Beginning With Backstory
Tag: Firsts in Fiction
10 Things I Love About Writing
Firsts in Fiction 10 Things I Love About Writing: (Aaron) Building worlds: My Hand of Adonai series takes place in Alrujah, a fictional world of my design. When coming up with the idea, I researched different fantasy novels and films, studied maps, played with …
10 Mistakes I’ve Made in My Writing
Firsts in Fiction 10 Mistakes I’ve Made in My Writing: (Aaron) Writing with a thesaurus. My first draft of The Bargain was a very showy affair, a real, “look what I can do!” type of a novel. This kind of flashing neon light pointing …
FROM THE VAULTS: Week 3, Act 3
Act III answers this question, and does so in dramatic fashion. The climax of the film (or in our case, the novel) occurs in Act III.
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 …
FROM THE VAULTS: Week 2, Act 2
Act II is most commonly referred to as the rising action. It’s marked by several things, but the two most important aspects are the escalation of tension and the further development of the character.
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 …
FROM THE VAULTS: Three Weeks, Three Acts
I thought it might be fun to take a few weeks to look at the three act structure. While most commonly used for screenplays, fiction writers have used the same set-up for decades.
Ask the Authors
Firsts in Fiction Ask the Authors How do you prefer to handle typesetting words in made up languages? Italics? What if you are including thoughts in dialogue? Here is an example: Kata’s brow furrowed, “Snack?” Zeta looked around warily before she whispered, …