Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 209
June 24, 2011
10 Basic Ingredients (Plus 8 More) of a Successful Thriller
These are from Writer's Digest. I couldn't make this conference, but my friends at WD provided an excellent
How do I write a thriller?
overview.
You wonder why I hark back to 2008? Writing thrillers is different from any other genre. They nailed the specifics.
Maui Writers Conference, Honolulu, September 2008
People often confuse the mystery and thriller genres. While it's true that they often overlap, there's a distinct difference: A mystery follows an intellectual protagonist who puts together clues to solve a crime after it's been committed, and a thriller details the prevention of a crime before it has been committed.
At the 2008 Maui Writers Conference, bestselling thriller writer Gary Braver (Skin Deep) said that dread drives thrillers. You know who the good guys and bad guys are. Dull moments will lose an audience, and writers can't afford to lose an audience, even for one page.
To captivate an audience (and agents and publishers), Braver offers these 10 essential ingredients for a successful thriller.
1. You need to have a good story. Thrillers want to be thrilled. A common element in thrillers is that the protagonist will fall victim to someone else's scheme and get stuck in a moment of dread. There are only three themes in all of literature: death and rebirth (Stephen King's Misery); the hero slaying a dragon to restore the world to normalcy (James Bond, Indiana Jones); and the quest to make life better (The Da Vinci Code). Know which theme fits your story.
2. Write about the underdog. Tell your thriller from the point of view of the person with the most to lose. The protagonist gives the story character. Give him baggage and emotional complexity.
3. Multiple points of view can give you great range in a thriller. They allow you inside the heads of many characters, which can build more dramatic tension and irony.
4. Open your book with an action scene. Don't put biographical information or exposition in Chapter 1 (do that later). Introduce the crime—which tells you the stakes—and introduce the hero and villain, and even some obstacles the protagonist may face. Don't sacrifice style—use metaphors and good language—but stick with action.
5. Early on, make clear what your protagonist wants and what he fears. You should know what the protagonist wants and how he would end the novel if he were writing it. There are two quests: Stopping the bad stuff from happening (In The Silence of the Lambs, it's to stop Buffalo Bill from killing) and dealing with the character's baggage (for Clarice to be a good, professional FBI agent in a [then] male-dominated profession).
Think Cinderella: Her main quest is to get to the ball. It's about liberation. When she gets to the ball she finds freedom.
6. Make your characters miserable. Ask what the worst thing is that could happen to your protagonist and make it worse. Give them grief, false hope, heartaches, anxiety and near-death experiences. We don't want our protagonist to win until the end.
7. Your main characters have to change. It has to be an emotional change that shows growth and victory over some of his baggage. In The Silence of the Lambs, Clarice is stronger and tougher at the end and she gets a good night's sleep.
8. Pacing must be high: Strong Narrative Thrust. Each scene should reveal something new, no matter how slight it is. Don't tell us about stuff that has nothing to do with the story. The villain has a ticking clock, so there's no time to waste on pages with useless information. Short paragraphs and white space are good. Consider using cliffhangers at the end of every chapter, albeit a sudden surprise or provocative announcement.
9. Show—don't tell. Avoid the passive voice. Use action verbs (He heard the screams in his bedroom). Avoid adverbs—they are cheesy and cheap ways of telling instead of showing. Don't start sentences with –ing words ("He stared" vs. "Staring at the …"). Make the subject and verb close and up front in the sentence.
10. Teach us something. Make sure your audience has learned about something—an animal, medical treatment, social issue—so we walk away with more knowledge.
Thrillers are normally only shown from two characters point of view. The first character who is first observed is the protagonist which involves the audience in more events and creates empathy for the character. However, occasionally the story is told from the villains point of view which can lead to empathy for the villain also to their twisted ways and perhaps their demented past that has led to the future. Lastly the story can also be told from the point of view of an onlooker. Detaching the audience from the events, they can be more obsevervant.
8 primary elements of the Thriller genre
Submitted by TwelvePoint Edi… on 9 October 2010 – 9:46am
The 8 primary elements of the Thriller genre are:
The central protagonist/s face death, their own or someone else's.
The force/s of antagonism must initially be clever and/or stronger than the protagonist.
The main storyline for the protagonist is either a quest or the character who cannot be put down.
The main plotline focuses on a mystery that must be solved.
