GROSS ANATOMY OF A NOVEL: DIALOG

Firsts in Fiction Gross Anatomy of a Novel: Dialog What is dialog? “Dialogue is not a break in the action. It’s an intensification of the action. Here’s something else dialogue is not: It’s not the way we speak. Dialogue must appear realistic without being realistic....

FROM THE VAULTS: WEEK 2, ACT 2

Last week, I began a three-week series on the three act structure. Most commonly used for screenplays, novelists have long borrowed the basic structure to help outline novels. Bottom line, the three-act structure is a proven story-telling technique. This week, we’ll...

GROSS ANATOMY OF A NOVEL: PLOT AND STRUCTURE

Firsts in Fiction Gross Anatomy of a Novel: Plot, Pacing, Structure First, what do we mean when we talk about plot? Plot refers to the course of events in a novel. Typically, this also refers to the order in which they occur. A lot of times this is what we describe on...

GROSS ANATOMY OF A NOVEL: VOICE

Firsts in Fiction Gross Anatomy of a Novel: Voice Continuing our look at Gross Anatomy of a Novel, this week we discuss Voice. First, let’s define “Voice.” Voice is one of the trickiest aspects of writing fiction. One thing the best writers have in common is a unique...

Gross Anatomy of a Novel: Point of View

 Firsts in Fiction Gross Anatomy of a Novel: Point of View Continuing our look at Gross Anatomy of a Novel, this week we discuss Point of View. First, let’s define “Point of View.” Simply put, point of view is the eye through which the narration is seen. There are...