Tag Archives: writing series

Technique, News & Contests

What series would you like to see next?

I love doing series on writing craft and techniques. This year, I’ve done a series on the secret sauce of writing that I feel took my writing to a publishable level, and a guest series on things other authors feel are part of their secret sauce that we’ve just begun. Secret Sauce Part II will probably run through the rest of the summer (and I’m still taking guest posts if you’d like to share some of your secret sauce!), but after that I have several ideas for the next series.

What topic would you like to see covered next?

Be sure to check the free writing guides page or the list below to make sure I haven’t already covered a topic before you suggest it!

Other previous series (now available as PDF writing guides!)

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Technique

Power in Settings mini-series now in PDF!

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We’re digging into the Secret Sauce writing series next week, but first, I wanted to share an oldie but a goodie. I was digging through my old series and found one I didn’t even remember: Power in settings.

settings coverFrom the (all new) introduction:

Whether your work is a locked room mystery, a small town drama or an epic fantasy, your setting plays a key role in your story. Your setting can set the emotional tone, add conflict and increase the tension of your work.

On the other hand, we’ve all read books bogged down with barrels of description, that somehow still doesn’t help us visualize the scene or the milieu.

Using setting effectively isn’t about purple prose or even pretty writing. It’s about making an impact on your reader: drawing them into the story, helping them see the characterization and mood, and keeping them reading.

In this short series on power in settings, we look at the different ways in which setting can apply to our stories, and things to contemplate as we incorporate the setting.

With Tension, Suspense & Surprise, I asked for a Tweet, Facebook post or Google+ post in return for the PDF. But since this series is on the short side, there are no hoops at all. (I would still appreciate you sharing the news about the Power in Settings PDF, of course!)

Ready?

Click here for the Writers’ Quick Guide to Power in Settings!

Picture by Lauren

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Technique

Stock conflicts to make your conflicts richer

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I’ve seen this technique a few times on television shows, and I’d love to think about how to apply it in my fiction.

My kids love the cartoon Phineas and Ferb. The main characters’ older sister, Candace, always tries to get her brothers in trouble for their crazy inventions. She is also 15 and majorly boy crazy, especially for a boy named Jeremy.

Whenever the writers need Candace to do something or go somewhere that she might not otherwise, all they have to do is bring Jeremy into it, even indirectly. Whether she’s shopping for a gift for him, trying to impress him or going to see him, he’s one sure way to motivate Candace.

Jeremy is also great for her internal conflict. She often has to choose between her two biggest goals—be with Jeremy or bust her brothers.

Another example I’ve noticed recently is in Psych. Shawn runs a psychic detective agency with help from his best friend, Gus. However, Gus has another full time job: he’s a pharmaceutical sales rep. His car—the only transportation they have—is a company car (which is comical in its own right). Gus’s job and using the company car are both stock conflicts in the series. If the writers need to add more conflict in the scene or between the main character and his best friend, Gus’s job is their go-to choice (and girls, when they’re both single).

Naturally, in a series (book or TV), you have more opportunities to develop and use these stock conflicts, but I think they can be useful in standalone novels—as long as you keep the conflict fresh.

What do you think? How have you used “stock conflicts” in your work?

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News & Contests

What series would you like to see next?

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I have a couple ideas for writing series competing in my thoughts right now, so I thought I’d turn it over to you: what series would you like to see next?

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Technique

Let’s get emotional

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This entry is part 2 of 14 in the series Emotion: it's tough

Remember the Romance Blogfest coming up on February 14, just one week away!

It’s time for another series! I’ve been pondering this one for a long time because emotion is vital to fiction. And what more emotional month is there than this one? Love, hope, disappointment, despair—and that’s just on Valentine’s Day! 😉

We know that most readers read for an experience. New circumstances and exotic settings do give our readers an experience. But to truly immerse them in our characters stories, we need emotion.

But, just like in real life, emotion in fiction is tough. It requires just the right touch to know when and how to put it in, a fine balance to know when to leave it out, creativity to avoid clichés and reaching deep within ourselves for authenticity—possibly even exposing some of our hidden inner lives to the entire world.

It’s easy to rely on clichés, to tell what the character’s emotion is, to underwrite to the point of apparent sociopathy or overwrite to the point of purple prose. But easy writing is seldom powerful writing, and seldom powerful reading. To really reach (and hook!) our readers, we have to get to their emotions. So this month, look for posts on effectively creating characters’ emotions!

Got something you want to say about writing emotion? Guest post! Email me at jordan (at) jordanmccollum dot com for the full guidelines—but I do have limited slots, so hurry!

Photo by Peter Dutton

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Technique

Dialogue series?

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A while back I took a class on dialogue. While the instructor did give feedback on the dialogue itself in our assignments, it seemed like the things we were really learning wasn’t how to write actual dialogue, but how to paragraph (which is apparently all science, no art) and incorporate everything that’s not dialogue into a conversation. Useful skills, yes, but not what I expected from a class about dialogue. Oddly enough, I kind of thought things would focus more on what goes inside the quotation marks.

I know a lot of people already consider dialogue one of their strengths. But even if it’s one of your best skills (as I consider it to be), we can always learn more (as I am even now).

We could look at the basics of creating realistic and readable dialogue, more intermediate things like skipping the boring parts, and advanced techniques like “indirect” dialogue. And naturally, since I know so many of you guys are good at dialogue, I’d love to have guest posts with your favorite lessons, tips and techniques.

What do you think? Would you like a series on dialogue? Maybe an “advanced” series?

Photo by Peter Patau

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News & Contests

Upcoming series: Backstory

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I’m planning my next series (starting next Monday!), and once again, I need your help. I need your questions, musings and and topics.

What do you want to know about backstory? What it is? How to tell it from the “real” story? How to work it in? Whether you need it?

As always, guest bloggers are welcome (check out my guest blogging guidelines here, but of course, the topic will be different this time around—you know, backstory?).

What do you want to know (or write!) about backstory?

Photo credits: question—Svilen Mushkatov

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Uncategorized

What would you like to see next?

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Lately we’ve had some fun series all about verbs and creating sympathetic characters. The series on creating sympathetic characters will wrap up next week (unless you have some specific questions or topics you’d still like covered in that area).

I have a couple of ideas on where to go next—but I’d love to get your feedback, so we can discuss what you’re most interested in. So, the topics I’m thinking of covering next are:

  • How to use and not abuse (or confuse!) commas,
  • Editing techniques to make sure every scene moves your story forward, or
  • How to critique others’ work (and possibly how to find/establish a critique group)

So if you have a preference among those three, or any other ideas, let your voice be heard!

Photo credit: Svilen Mushkatov

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