The film's narrative construction is dominated by the protagonist's point of view.
All action and characters must be credibly realistic/natural in their representation on screen.
The two major themes that underpin the Thriller are the desire for justice and the morality of individuals.
One small but significant aspect of a great thriller is the presence of innocence in what is seen as an essentially corrupt world.
Filed under: thrillers, writers resources, writing Tagged: maui conference, thrillers, writers resources
June 22, 2011
Why We Write
I ran across one of the most cogent explanations for why we write in my Scribd community. Read this by Seth Harwood and see if you agree:
View this document on Scribd
I think he covered everything. Any thoughts?
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers, writing Tagged: Scribd, writers, writers life
June 21, 2011
Tech Tip For Writers #8: Print a Selection off a Web Page
Tech Tips for Soon-to-be Great Writers
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I'll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I'll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: I only want to print part of the webpage, not the entire thing. Other than copy-pasting a selection into a Word doc or using PrintKey or Jing (they're not on some of the computers I use at work or friends' houses), how do I quickly print just a selection?
In these economic times, you might also simply want to save paper. Here's how:
Highlight the desired text
Press Ctrl P
In the Print dialog box that appears, in Print Range area, click Selection, then click OK.
Now, only the selected portion of the Web page will print.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: tech tips for writers, writers tips Tagged: print a web page, tech tips, writers tips
June 20, 2011
Writer's Tips #64: From the Lips of Kurt Vonnegut
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tip: Every sentence must do one of two things–reveal character or advance the action.
This is one of eight tips from American short story writer, Kurt Vonnegut, an NYT best selling author who uses science fiction to characterize the world and the nature of existence as he experiences them. From his website:
His chaotic fictional universe abounds in wonder, coincidence, randomness and irrationality. Science fiction helps lend form to the presentation of this world view without imposing a falsifying causality upon it.
Best known for Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1973), he also wrote fourteen novels. These are great tips from this master story-teller:
Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
Every sentence must do one of two things-reveal character or advance the action.
Start as close to the end as possible.
Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.
What do you think of #8?
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: characters, writers resources, writers tips, writing Tagged: characters, vonnegut, writers tips
June 17, 2011
Book Review: Eyes Wide Open
by Andrew Gross
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Eyes Wide Open (William Morrow 2011) is the first book I've read by NYT and international best seller, and James Patterson co-author Andrew Gross. It is the unique story of a manic-depressive boy named Evan who commits suicide by jumping from the top of the famous Morrow Bay Boulder–or so the police believe. His poverty-stricken parents, who suffer the long-term effects of drug use and their own bouts with manic-depressive disorders, considered Evan their second chance at life and don't believe their son took his own life. The blame, they claim, lays with the negligent care he received at the hands of the state services for the handicapped. To help with the doctors and lawyers and police detectives, they involve the father's brother Jay, a successful doctor, who quickly suspects the murderer isn't the state, but a figure from his brother's past who has returned to exact revenge.
The story is tightly plotted, well-characterized with a nice rhythm (although I don't know why Gross had to start by killing a tired old dog. There are better ways to catch my attention). A reprise of the Manson family drama is central to the plot, right down to a charismatic leader and Gross's version of Squeaky Fromme. The Doc makes brilliant connections from disparate clues that make the plot as twisted as a mountain road, careening toward its unexpected ending. The only drawback is that Gross occasionally repeats himself. I counted four times in the first forty pages where Gross described Evan's death. Hey–I got it the first time. Thrillers must be fast-paced. Redundancy slowed this one down a tad.
That aside, this is a satisfying read, well-worth the investment of time.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: Amazon, book reviews, thrillers Tagged: book review, gross, thrillers
June 15, 2011
Got Writers Block? Read This Poem
For all my friends with writer's block, read this poem by my ebuddy, Molly Greene. Does this not capture the pain?
View this document on Scribd
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers resources, writing Tagged: writers block, writers life
June 14, 2011
Tech Tip For Writers #7: Transparent Backgrounds
Tech Tips for Soon-to-be Great Writers
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I'll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I'll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: When I insert my picture, the background isn't transparent, so it covers everything behind it. I want it see-through. How do I do that? BTW, I'm using Publisher.
A: Two ways, one simpler than the other.
Select the picture; use the picture toolbar pen.
