Kaye Dacus's Blog, page 54
February 11, 2015
Get Set: Determining Your Story’s Tone #ReadySetWrite
My name is Tobey Heydon and I am practically seventeen years old, since my sixteenth birthday was five whole months ago. Actually, Tobey is my midle name and my first is Henrietta. My mother got sort of desperate when her third child turned out to be another girl, so she named me for my father. […]
February 10, 2015
Get Set: Doing Your Research #ReadySetWrite
When I first started writing Menu for Romance, I had a cursory knowledge of professional/restaurant kitchens—after all, I paid my dues my senior year of high school and worked in a restaurant, and I watched Food Network and Top Chef and other cooking shows religiously. So in one scene, I had Major’s sous chef wipe […]
February 9, 2015
Get Set: Getting to Know Your Setting #ReadySetWrite
Last week, we discussed backstory and the importance of knowing the backstory of your setting, in addition to your characters. But now it’s time to get to know your setting even more intimately. Getting to Know Your Setting 1. Your Story World: Where does your story take place? Go from the broad (Planet Earth) to […]
February 4, 2015
Get Set: Picking Your Point of View and Viewpoint Characters #ReadySetWrite
Now that you know the backstories of your characters and storyworld, it’s time to start preparing to choose in what style and in what viewpoints your story will be told. Picking Your Point of View “Point of View” or POV is quite often the term used to identify which characters’ heads the reader is allowed […]
February 3, 2015
Get Set: Developing Your Backstory #ReadySetWrite
Now that you have your premise, you know (most of) your characters are, you know where/when your setting is, it’s time to start getting set—setting yourself up to be ready to actually write. Developing Character Backstories I’ve mentioned before on the blog that one of the first things I do when I get a story […]
February 2, 2015
What Are You Reading? (February 2015)
Happy First Monday of February, everyone. It’s Reading Report time! . Tell us what you’ve finished over the last month, what you’re currently reading, and what’s on your To Be Read stack/list. And if you’ve reviewed the books you’ve read somewhere, please include links! To format your text, click here for an HTML cheat-sheet. If […]
January 31, 2015
Books Read in 2015: Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature by Thomas A. Shippey
Heroes and Legends: The Most Influential Characters of Literature by Thomas A. Shippey My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a great collection of 30-minute lectures on fictional characters that, while not overly analytical on the literary criticism scale, raise interesting questions and lightly explore themes and symbols connected with the selected characters in […]
January 20, 2015
Get Ready: Is your SETTING ready? #ReadySetWrite
Sometimes, the geographic location of a story is an integral part of the premise. Other times, we have to figure out where the best setting for our story will be. And this is something you need to know before you get into the planning stage. Where Is Your Story Set? Placing your story in the […]
January 18, 2015
Get Ready: Are Your CHARACTERS Ready? #ReadySetWrite
Now that you have your PREMISE nailed down, it’s time to start thinking about characters. Since we’re not actually writing yet—or really even in deep preparation for writing—now is the time to really just concentrate on who’s going to be in the story, not on deep character development. Who are your characters? This doesn’t necessarily […]
January 14, 2015
Writing-Prompt Wednesday: Oh, No–You’re Stranded!
Oh, no! You’ve survived a plan crash, but find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere. Aside from the clothes you’re wearing, you have only TWO items from the following list. What two items are they and what are you going to do with them? Bottle of shampoo Pack of coffee filters A piece of […]
