Book Review: Jessica Page Morrell's {Between the Lines}: Master the Subtle Elements of Fiction Writing
By: Christina Adams
Between the Lines is a book every writer should read, especially if you are searching for a book that goes beyond the basics. Morrell takes you to the foundation of effective storytelling, she shares what works and, more importantly, why. Each chapter focuses on its own topic, ranging from suspense to tension, epiphanies to subtlety, foreshadowing to flashbacks and prologues to epilogues. She explains what turns the reader away and reveals the tools you can use to keep the reader spellbound by your book.
I discovered this book at a great time in my writing career. I was tired of writing books that took a chapter to explain to me how I could transform my new story idea into a first draft. I knew what methods worked well for me, but I didn’t know how to polish my draft into a well-crafted novel. Between the Lines was the first book I read that explained what I needed to do and what I had to change to get there.
If you ever want to read a book on writing that goes deeper than beginner mechanics into storytelling technique, this is the book for you.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Shop Talk with Christina A.--My Background
By: Christina Adams
Is it a surprise when a writer says he/she loves to read? That is how it started for me. My arms were full every time I left the library and the next week I would do it again. It wasn't until I was twelve years old that I first started to write. I didn’t have many story ideas, but I would sit in my living room as my five younger siblings played (or fought) around me, writing down, as quickly as I could, everything they were saying. Most of it was dialogue, often several conversations mixed together. When the action had lulled, I would read what I recorded aloud to everyone and we would laugh at the things we said. It got to the point where I had to write incognito because they would start to act up whenever I had a blank piece of paper and a pen. But I loved the quick pace of dialogue and the more I wrote the more story ideas grew inside me until I had to write just to get them out.
Now, years later, I have written four manuscripts for children/young teens and have written short pieces in a variety of genres: adult, children, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, romance, sci-fi and fantasy. My current project is a sci-fi teen novel about a girl who has one week left to live or her whole planet will die. I’m in the editing phase of my first draft and I hope to be starting my second draft soon. When I am not posting here on “Dialogues,” I am posting on my blog Writing, Editing and Other Adventures.
Finding the time to write is always a challenge with my constantly changing schedule. But it all comes down to making the time to do what I love. At a writer’s conference I went to in 2008, Cynthia Lord (Author of Rules, a Newberry Honor Book) said she would get up at 4am so she could write for an hour before she had to get her kids ready for school. Talk about dedication! This has been a challenge for me and a goal I aim for, because no matter how busy I think I am, if I really love to write I could find the time.
So, what about you? When did you first start writing? You can answer either question or comment with one of your own. I love meeting fellow writers! Let's talk shop.
Is it a surprise when a writer says he/she loves to read? That is how it started for me. My arms were full every time I left the library and the next week I would do it again. It wasn't until I was twelve years old that I first started to write. I didn’t have many story ideas, but I would sit in my living room as my five younger siblings played (or fought) around me, writing down, as quickly as I could, everything they were saying. Most of it was dialogue, often several conversations mixed together. When the action had lulled, I would read what I recorded aloud to everyone and we would laugh at the things we said. It got to the point where I had to write incognito because they would start to act up whenever I had a blank piece of paper and a pen. But I loved the quick pace of dialogue and the more I wrote the more story ideas grew inside me until I had to write just to get them out.
Now, years later, I have written four manuscripts for children/young teens and have written short pieces in a variety of genres: adult, children, fiction, nonfiction, poetry, romance, sci-fi and fantasy. My current project is a sci-fi teen novel about a girl who has one week left to live or her whole planet will die. I’m in the editing phase of my first draft and I hope to be starting my second draft soon. When I am not posting here on “Dialogues,” I am posting on my blog Writing, Editing and Other Adventures.
Finding the time to write is always a challenge with my constantly changing schedule. But it all comes down to making the time to do what I love. At a writer’s conference I went to in 2008, Cynthia Lord (Author of Rules, a Newberry Honor Book) said she would get up at 4am so she could write for an hour before she had to get her kids ready for school. Talk about dedication! This has been a challenge for me and a goal I aim for, because no matter how busy I think I am, if I really love to write I could find the time.
So, what about you? When did you first start writing? You can answer either question or comment with one of your own. I love meeting fellow writers! Let's talk shop.
The Lovely Bones
- Gone with the Wind
- The Wizard of Oz
- The Maltese Falcon
- Apocalypse Now (from Joseph Conrad's novella Heart of Darkness)
- The Godfather
- Clueless (from Jane Austen's Emma)
- Howards End
- The English Patient
- The Lord of the Rings
- No Country for Old Men
Monday, January 11, 2010
Am I Talking to Myself?
Don't we wonder this, sometimes, as we sit alone writing? Yet when writing for publication we have an audience in mind.
When I journal, though, I am my own audience. It is a way to rejuvenate and grow. Sometimes I use the "word jar" technique. That is, select from your mind, or from any book, perhaps 20-30 interesting words, write them on slips of paper, and draw five with which to work. Or have a friend create a list for you. This gives an element of surprise to the writing that may trigger interesting insights. For this particular exercise, all five words are to be used in an opening sentence, and the writing proceeds from there.
