There’s writing and there’s pruning. Both benefit from practice. Here’s a pruning exercise to hone your valuation of words. Tell a story in exactly one hundred words. You can condense a novel (Les Miserables!), render some portion of a larger story, or make it up. Just give it enough arc to satisfy the reader and […]
Tag: novels
Things you can’t say in words
As an author, the less you say, the better. Strunk and White ring this bell in Rule 17 — omit needless words. But what if your theme eludes description? Novelist Jennifer DuBois provides an example of what to do in her Word Craft column from last Saturday: In the middle of a novel about music […]
Seven Things I’ve Learned About Writing Fiction (from The Hunger Games)
(1) Tension. Something’s not right about all this. (2) Respect. A strong, competent hero. (3) Empathy. Characters I care for. (4) Conflict. Most of these characters are in mortal danger. (5) Enemies. Opposition that is believable and overwhelming. (6) Romance. Between characters I’m rooting for, but with plenty of #1, above. (7) Resolution? Wrap things […]
