Tag Archives: writing/craft

Writing Tips – Mini Story Arcs Within Your Story’s Arc

The other day an author had a post on his blog where he talked about writing a weekly serial and how he had to write such that he always left off at a part where readers were dying to find out what happens next. That way they’d come back the following week and read the next installment. I commented that I naturally wrote in chunks of 2,500 – 5000 words at a time, which turned out to be very helpful. My writing process has evolved over the years such that with those 2,500 to 5,000 words I subconsciously include a small story arc within each chapter.

I thought the subject would make a great blog topic. Typically when people talk about ‘story arcs’, they’re referring to the plot line of the book. The story arc usually follows a bell curve style like this:

Story Arc: Where the beginning of the story starts out ramping up, then it peaks in the middle and then by the end, there’s the story’s resolution, leaving the reader fulfilled by time they finish the book.

Within every book, each chapter also includes its own tiny story arc. Each chapter will follow a similar pattern as the main story arc with the exception of an up-turn on the tail-end of the bell curve like this:

Chapter Arc: The goal here is that each chapter has a ramped up beginning, heightened middle and then a ramp down until you get near the end where the plot jumps back up yet again. This is a “hook” to keep the reader engaged and turning the pages.

So back to my comment on the author’s blog where I said, “I naturally write to 2,500 to 5,000 words per sitting.” What I meant was, each time I sit down to write, I’m leaving off at a highpoint (either at 2,500 words (ie, the middle of the chapter (the peak of the chapter bell curve) or at the end of the chapter (the up-turn right after the bell curve’s decline). In both cases, that’s a highpoint in the small chapter arc.

If you put all the chapter’s side by side within the story’s overall arc, they’d look something like this:

As you can see, each chapter arc moves upward, building upon the overall story arc, then peaking before coming back down to the final conclusion in the book.

This is how I “visually” see writing a story in my mind’s eye. It helps me in terms of pacing and avoiding the dreaded “sagging middle”.  Hopefully you’ll find it helpful to think in these “visual” terms. 🙂

Writing Tips – Worldbuilding

Brainstorming BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS's world!

On a message board I’m on, someone asked about worldbuilding, ie how do you do it.

I’ll admit, world building can be both fun (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!) and intimidating (MY WORLDS AND PLOTS GROW LIKE KUDZU, AND THERE I AM BLITHELY SPRAYING MIRACLE GROW ON THEM. Of course, after the fact, I can be found pulling my hair and wandering around the house mumbling, “How am I going to get all this into one book and the romance, too”), but I did try to find a way to answer the question that might help things click into place.

You know me…I gotta make it visual…well, at least relate it to something one can visualize. :wink: So here goes.

The Puzzle of Worldbuildlng

Try to relay tidbits of the world in the natural course of the story…via characters discussing things or visiting places or events happening where the world building can be woven in seamlessly piece by piece.

Maybe one way to think of laying out the mythology in the story is to do it the same way you would approach working on a 500 piece puzzle. For instance, the bits of your worldbuilding you DO know–the basic framework of your world–would flow easily early on in your story and should be slipped into place without much effort. Consider this first layer of worldbuilding like the puzzle’s outside pieces, where that one straight edge helps you form the main border.

Once all the outside pieces are placed, you then work your way inward, using the picture on the front of the puzzle box to help you decipher the colors and shapes stamped on the pieces, turning them until they all finally come together in a completed puzzle and overall picture. You do this secondary part of your worldbuilding via creative dialogue, action/fight scenes, flashbacks, dream sequences, a hunt for something/discovery of something, etc…anything that flows into the natural unfolding of the story. This deeper level of worldbuilding happens throughout every scene, even down to the last few pages.

P.T.

Writing Tips & More BKoD Reviews!

I thought I’d start posting writing tips. I’m going to try to make it once a week, though in the Future it’ll probably be on Thursdays.  Sometimes it’ll be something I’ve written. Other times it’ll be an awesome tip I found while surfing the web.  Whether you’re an aspiring author or a reader curious how I approach writing, I hope you enjoy them!

