The Craft of Writing Archives
The prologue should work as a way to tell our story from two different points, or to include information which is crucial to the plot that we cannot include in the body of the story.
Writers construct novels in several ways. Some use a prologue, other swear it’s a waste of time. Stephen King often includes a foreword in his novels where he speaks directly to the reader. Sometimes an author includes an endorsement from another established author, which also speaks directly to the reader....more
Beta reading comes with some unspoken rules, both for the reader and the writer. We’ve experienced readers who offer little to no help because they either do nothing but gush about our brilliance, or their critiques are harsh and unfounded. The first is the most harmful. While we all enjoy a good pat on the back, we don’t want it from our beta readers. ...more
The easiest to find are online groups. Many writing organizations—like OFW— list resources such as online critique groups on their sites. From these groups, it is possible for a writer to find trustworthy and competent beta readers. The key to finding the right group online is research....more
Writers often form groups that meet in person. Small groups meet at restaurants, coffee houses, or local libraries. Some meet at members’ home or at a local park. These groups offer support and critique face-to-face, which means the writer can ask questions and get feedback...more
Review or critique groups provide feedback in exchange for our feedback on their manuscripts, to help us prepare our novel to the best level it can be. These groups may function on a chapter-by-chapter basis, exchanging just portions of work, or they may act as beta readers, exchanging entire manuscripts....more
What are they, and why do we need “beta readers?”
So we’ve messed about with our manuscript and removed the errors and tightened the prose. It reads well. Great. What about the tension? The tension in any given story should rise through each scene and each chapter. Our goal is to build tension until the story reaches the climax and then slowly fall back down until we reach the end. ...more
The gestalt diagram is most useful when combined with a tension graph. Once the writer determines that some sections of the story don’t keep to adequate levels of tension, or where the levels don’t change, he or she can address the story constituents intervening in that section....more
This sophisticated evaluation tool is appropriate for stories with complex plots. It helps the writer visualize the relationship between individual scenes and see the manuscript as a whole.
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