Here's my most recent one:
The words:
cheerful
strength
glowing
wellspring
stirred
Be a wellspring of cheerful, glowing strength, stirred by your passion for peace. Stand in your place, wherever it is. If you're made to be the baby of the family, be full of wide-eyed innocence, eager to absorb your elder's wisdom, for thus you bless them. If you're made to be the matriarch, be wise and generous in your place of power, and draw on all those around you for their insights for thus you are truly wise. If you're allowed to be a friend, listen carefully, question gently, be full of empathy and compassion. If you're made to be an enemy, stand firm where you must but as respectfully as you can, for you know that the compost becomes the flower and the flower becomes the compost, and the process is always ongoing. Anyone's understanding and position can change. The peaceful heart remembers this and draws forth new flowers again and again, thus creating a haven in this stormy world.
Carol Bindel
When I journal, though, I am my own audience. It is a way to rejuvenate and grow. Sometimes I use the "word jar" technique. That is, select from your mind, or from any book, perhaps 20-30 interesting words, write them on slips of paper, and draw five with which to work. Or have a friend create a list for you. This gives an element of surprise to the writing that may trigger interesting insights. For this particular exercise, all five words are to be used in an opening sentence, and the writing proceeds from there.
Here's my most recent one:
The words:
cheerful
strength
glowing
wellspring
stirred
Be a wellspring of cheerful, glowing strength, stirred by your passion for peace. Stand in your place, wherever it is. If you're made to be the baby of the family, be full of wide-eyed innocence, eager to absorb your elder's wisdom, for thus you bless them. If you're made to be the matriarch, be wise and generous in your place of power, and draw on all those around you for their insights for thus you are truly wise. If you're allowed to be a friend, listen carefully, question gently, be full of empathy and compassion. If you're made to be an enemy, stand firm where you must but as respectfully as you can, for you know that the compost becomes the flower and the flower becomes the compost, and the process is always ongoing. Anyone's understanding and position can change. The peaceful heart remembers this and draws forth new flowers again and again, thus creating a haven in this stormy world.
Carol Bindel
Friday, January 8, 2010
Indie Books Stores
Poets & Writers
Inside Indie Bookstores
by Jeremiah Chamberlin
Richard Howorth, owner of Square Books, Oxford, Miss., was interviewed by Poets & Writers magazine in the inaugural installment of a new column, Inside Indie Bookstores. Howorth spoke with Jeremiah Chamberlin about his initial vision for Square Books, how a bookstore can stay relevant in the 21st century and the future of independent bookselling.
In reply to a question about the future of indie bookstores, Howorth said, "It's a very difficult business. But in many ways, I like the fact that it's a difficult business. Otherwise, people who want to make money--by selling crap--would be trying to get into the book business."
Howorth also observed that in terms of the future of books, he is excited about "what's happened at Square Books, Jr. We're selling more children's books than ever. The level of enthusiasm and excitement about books from toddlers to first readers to adolescents and teens... if you go in there and hang around for a few hours, you would never even think that there might be such a thing as a digital book."
Inside Indie Bookstores
by Jeremiah Chamberlin
Richard Howorth, owner of Square Books, Oxford, Miss., was interviewed by Poets & Writers magazine in the inaugural installment of a new column, Inside Indie Bookstores. Howorth spoke with Jeremiah Chamberlin about his initial vision for Square Books, how a bookstore can stay relevant in the 21st century and the future of independent bookselling.
In reply to a question about the future of indie bookstores, Howorth said, "It's a very difficult business. But in many ways, I like the fact that it's a difficult business. Otherwise, people who want to make money--by selling crap--would be trying to get into the book business."
Howorth also observed that in terms of the future of books, he is excited about "what's happened at Square Books, Jr. We're selling more children's books than ever. The level of enthusiasm and excitement about books from toddlers to first readers to adolescents and teens... if you go in there and hang around for a few hours, you would never even think that there might be such a thing as a digital book."
Monday, January 4, 2010
Elizabeth Gilbert, WSJ Interview
Best-selling author Ann Patchett interviews Elizabeth Gilbert ("Eat, Pray, Love") about her new book, "Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace With Marriage."
here is the link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703558004574582411800110766.html
here is the link:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703558004574582411800110766.html
January 1, 2010
by Carol Bindel
Did you notice yesterday's date was binary? 01-01-10. Happy New Year!
Today it's January 2, 2010, that is, 01-02-2010. What's that called,
those strings of symbols, usually words, that echo from end to middle
to end-- oh, yes, it's a palindrome, how could I forget my
pal(indrome).
Both dates, as I've written them, are correct, true, easily
interpreted. But do you notice how I shaped each to meet my own
little criteria for finding them interesting?
We writers-- we humans-- do that all the time, selecting and shaping
the details we notice, the ones we report. Nonfiction or fiction,
it's a necessity. Even a Twitter devotee cannot capture every element
of every moment.
Is it possible that the things we notice and report form some
essential part of how we humans, each unique like everyone else,
separate ourselves brother from sister, mother from child? Is it part
of how we become either lonely or united in our understanding of one
another?
Did you notice yesterday's date was binary? 01-01-10. Happy New Year!
Today it's January 2, 2010, that is, 01-02-2010. What's that called,
those strings of symbols, usually words, that echo from end to middle
to end-- oh, yes, it's a palindrome, how could I forget my
pal(indrome).
Both dates, as I've written them, are correct, true, easily
interpreted. But do you notice how I shaped each to meet my own
little criteria for finding them interesting?
We writers-- we humans-- do that all the time, selecting and shaping
the details we notice, the ones we report. Nonfiction or fiction,
it's a necessity. Even a Twitter devotee cannot capture every element
of every moment.
Is it possible that the things we notice and report form some
essential part of how we humans, each unique like everyone else,
separate ourselves brother from sister, mother from child? Is it part
of how we become either lonely or united in our understanding of one
another?
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