Janice Hardy's Blog, page 89

Writing Prompt: The Story Starter: Grief Stricken

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week’s prompt is a story starter, so take the element provided and turn it into a story of any length you choose. If you’re stuck on size, I suggest aiming for 1000-2000 words.

This week’s starter is an opening line.

People react differently to grief.
Write whatever this triggers, and use these details however you wish. Put them together, use them separately, make one a detail in a scene, whatever inspires you—run with it.

Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Finding Conflict in Flash Fiction

Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

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: One

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through December 8.

This week’s questions:

1. If the plot and conflict strong enough?

2. Does the prose sing?

3. Is the fight exciting?

4. Is the Show/Tell a good balance?

Market/Genre: Fan-fiction fantasy mash up of Harry Potter and Star Wars

On to the diagnosis…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Three Ways to Add Tension to a Scene During Revisions

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday takes another look at ways to increase the tension in a scene. Enjoy!

Tension is vital to all stories, but let’s face it—we don’t always have it in every scene. I’ve written plenty of scenes that moved the plot along and conveyed the information I wanted to share, but were weak on tension, especially in a first draft. I’d guess a lot of first draft scenes lack tension because the focus in often on getting the story, setting, or characters down (or any combination of those).

Since writers usually know what is going to happen in a scene and why, it's easy to write all the tension out of a scene. That critical sense of uncertainty goes missing, or we might not write something because we know it won't affect the outcome of the scene, so why bother? But that potential outcome can raise the tension and make the reader wonder what might happen.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Settings: How Writers Can Leverage Traumatically Closed Systems

By Bonnie Randall 

Part of the How They Do It Series (Contributing Author)

Imperium Intra Imperio (Latin): A state within a state.

“Traumatically Closed”. When I teach Violent Threat Risk Assessment for the North American Centre For Threat Assessment & Trauma Response, participants and I spend a significant amount of time discussing and dissecting Traumatically Closed Systems[1].

What is a Traumatically Closed System?
Within a Traumatically Closed System, information is carefully guarded by all members—who will also display a high degree of suspicion of outsiders.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone (and a belayed Happy Thanksgiving to my friends in the North). I hope everyone has a wonderful day today, and a great holiday weekend. I'll see you all again on Monday.

--JaniceWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

What Are Your Characters Thankful For?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

With Thanksgiving coming up (or just passed for our friends in the North), I thought it would be fun to dip into the archives again and think about the things our characters might be thankful for.
When we create our story people, we often focus more on the problems, the flaws, and the things that make them unhappy—because that’s where there best conflicts and plotting opportunities usually come from. But it’s also important to consider what will make our characters go through all those horrible things we throw in their paths.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

7 Tips for Writing Across Cultures

By Sylvia Whitman, @SylviaWhitman

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: There's a growing need for diverse books, but writing about cultures not your own is a tricky path to navigate. Please help me welcome Sylvia Whitman to the lecture hall today, to share some tips on writing across cultures.

Sylvia Whitman lives in Sarasota, Florida, and teaches writing as a visiting instructor at Ringling College of Art and Design. She has published hundreds of articles for adults and children, a dozen books for young readers, and a handful of short stories in magazines ranging from Redbook to The Florida Review. Her YA novel The Milk of Birds (Atheneum) was named one of the 2014 Bank Street College Best Children’s Books of the Year 2014 and an Amelia Bloomer Project best feminist book for young readers.

Website | Twitter | Goodreads

Take it away Sylvia...
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Theme Me Up: How to Develop Your Novel's Theme

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Theme is an often overlooked tool in a writer's toolbox. Here's another look at finding the greater meaning in your story.  
Several years ago I attended a workshop on theme at RWA. It was a fascinating session, because the presenters were romance author Suzanne Brockmann and English professor and literary critic, Sarah Frantz, who studies romance in general, and Brockmann in particular. To see what the reader took away from the book versus what the author intended was quite interesting. They were similar, but not always exact. And that's okay, because everyone takes away something different from a book.

Some of the things they said made me look at theme in a new light, and made me think about ways to discuss theme that can be directly applied to a writer's work. Looking back on this, I can see how theme has become a much bigger part of my writing process, because a great book is about something, and we all want our books to be more than plots and characters.And using a theme is a great way to accomplish that.

Here are three ways a theme can help writers tell a richer story:

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writing Prompt: The Chain Story: Just One More Thing

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Since it's the start of what is a holiday week for many people, let's keep it simper and fun this week.

This week’s prompt is a chain story! I’ll give you the first line, and someone else comments and builds off that line. Next commenter will build off that line, and so on.

In the event of two commenters posting at the same time and sending the story in different directions, just pick the line you like best, or try to incorporate both if you can.

My to-do list looked complete, until I flipped it over.
Let the fun begin.

Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Scene Work and Grab Your Attention?

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: Two

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through December 8.

This week’s question:

Does this scene work and grab your attention? 

Market/Genre: Middle Grade

On to the diagnosis…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com