We as writers all know about the adage, "Show Don't Tell" and one of the ways we do this is through the use of the senses. Of course the sight sense is used mostly and the touch sense but the senses of smell and taste can be often ignored. When used well, it can deepen a scene and make it pop in the reader's mind as more vivid. Here are some examples from YA novels that have stood out for me. One thing that all of these scenes share are the specifics of taste and smell. "At first I'd hold … [Read more...]
Writer’s Push
February 10, 2011 Read Comments
I mostly write at night and some of you who follow me on Twitter already know that in the last couple of days, I've been struggling with the scene from hell. **Cues scary Satanic music** This scene is a new one for the middle of the novel based on a new plot point. The premise of the scene was a setup to get all of the major players in the novel into one place so that a major turning point occurs. Sounds simple enough, right? But it just wasn't working. Ugh! And the scene from hell was … [Read more...]
Power Positions
August 4, 2010 Read Comments
I'm reading the last chapters of the fabulous craft book, A Writer's Guide to Fiction by Elizabeth Lyon. I've already shared some gems with you from this book and I highly recommend it to include in your writer library. One of the things that has stood out for me while reading this book is the phrase "power positions." The author defines it as the following: "Power positions include the first words of any piece of writing (which is why the narrative hook has such power), including first … [Read more...]
Twenty Minutes of Fame
March 17, 2010 Read Comments
As a writers with other responsibilities like a day job and/or a family, it can be really hard to find blocks of time to write. For me, it was even a challenge to find time to write this blog post since I'm in the midst of some heavy lifting at the day job with my pending software release. But you can find time to squeeze in writing -- even an hour a day -- if you break it up into twenty minute increments. And if you're really stretched thin, you can find even smaller pockets of time. So … [Read more...]
