Thinning the Plot: AKA Killing Your Darlings
I want to explain about extraneous plot, and how I’m trimming a big chunk out of the last third of a novel to make the story flow better. There’s also consequences to the characters by doing it.
I want to explain about extraneous plot, and how I’m trimming a big chunk out of the last third of a novel to make the story flow better. There’s also consequences to the characters by doing it.
My first actual paid stories were six 100-word stories (often called “drabbles”) in 2016. I was paid US$5 for each. It was a big shot of validation early in my career.
One of our assignments in my first writing course was to write in a voice you don’t usually use (first person versus third). This was my entry.
I think there’s an opportunity to give Romeo and Juliet a very satisfying twist. Think on this: How does Romeo’s time alone in Mantua challenge his feelings for Juliet?
During my first writing course, I wrote four different stories for the final assignment. We could only submit one. This is one of the ones I chose not to submit.
One theme I wanted to explore in the first Deacon Carver book was how bureaucracy weighs down organizations. One of my key scenes for demonstrating that was in Deacon’s onboarding process, where he confronts the concept of “cost-to-company.”
In my writing course, we were tasked with writing a scene. it was to be exactly 500 words in length, and during the scene, the reader was to become aware of a truth without it being said.
I don’t usually use people I know as an inspiration. But this time it just fit so well. As soon as I saw our writing prompt, I knew exactly who this was, an old co-worker.
This is long overdue, and I apologize. But it will be a while yet. There are two reasons you haven’t
This is a three-part post. The first focuses on software and websites that offer Software as a Service. The second