Quick matching game to get us started today. Match the NY Times Bestselling authors below with their best sparkle tip:
1) Suzanne Brockman
2) James Patterson
3) Nora Roberts
a) write each chapter as if it's your first
b) write dialogue heavy in the first draft, with minimal stage direction, to ensure pacing and characters will be just right.
c) for deep point of view, write scenes initially in first person.
Too easy? Maybe. Here's some more sparkle from Sophia Nash and Kathryn Caskie's Tricks of the Trade: Insider Secrets to Getting Published workshop, in which they asked over twenty five bestselling authors what it takes to get published, write a bestseller and stay published:
When writing romance, it's important to give the love story a life or death depth all the way through. Strive to capture a little of the desperation we all felt when we first fell in love.
Don't underestimate the importance of the reveal. Be sure to give the reader hints along the way, but craft important, plot changing arcs with the most impactful moments of revelation.
Characters emerge best through dialogue. Write dialogue-heavy first drafts and be prepared to cut one third of it in revisions.
Settings cannot be stagnate. Reveal setting only as your character reacts with it.
Answers to matching found in comments section. . .
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4 comments:
Answers to matching game:
1)c
2)a
3)b
What's your best "insider secret"?
This is cool. What a great way to get folks to comment. Love it.
Um, best insider secret -- write without looking down.
Great entry. As one who is struggling to get the sparkle just right, this was a great tip!
I like the tip about writing dialogue-heavy first drafts, and then cutting. Actually, all three tips are good but that's the one that speaks to me. Best insider secret? Write the first draft without looking back, without editing, and without judging plot, pace, etc. That can all come later.
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