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Master Class 2001 on Building a Novel, Lesson 12: Putting It All Together |
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| Learn how to write your novel...AND get it published in the privacy of your
own home with the "Writing For Love and Money" home-study program designed for
beginners. |
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| Master Class 2001 on Building a Novel, Lesson 12: Putting It All Together |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 1: The Perfect Synopsis |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 2 -- Common Mistake: Unlovable Characters |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 3 -- Common Mistake: No Hook! |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 4: Setting the Scene |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 5 -- Common Mistake: Hopeless Head Hopping (POV) |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 6 -- Common Mistake: Speaking in Tongues |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 7 -- Common Mistake: Losing Your Voice in the Writing Process |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 8 -- Common Mistake: Telling Instead of Showing |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 9 -- Common Mistake: Poor Mechanical Editing |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 10 -- Common Mistake: Verbosity, Redundancy, Passivity... |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 11 -- Common Mistake: Lacking Tools of the Trade |
| Master Class 2002 on Shaping the Novel, Lesson 12 -- Year-End Wrap-Up: Taking the Next Step |
| Master Class 2003: 12 Month Q&A on Troubleshooting -- Finding Time to Write; "N" Dash and "M" Dash |
| Master Class 2003: 12 Month Q&A on Troubleshooting -- How to Start That MS, Brain Surgery vs. Writing, and Prologues |
| Master Class 2004: Q&A With Ann Peach -- How Valuable Are Writing Contests for Unpublished Authors? Popular Scribes Sound Off. |
| Master Class 2004: Q&A With Ann Peach -- Find Out Why Editors Frown at Multiple Points of View and How Some Authors Make it Work. |
| Master Class 2004: Q&A With Ann Peach -- Ann Gets Active on the Passive Voice and Explains What an "Original" Romance Really Means. |
| Master Class 2004: Q&A With Ann Peach -- Can You Trust Your Critique Group and Editors With Your Work? |
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By Ann Peach
(Romantic Times Issue #214, December 2001)
If there's one thing readers and writers have certainly learned
throughout this year's Master Class program, it's that writing is
a skill that's as hard to learn and execute brilliantly as, say...
brain surgery. Like surgery, writing requires years of training
and countless hours of practice.
After following the guidance of today's best romance and mystery
writers for 12 months, you've been working on separate elements
to your novel and now its time to bring it all together and
complete your manuscript. (If you haven't already.) You should
have a detailed roadmap, developed characters, successful plot hook,
an illustrated setting, a stunning opening, hot conflicts, witty
dialogue, a climax and a resolution. Now you've got the structure,
groundwork and basic skills to finish your novel and let your
characters complete their journey. Here's how to merge it all...
Get a sack. Any old sack will do. No wait, you're likely writing
a romance, so how about a red velvet sack with silver string for
the handles? Got one? Yes you do, it's right up there in your
imagination. See it? Good. Now, open the drawstring, take all the
characters you've come up with-gorgeous hero, luscious heroine,
an interesting secondary character or two, all complete with
foibles and quirks of course-gather up the main story idea and
the settings you envision, and toss everything inside the sack.
You're done.
Wait! You forgot the plot! What-you say you're not
sure what that is exactly? The plot is your story's journey. Take
all the ingredients you've come up with for your story, fuse them
with a memorable plot and turn it into a WONDERFUL story. Let's begin...
First, lift up your sack and...kick it off a cliff.
Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!
You're shrieking and it's hurting my ears. See what we did? We
started this story's journey with a bang-up, grab-their-attention
beginning. If you're a reader, you probably have to stay around
now to see what happens next. We didn't have to throw the story
off a cliff; pitching it into a tree would have sufficed. The
important thing was to get the story in motion right away, in a
way that grabbed the attention of anyone watching/reading. We
didn't take time to show the reader what we had already put in
our sack (the backstory), we just began. Now, we are going to
take the sack by the strings and drag it along a winding path through a valley,
over increasingly larger and more hazardous hills. This part of
the story/journey will take about half of our total time out here
in "Storyland." Along the way, which will have many, many twists
indeed, we will add scenes and chapters to our story.
Our characters will be stirred up and have a bumpy ride indeed.
Every time they find a comfortable place in the sack, we'll drag
them over a big rock or through a stream. They'll learn about
their own fortitude and that of their fellow characters. Like the
contestants on "Survivor," they'll make allegiances and enemies.
Our hero and heroine will have internal conflicts they must
overcome in order to commit to one another and they will
encounter at least one seemingly insurmountable, external
conflict/hazard that will threaten their staying together.
(Here's a crucial hint: If they solve all their problems and
commit too soon, your sack will deflate and you will have to toss
it aside and start again.)
Choose the path that, no matter how
obscure and twisty, goes ever higher. When you get to what seems
to be the highest peak, the bag will snag on a branch you didn't
see and threaten to tear. At this point, your characters are in
grave peril of tumbling to their deaths and being lost to one
another forever. Then, you free the bag, and in the final part of
your story, fling it high where it lands softly on top of the
highest ridge in the land. Your reader is exhilarated, deeply
committed to your characters, and the journey is at "The End."
WORDS TO WRITE BY...
Parting Advice from Master Class Authors
Creating the Perfect
Plot--"Think of it as a series of incidents that enable your
characters to work through the challenges they face." (Merline
Lovelace, RT #203)
Believable Characters--"If a novel rises above the competition it
is because the characters moved us, touched us, somehow became
more than just words on a page." (Kristin Hannah, RT #204)
Setting--"The setting will influence everything from their speech
patterns to clothing choices to manners and values."
(Karen Robards, RT #205)
Secondary Characters--"The function of the secondary characters is
to complicate the lives of, and contrast with, the
main characters." (Susan Wiggs, RT #206)
Story Mapping--"Knowing
your characters and plotting their story before a word is written
will keep you from wandering into a deadly, sleep-inducing poppy
field." (Debbie Macomber, RT #207)
Dynamic Starts--"The secret for
successful beginnings is, keep them sparse and uncluttered."
(Mary Balogh, RT #208)
Creative Cliffhangers--"For me, the easiest way to do chapter
cliffhangers is to write the book in continuous form then put the
chapter breaks in when the book is completed."
(Janet Evanovich, RT #209)
Dialogue--"Every book has a hidden
rhythm to it, a silent music that dictates word choice and
sentence structure. Stop and listen to your gut."
(Linda Howard, RT #210)
Romantic Scenes--"Tie the first meeting to the major
conflict in your story, then hit the reader between the eyes with
a forceful physical and emotional punch." (Stella Cameron, RT
#211)
Building Conflict--"The best conflicts are between two
people who are diametrically opposed, the kind of struggle where
one must be completely destroyed for the other to win." (Jennifer
Crusie, RT #212)
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