | Screenplays and Screenwriting
Find What You Need:
Thanks! Give us a review, share, or bookmark on:
Electronic
Books, Newspapers, and More
Wireless Download Viewer
Utilizing a new high-resolution display technology called electronic paper, Kindle provides a crisp black-and-white screen that resembles the appearance and readability of printed paper. The screen works using ink, just like books and newspapers, but displays the ink particles electronically. It reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting, eliminating the glare associated with other electronic displays. As a result, Kindle can be read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room. The screen never gets hot so you can comfortably read as long as you like.
Kindle lets you download and read the beginning of books for free. This way, you can try it out—if you like it, simply buy and download with 1-Click, right from your Kindle, and continue reading. Want to try a newspaper as well? All newspaper subscriptions start with a risk-free two-week trial. Kindle’s paperback size and expandable memory let you travel light with your library. With the freedom to download what you want, when you want, we hope you’ll never again find yourself stuck without a great read.
Best Books And DVD s Help And Advice For Writers And Writing
John Truby Writer's Blockbuster 5 Software For Screenplays, Novels, Stories
"Truby's BLOCKBUSTER puts over 300 professional techniques at your fingertips to help you create a great story, in a fraction of the usual time and effort. Don't believe that's possible from a software program? Try it. You'll write your best script ever. We guarantee it."
The new BLOCKBUSTER 5.0 makes you an even more accomplished storyteller. What's new? BLOCKBUSTER 5.0:
• Has an additional 100 techniques, to give you the largest collection of story tools ever assembled in one place. In your computer.
• Helps you find what is truly original in your story and execute it professionally.
• Connects all the story elements under the surface in a seamless whole.
• 14 major help areas to explain every aspect of the storytelling craft.
• Over 100 story examples on screen and online to solve any story problem you might encounter.
• 8 story shapes to show you how to build the perfect plot for your unique idea.
• Totally redesigned interface that's quick, productive and easy.
• Horizontal ribbons for fewer clicks to all screens.
• Navigation tree shows every beat in your story in one view.
• Larger screen area so you have more room to work.
• Galleries for easy-to-make choices of all your story elements.
All this added to the powerful features that have made BLOCKBUSTER the award-winning story creation program:
• Premise and Genre screens show you the 'gold' of your idea and which genre forms are best for expressing it.
• Character Web and List screens help you create complex characters that grow over the course of the story and move the reader.
• The Structure Steps screen takes you through the 22 Building Blocks of every great story, giving you a surprising plot that builds steadily from beginning to end.
• 'Drag and drop' Scene List shows you the right structural order for your scenes, and lets you figure out the ideal sequence in a fraction of the time.
• Rewrite shows you the deep structural weaknesses that are likely to be in your script and takes you through the ideal order for fixing them.
• Truby's complete Story Structure Course, the 103 Greatest Characters in fiction, 23 most valuable Story Techniques, and much more.
Find - Search For Book, DVD, Software, On Writing, By Keyword:
Also:
Introducing A New Private Detective Adventure
With Sioux McDill And Black Jack Vane:
Kiss My Face
Excerpt
Empire Of The Gods
Writing Example - Speculative Fiction
of Gods, Goddesses, Magic, And Past Ages
Sorceress
Excerpt
|
Plot And Structure | Free Tips For Writers | Writing Screenplays Search Website With Specific Questions On Help And Free Writing Tips, Plot, Suspense, Structure |
|
Free Writer's Help
|
|
Critiques And Information Movies | Movies 2 | The Copper Scroll | The Fountain Did Jeff Friedberg Invent The Matrix? | What's new | Bookmark this site |
Jeffrey Friedberg
Lost Coyote Productions ™ - Get Big Boy ™ - Copyright Jeff Friedberg, 2006-2007-2008 Home-Made Website by Jeff Friedberg, No Use Of Trans Fats, Nicotine, Or Carbon Emissions, No Animals Injured Or Offended
What Is Plot? What Is Plot Structure?speculative fiction science fiction | fantasy | horror fiction supernatural fiction | alternate history | magic realism | modern urban fantasy
|
