When I took a graduate class called “Writing the Novel” a few years ago, I learned two very important things. First, if you tell a writer that her work in progress is a romance novel when she thinks she’s writing literary fiction, be prepared to see a chair fly across the room. Second, there’s something…
The purpose of this is not to educate you or any other writer. I don’t pretend to know things that you don’t because I’m actually hoping for the opposite – in that I am detailing this process in case someone knows more than me, has accomplished these things already, and can help me avoid the…
Either late in high school or early in college, I was ordered to read The Great Gatsby. I regarded it as the most boring thing I had ever picked up. However, roughly 20 years later, I decided that it may have been me who was boring, so I decided – through the recommendation of others…
Roughly a year ago, I posted 18 chapters and about 50,000 words and thought I had a really good story about two people in a plane crash. Not so. Over the past two months I revised those same 18 chapters and, with the help of some great people, I now have 25 chapters, 75,000 words,…
Warning you now – this is a loooong chapter, slightly over 4,100 words. I think I can break it into two chapters, but it is begging me to leave it as one. I will put a mark where I think it can be broken. Question 1 addresses that. Thanks again to those of you sticking…
My continued thanks for coming back again. This chapter is one that is supposed to give the story some direction. I don’t know if that’s clear, or if that is clear enough. I hope it works for you. If not, I know that you will let me know. What I don’t know is if it…
A previous reader said that the next two chapters, 5 and 6, might need to be reversed. Some opinions are that by chapter 5 a book needs to clarify a conflict, to set the direction for the rest of the story. As it is written now, that happens in chapter 6. Chapter 5 is…
My continued and unending thanks to those who are helping. FYI – I’ve gone back to the first chapter, made some changes, and set the text in red in case you want to glance through to see what was changed or added. I will also do that for other chapters as I revise using your…
Chapter 3 Chris and Ann sat side by side at a wooden picnic table several yards from a small parking lot aside a two-lane road into the state park. The road was jammed with cars that hadn’t moved during all the time they had been there because it was too narrow to handle as much…
My thanks very much to those who carefully read and commented on chapter 1. You are some very generous people with your time. I know there are lots of other things you could be doing or reading, and it’s flattering and humbling that you’d choose to read here. To clear up a few things –…
brainsnorts inc. 