If that doesn't show up, select the picture and then press CTRL T.
These don't work in 100% of cases. Probably 85-90%. I hope it covers your case.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
Jacqui Murray
is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of
Building a Midshipman
, the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an
Amazon Vine Voice
book reviewer, a columnist for
Examiner.com
, and a weekly contributor to
Write Anything
and
Technology in Education
. Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office
or her tech lab,
Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: editing, tech tips for writers Tagged: images, tech tips for writers, writers tips
June 13, 2011
Writers Tip #63: Take Your Time
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tip: Take Your Time
"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time unlike, say, brain surgery."
Good advise from Robert Cormier. Getting it right the first time is as common as the fact that the average American has one testicle and one ovary. There's no American THAT average and there are no writers who hit a home run the first time.
Or the second, or third, or the hundredth time. Why? Because doing something always ends up taking longer than you expect. It took mankind 358 years to solve Fermat's Last Theorem. It took Andrew Wiles–the man who broke that record–eight years of his life to do it.
Keep fighting the good fight. You'll make it. I'll keep the light on for you.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: writers tips, writing Tagged: wiles, writers life, writing
June 8, 2011
Book Review: Digital Forensics With Open Source Tools
Digital Forensics with Open Source Tools
Note: This review written as part of my Amazon Vine Voice series
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I write techno-thrillers, so I'm always looking for new ways to crack the tangled online lives of popular fictional characters, a blueprint for the next Digital Fortress. In the case of Altheide and Carvey's Digital Forensics with Open Source Tools (Elsevier, 2011), I'll have to keep looking, but I wasn't disappointed. It delves into the equally obfuscated world of computer malfunctions. In plain English (as opposed to the acronyms more rampant in the geek world than the government), it details how to investigate a variety of problems on a variety of systems to find out what went wrong and how to fix it–using open source tools. The 'fix it' part is the digital forensics which the authors define as "the use of scientifically derived and proven methods toward the preservation, collection, validation, identification, analysis, interpretation, documentation and presentation of digital evidence derived from digital sources for the purpose of …reconstruction of events found to be criminal…"
Simple enough, though for the purposes of this review, I truncated the original 54-word definition by half. In full disclosure, the book includes many neologistic words like 'MinGW', 'RAID', 'installing interpreter's, 'perl, python and ruby' because the authors admit their intended audience is new forensic practitioners or experienced ones interested in delving into open source tools. Those weird words are their language, but the authors do a good enough job defining the more complicated terms that beginners will want this book in their library. It summarizes the wide variety of platforms out there–Linux, Windows, MacOS and more–and which open source products can best be used to address what forensic problems.
The authors are Cory Altheide and Harland Carvey. Mr. Altheide has a robust background performing end-to-end forensic investigation (you can see what he's up to on his blog, even ask questions about the book if this review hasn't covered enough. I have to tell you, after browsing his posts, his tweets and his LinkedIn profile, what this guy doesn't know about digital forensics, no one does). Likewise with Harlan Carvey. His blog goes much deeper than my personal knowledge base and itemizes enough incident responses that it's clear Mr. Carvey knows of which he speaks.
Even if you aren't a nerdy geek who sits in front of a computer 24/7, you will come away from this book impressed with the creativity and ingenuity of today's computer minds. Man's survival has always been about using the brain, stretching those synapses, thinking not only outside the box, but into the next. Some say American education is in trouble, but if it turns out problem solvers like these two, we're in good shape.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: book reviews, problem-solving Tagged: digital forensics, health care reform, open source
June 7, 2011
Tech Tip For Writers #6: The (Horrid Annoying) Drawing Canvas
Tech Tips for Soon-to-be Great Writers
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I'll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I'll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: When I try to insert a text box or object into Word 2003, a drawing canvas appears around it. It gets in the way–everything has to wrap around it and it leaves too much white space, even when I resize it.
A: My solution: Get rid of it. It's huge and designed to allow you to place multiple shapes that are moved and resized as one. Most of us are only interested in inserting one text box, so it is cumbersome, annoying and useless. To turn the drawing canvas off:
On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the General tab.
Clear the Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting AutoShapes check box.
Note: This feature was turned off for Word 2007.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: problem-solving, tech tips for writers, writers resources, writers tips Tagged: tech for writers, tech tips, writers tips
