Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Craft of Writing Archives

 

The craft of rewriting-Analysis-Prologue    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: September 06, 2012


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.

When revising a prologue, we have to ask a few key questions: ...more


The craft of rewriting-Analysis    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: September 05, 2012


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.
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The craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Beta Readers-Etiquette    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: September 04, 2012

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 craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Beta Readers-Online Groups    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: September 03, 2012


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.
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The craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Beta Readers-Face-to-face Groups    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: September 02, 2012


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
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The craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Beta Readers-Spelling    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: September 01, 2012


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.
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The craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Beta Readers    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: August 31, 2012


What are they, and why do we need “beta readers?”

A beta reader is someone who reads our book when it’s almost polished. After we’ve edited it to the point that we can no longer improve it, we find a group of people willing to give it a read....more


The craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Tension    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: August 30, 2012


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.
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The craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Gestalt View-Diagram    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: August 29, 2012

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


The craft of rewriting-Revision-Self Editing-Gestalt View    By OFW chief editor: Carlos J Cortes And Renée Miller    Publish Date: August 28, 2012


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.

Gestalt. Noun. A configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that they...more


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