It has been a while since I’ve written one of my “visual” writing posts. I’ve written several under my other writing name so I’ll be bringing them over to this blog and adding new ones as time permits.  Why do I focus on the visual? For me, I learn and retain lessons best when I have a visual representation. So I thought I’d incorporate those in my blog.

COLORING IN THE DETAILS!

Today’s post is about bringing your writing to life, coloring in those details in such a way so that readers can “picture” or “feel” the scene.

Check out this picture below (yes, this does relate to writing, promise. 😉 )

It’s a neat picture, right? Nice color. It has cool composition with the sun only hitting the tops of the trees, lighting them on fire while the tree trunks remain shrouded in dark shadows. Like it? Yeah, me too…LOL…since I took it. :wink:

But ya know, once I downloaded this picture to my computer screen, I was disappointed. Why? Because the colors looked washed out and dull compared to what I had seen while I was happily snapping away with my digital camera. What I saw was flashes of fire in the leaves, like nature had lit them ablaze. I loved the vivid stormy blue sky behind those fiery leaves and how it set such a stark and breathtaking contrast!

So what did I do once I downloaded it to my computer?

I went in and put the color back in…the way I’d “seen” in through the camera’s viewfinder.

And here is the result.

And what in the WORLD does ALL this have to do with writing, you ask…

Okay, here’s how you can apply this to writing.

Once you’ve written your scene, step back and read it. Think about the two pictures above. Think about how you reacted to each one. Consider how the first one was a fairly good picture all on its own, well, until you saw the next one. LOL!

The point is…you wrote a good scene. Now go back and make it better. Make it POP!

How do you do that?

If it’s an emotional scene, then take your characters’ emotions deeper. Really dig into your main characters’ internal conflicts and how that particular scene effects or changes the character’s perspective on things. Get in there and make the reader “feel” what the character does. Use those five senses, too!

If it’s a fight scene or an action scene, beyond the actual hand to hand “fight” actions or playing out of the action scene, make sure that you’ve done a thorough job employing the five senses here as well. I’m sure you’ve already shown us what your character sees, but what does your character hear? What does he/she smell? What does he/she feel?

Going back and adding in these additional layers will help make your scenes come alive, giving them that “extra” memorable impact and painting a vivid picture for your readers.

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MORE AWESOME REVIEWS for BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS!

5 Stars! “… Brightest Kind of Darkness is a fresh, thrilling and compelling read. It’s almost got a Final Destination feel to the book but P.T does make this book her own. I can’t help but ask myself, why isn’t this book been picked up by a publisher? Publishers…..seriously you’re missing out. I so want this book sitting on my shelf and I for one am thankful this book was bought to my attention because like I said, it’s not one you want to miss out on…” Donna, Book Passion for Life  (Click here to read the entire review)

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5 Stars! “… Exciting, atmospheric, action-packed, and intensely mysterious BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS is the best self-published work I have read to date. Michelle’s writing is so good it was easy to lose myself in the pages and forget the time, something few books can do. I can hardly wait for the next book to be released and will definitely be adding Michelle (and her alter ego Patrice Michelle) to my list of authors to watch. I highly recommend this one if you enjoy Stacey Jay or Richelle Mead’s writing styles and for fans of Jordan Dane’s intensity.”  Rhianna, RhiReading (Click here to read the entire review)

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5 Stars! “… The chemistry between Nara and Ethan could have set my Kindle on fire! With very few words or actions they were able to speak volumes. They had that type of connection where each little touch gives you goose bumps. Sometimes Ethan would just speak a few words and I would blush like mad. 

Brightest Kind of Darkness brings up an interesting idea–can you run from fate? This book is full of twists and turns and it is impossible to not care about these characters. If you want a spooky paranormal tale with a sizzling romance inside, grab this book!  I am already stalking P.T. to see when the next book in this series is coming out! ”  Jessica, Confessions of a Bookaholic (Click here to read the entire review)

HUGE thank yous to Donna, Rhi and Jessica for such wonderful reviews of BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS and being so supportive!