Janice Hardy's Blog, page 72
June 22, 2019
Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Opening Page Feel Slow?
Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardyReal Life Diagnostics is a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and we diagnose it on the site. It’s part critique, part example, and designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.
If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines.
Submissions currently in the queue: None
Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are open.
This week’s questions:
I'm trying to establish the narrator's personality and the environment he's operating in. I'm worried this opening may be slow because it's telling. Can I have your opinion on this?
Market/Genre: Humorous Mystery (Heist)
On to the diagnosis…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 21, 2019
4 Steps to Establish the Beginning of Your Novel
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardySetting up a novel baffles many writers, but it’s easier when you focus on what a beginning needs to do.
On Wednesday, I talked about what the word setup actually meant in fiction and why so many writers had trouble with it. Today, I’m going to focus specifically on ways to establish (good setup) your novel’s beginning without falling prey to bad setup.
When you’re setting up a story, what you’re really doing is establishing the premise of the story and where the plot is going to go. It’s part of the story, not something done before readers get to the story. It’s not dumping backstory, though there might be a little backstory in there.
A good beginning contains and conveys all the critical elements required to understand the premise, the story, the plot, and why the protagonist is willing to get involved. But it also needs to do it in such a way that piques readers curiosity and makes them interested to know more.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 20, 2019
Stress and the Writer: To All Things a Season
By Jana Oliver, @crazyauthorgirlPart of The Writer's Life Series
JH: Stress is a part of life, but it can be particularly hard on writers, sapping our creativity and making it impossible to do our jobs. Jana Oliver returns to the lecture hall today to share her story and offer tips on what to do when stress keeps you from writing.
Jana Oliver is an international bestseller and a multi award-winning author who’s chronicled Atlanta’s demon invasion and Victorian London’s meddling time travelers. When writing as Chandler Steele, she’s penned gritty stories about domestic terrorism, white collar crime and the Russian mafia.
Jana now lives in Portugal, savoring the slow life, where there is always a small café and a bottle of wine at hand.
Jana Oliver | Chandler Steele | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Goodreads |
Take it away Jana...
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 19, 2019
What “Setup” in a Novel Actually Means
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy Setup is one of the more confusing (and frustrating) terms in writing.
I was working with a writer recently on developing his novel, and were discussing his struggles in setting up the story. Specifically, his frustrations with the word setup and what it actually meant, because he kept reading articles advising him to avoid setup, but then he’d also see advice on the importance of setting up a story.
I don’t blame him for being confused or annoyed by this.
Setup is a misleading word, especially since it has both positive and negative connotations, and it can be hard to know which one people mean. People say “setup,” even though they mean, “establish the premise of the story and tee up where the plot is going to go.” But that’s harder to work into a conversation.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 18, 2019
Jamie Fraser Eats an Apple: Using Objects to Inject Character and World-Building into Dialogue
By Lisa Lowe Stauffer, @LisaLStauffer Part of The How They Do It Series
JH: What’s in a scene is more than just stage dressing and props. It can be an opportunity to show your characters and the world they live in. Lisa Lowe Stauffer visits the lecture hall today with tips on how to do just that.
Lisa Lowe Stauffer, author of Two By Two (Zonderkidz, 2018) eagerly anticipates the release of the next book in the Outlander series. In the meantime, she stays busy writing books for children and teens, volunteering with SCBWI, and traveling with her own red-headed husband.
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter |
Take it away Lisa…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 17, 2019
You're So Emotional: Describing a Character's Emotions in a First Person Point of View
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy A first-person narrator has a unique set of challenges, and describing emotions is one of them.
For many readers, emotion is a big reason why they picked up a particular novel. They want to feel connected to the characters, experience life through their eyes, escape into their worlds. Bringing those emotions to the surface is critical to bringing the story alive.
Except sometimes, we go overboard and shift from emotion to melodrama. Our protagonists are too whiny, too stuck in their heads, to self-aware of what they're feeling all the time and that's draws attention away from the story.
This is particularly easy to do with a first-person narrator, because everything is so deep in that character's point of view. If we go emotionally overboard, our characters don't feel like natural people, because no one walks around fully aware of every little feeling they have and why they have it.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 16, 2019
Sunday Writing Tip: Identify What Changes in Every Scene
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy Each week, I’ll offer a tip you can take and apply to your WIP to help improve it. They’ll be easy to do and shouldn’t take long, so they’ll be tips you can do without taking up your Sunday. Though I do reserve the right to offer a good tip now and then that will take longer—but only because it would apply to the entire manuscript.
This week, make sure something changes in every scene.
A red flag for a slow or lackluster story is that the plot never advances. Scenes unfold, but nothing about the events in that scene have any affect on the protagonist or the problem at hand.
Something should change in the scene to show why that scene is there. The change might be the direction of the story, an attitude of a character, a belief, the direction of the plot, the emotional state of the protagonist, the stakes, the goal, the motivation for that goal, an understanding about the world or setting, and so on.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 15, 2019
Real Life Diagnostics: Would You Keep Reading This Space Opera?
Critique By Maria D'Marco Real Life Diagnostics is a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and we diagnose it on the site. It’s part critique, part example, and designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.
If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines.
Submissions currently in the queue: None
Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are open.
This week’s questions:
1. Does this version set up the tension, conflict, and hook better than the previous version?
2. Would you keep reading?
Market/Genre: Space Opera
Note: This is a resubmit. Here's the original RLD if you're curious to see how the author revised.
On to the diagnosis…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 14, 2019
Upcoming Writing Workshops from Janice Hardy
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardyI’ve got a lot going on the rest of 2019, and there will be a few more added to this list in the months ahead (two are still being finalized--one in Tampa in August and another in St. Augustine in November).
If you live in Florida, or will be heading down to Florida, there's a decent chance I'll be at a conference or workshop event near you. I'll also be traveling to Texas this October. Not only will it be my first time doing a workshop in that region, it'll be my first visit to the state. A busy, but exciting year for me.
Here’s an updated list of my workshops and events:
June
Winter Park, FL: Orlando Word Lab
Wednesday, June 26, 7pm
Winter Park Library
460 E New England Ave, Winter Park, FL 32789
This workshop is free and open to the public.
My Workshop: Building Your Story World: Developing Setting and World Building
World building is vital to every novel, but it’s more than just describing the setting. It’s conveying the rules of the world, the subtext of a society, and the role your characters play in that story. A well-crafted setting draws in readers and makes them feel part of the world, and better still—makes them want to return to that world again and again. In this workshop, writers will learn tricks to bring their story world to life without it taking over the novel. They’ll also discover how to background setting and world details, use point of view to enhance the setting, and show, not tell, their story world.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
June 13, 2019
How to Guide a Critique
By Sarah McGuire, @fireplusalgebraPart of The Writer's Life Series
JH: Critiques are part of writing, and Sarah McGuire is back this month with tips on how to guide your critique to best get what you need out of it. Which is perfect timing since I'll be opening up my Critique Connection Yahoo Group on July 1 for the summer session. If you've been looking for a crit group, keep your eyes open.
Sarah McGuire is a nomadic math teacher who sailed around the world aboard a floating college campus. She writes fairy tales and would be just fine if one day she opened a wardrobe and stumbled into another world. Coffee and chocolate are her rocket fuel. She wishes Florida had mountains, but she lives there anyways with her husband (who wrote this bio in less than three minutes!) and their family.
Website | Goodreads | Twitter |
Take it away Sarah…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
