Fiction Writing

Let’s take a moment to saygoodbye to reality. This is fiction writing, after all!

FRAME OF MIND

• Non-fiction conveys information• Fiction evokes emotion

Fiction mustAROUSE

the reader.

In a novel, give yourself permission to…

• Have no filter• Say things you wouldn’t normally say• Leave timidity behind• Hurt feelings

You have to be true to your character and your story.

• What ifs• Titles• Occupations• Self• Issues• Newspaper and Magazine articles• Research

IDEAS

STRUCTURE

• The three components of fiction are:– Description– Narrative Summary– Immediate Scene

A good story is life, with all the dull parts taken out. -- Alfred Hitchcock

Description• A depiction of a locale or person.

It’s used to fashion a visual image

Narrative Summary• The recounting of what happens

offstage, out of the reader’s sight and hearing. It is a scene that is told rather than shown.– (Show don’t tell? This is the tell)

Immediate Scene• This happens in front of the reader.

It’s visible and therefore filmable. That’s an important test. If you can’t film a scene, it is not immediate.–(Show don’t tell? This is the show.)

The Three Act Structure

• Or, to better understand it, think of it like this:– Situation– Complication– Resolution

First Act/Situation

• Setting• Time• Tone• The reason the character should care enough

to get to the second act.– What is his passion? What is his obsession?

Grab the Reader’s Attention!

• Jump into the action and develop the character later

• Show the most interesting side of your character

• Use a prologue

Before the Second Act, you must…

Introduce the problem!– Is it a person?– A circumstance?– A situation?– A setting?Every Hero

Needs a Challenge!

Second Act/Complication

• Life and Death• Professional Duty• Moral Duty• Obsession• Location• Physical condition

Third Act/Resolution

• Your first chapter sells your book. Your last chapter sells your next book. --Mickey Spillane

In a mystery novel the solution, presented by the detective, is a surprise but, on reflection, totally logical and prepared for. If the author were to produce a ragged stranger who has never appeared in the story before as the culprit, he would get angry faxes from his

readers. The ending should be surprising but inevitable. – Oakley Hall, How Fiction Works

SCENES

EACH SCENE IN YOUR BOOK MUST HAVE A PURPOSE

Setting up actionDeveloping a character

Delivering information

Dropping clues for the reader

MAKE EVERY SCENEWORK DOUBLE TIME FOR YOU!

The TrapsInformation

&Description

The OUTER

&

The INNER

Purpose of the Scene

• Establish viewpoints• Move story using action• Characterize through reaction• Set up more scenes

Action Scenes

ObjectiveObstacleOutcome

Reaction Scenes

EmotionAnalysisDecision

Helpful Prompts

• A mysterious line of dialogue• A secret suddenly revealed• A major decision or vow• A reversal or surprise• A question left hanging in the air

Plot and StructureJames Scott Bell

HookIntensityPrompt

THE WRITING PROCESS

• Show Don’t Tell• Watch Your Adjectives• Watch Your Adverbs• Use The Senses• Focus on Power Verbs• Use Metaphors and Similes• Watch the Passive Voice• Watch the overuse of “would”• Study strong writing

Passive Voice

DIALOGUE

“Dialogue can convey information dramatically, and thus more effectively, than exposition, but dialogue devised purely for that purpose will not sound natural, with characters telling each other what each other already knows, too obviously for the benefit of the reader.” – Oakley Hall

Speech Tags

“If you think you’re getting out of here before Tuesday, forget it,” she grinned.

“I’m leaving on Monday,” he argued“Not before you see the medic,” she counseled.“Well, then Tuesday,” he conceded.

Speech tags cause weak, repetitive writing.

Rules for Dialogue

• Be brief• Add to what the reader knows• Trim off routine exchanges of conversation• Convey spontaneity• Propel the story forward• Reveal character• Show relationships

• Be rich in subtext• Avoid using falsely• It’s at its best when confrontational• Make it fit the character• Must be essential to the story• Silence is powerful• Use words as weapons

POINT OF VIEW

• 1st Person• 2nd Person• 3rd Person Panoramic• 3rd Person • 3rd Person Omniscient

Your Character Experiencing the World

• His View is Limited to:– Physical ability to see– Knowledge of what he knows– His backstory

• His View Expands in the Story:– He gains knowledge as the story goes along– He learns new things– He travels

CHARACTERIZATION

• “Sometimes the author is so anxious to delve into the character’s suffering that they forget to give me a reason to wish them free of it.” – Donald Maass

• “Find the secret strength in your main character and it won’t matter whether you are working with a hero or an anti-hero. Your readers will bond with both.” – Donald Maass

• “Find in your real human being what is strong and your strong human being what is real.” – Donald Maass

YES! More Maass Quotes!

• “Stereotypes have no impact. They fail to engage us because we don’t believe in them.” – Donald Maass

• “An aura of greatness comes foremost not from who a given character may be, but from the profound impact that character has on others.” – Donald Maass

• “The effect of one character upon another is as particular as the characters themselves.” – Donald Maass

GIVE YOUR CHARACTER

AN OPINION!!

The Passive Character

• Make sure your character acts more than he is acted upon.

• From Revision and Self Editing by James Scott Bell: – Grit– Wit– It

Beyond Physical Description

• Gestures• Mannerisms• Tastes and Interests• Cultural influence• Contradictions• Transportation• Eating Habits

The Character Arc

• Establish who they are in the beginning• Give them a doorway to which they must

travel (usually reluctantly)• Challenge them in major and minor ways• Give them an epiphany, the aha moment

When to use THOUGHTS

• Moments of great emotional intensity• Crucial turning point scenes• Beats where the character must analyze a situation• Challenges that cause the character to reflect on

herself• Impressions upon meeting another character or

arriving at a location• Scenes where the character is alone and reacting

to action that just happened

Ways to Bond the Readerand the Character

• Jeopardy• Hardship• Underdog• Vulnerability• Likability• Inner Conflict

Oakley Hall’s First Aid for Character

• A physical presence—a footprint in the damp grass

• Sensory perceptions• Review dialogue• Motivations and Compulsions

PLOT

OAKLEY HALL’S FOUR MAIN CHARACTER DRIVEN PLOTS:

• The Maturing Plot• The Reformation Plot• The Test Plot• The Degeneration Plot

PLOT DRIVEN SCENARIOSfrom Plot and Structure

• The Quest• Revenge• Love• Adventure• The Chase• One Against• One Apart• Power

Plot & The Three Acts

• Act One– Who, where, what?– Tone– Attach the reader– Introduce the Opposition

• Act Two– Conflict, conflict, conflict– One step forward, two steps back– Set ups– Foreshadowing

• Act Three– Wrap it all up– What does the story mean?– What’s the take away?

In other words…

• 1) Establish his ordinary world• 2) Disturb that world• 3) Make him go into a new world• 4) Build to the climax

First Aid for Plots

• Plot is character in predicament• The protagonist should be initiator of action

rather than a victim of it• Flashbacks should be immediate and action

oriented• Protagonist must have a compulsion• What is at stake?• Is the ending inevitable yet surprising