Beats in Fiction Writing? Honestly, beats isn’t a term I use a lot, but it is a term I hear a lot, so I thought it would be good to define what beats in fiction are and why they matter. Beats in Fiction Writing Defined According to Sandra Scofield in her book, The Scene Book, … [Read more…]
So far in our discussion of how to write a scene, we’ve talked about what scene is, both as many think of it and as Dwight Swain defines it in Techniques of the Selling Writer. We’ve also gone over the importance of sequel and showing your characters motivation. Today we’ll discuss what some may get … [Read more…]
When I stumbled through my first manuscript eleven years ago, I didn’t know much about scenes. I didn’t know how to write a scene. I didn’t know much about writing a book, come to think of it, but the best way to learn is to just do it. (And, of course, read up on the … [Read more…]
When I first started writing, I’d never heard of motivation reaction units (MRU). What I did know, though, was sometimes things just didn’t seem to flow. Sections of prose would feel awkward and just not right. So I would re-read and re-word until they did. Even after I did know what motivation reaction units were, … [Read more…]
Miss the first article in How to Write a Scene series? Read it here. Article Two in How to Write a Scene, Scene Structure: Goal, Conflict, Disaster by Lori Devoti, a How To Write Fiction Series. Goal, Conflict, Disaster is the basic scene structure of every good scene and yes, this means every scene should … [Read more…]