This week was interesting. A reader on Bookcountry eviscerated "Rise of the Paramancers", and I think it might've helped. He clued me in to the Bingham model of fiction, which advocates a tight point of view character and heavy emphasis on action.
"Show don't tell" is nothing new as a principle, but it is one of those ideas you have to keep reminding yourself of. I'm starting to realize my early drafts are written for me, so I can understand my own insanity. My later drafts should just be the characters playing on the page.
The Bingham model runs on scene and sequel. A scene consists of goal (pov character wants something) conflict (pov char fights for it) and disaster (pov char is thwarted or they win but the win complicates matters). A sequel consists of reaction (we get in pov char's head for an emotional inventory) dilemma (they face lousy options) and decision (they decide which lousy road to walk). Scenes are long and action-based. Sequels are short and thought-based.
If you're going to do back story or direct narrative, that's supposed to happen very quickly during the reaction portion of sequel.
It does keep a narrative flowing. I was able to take my 22 page first chapter section and slice it to 12. I'd love your thoughts on it at bookcountry.com. Here is the link: http://www.bookcountry.com/Books/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=142640
So I'm trying to trust my reader more. It isn't a new lesson, but rather one of those you have to re-learn every now and then.
Jesse is still under review with Bold Strokes. Publishing links below:
To buy the 2013 Saints and Sinners anthology, featuring "Mountainview", click below.
http://www.amazon.com/Saints-Sinners-Fiction-From-Festival/dp/1626390304/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370199594&sr=8-2&keywords=saints+and+sinners+2013+new+fiction+from+the+festival
"The Camp Seminole Weiner Wall", 2012 Best of the Net nominee, free to read
"Show don't tell" is nothing new as a principle, but it is one of those ideas you have to keep reminding yourself of. I'm starting to realize my early drafts are written for me, so I can understand my own insanity. My later drafts should just be the characters playing on the page.
The Bingham model runs on scene and sequel. A scene consists of goal (pov character wants something) conflict (pov char fights for it) and disaster (pov char is thwarted or they win but the win complicates matters). A sequel consists of reaction (we get in pov char's head for an emotional inventory) dilemma (they face lousy options) and decision (they decide which lousy road to walk). Scenes are long and action-based. Sequels are short and thought-based.
If you're going to do back story or direct narrative, that's supposed to happen very quickly during the reaction portion of sequel.
It does keep a narrative flowing. I was able to take my 22 page first chapter section and slice it to 12. I'd love your thoughts on it at bookcountry.com. Here is the link: http://www.bookcountry.com/Books/BookDetails.aspx?bookId=142640
So I'm trying to trust my reader more. It isn't a new lesson, but rather one of those you have to re-learn every now and then.
Jesse is still under review with Bold Strokes. Publishing links below:
To buy the 2013 Saints and Sinners anthology, featuring "Mountainview", click below.
http://www.amazon.com/Saints-Sinners-Fiction-From-Festival/dp/1626390304/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370199594&sr=8-2&keywords=saints+and+sinners+2013+new+fiction+from+the+festival
"The Camp Seminole Weiner Wall", 2012 Best of the Net nominee, free to read
"The Gay Bomb", my first publication ever and it's free to read
The Amazon link to buy "Saints and Sinners New Fiction from the Festival 2012" featuring "Divine Hand"
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Saints+and+sinners+2012+new+fiction+from+the+festival
I don't agree with scene and sequel. I have read to many books where they have a summary of what i just read with nothing new. missing the opportunity to expand the character , the world or add anything, sometimes its better to skip the second scene in favor of the repercussions of the action sequence which doesn't necessarily have to be short or thought based.
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