Neal Holtschulte's Writing Blog
Whenever you pose a binary question in your writing... Yes? No? Will they? Won't they? Victory? Or defeat? You have to resolve it one way or another. Looking for a "Yes but" or "No and" solution increases reader interest and can be used to develop character, raise stakes, and set up future conflict. https://youtu.be/xwg1ubFwcJw Writers:… Continue reading Spice up conflict with “Yes, but” or “No, and”
An interesting technique for expressing character voice in fiction.
TLDR: Writers can keep readers engaged by looking for MICE: settings that need restored, questions that need answered, character desires that need resolved, and problems that need fixed. ...but first I digress. I read Ender's Game at a formative age and loved it. I read the sequels and felt bored and disappointed so I was… Continue reading MICE Quotient
TLDR: Revision (and small scale editing) is a process of expansion/embellishment and compression/cutting. The last two weeks I've talked about the Snowflake Method, essentially addressing high level planning and revision, but suppose you have written your story, ironed out logical inconsistencies, and your characters' motivations are clear. In that case it's time for the nitty… Continue reading Expansion and Compression
TLDR: Accepting imperfection doesn't mean abandoning the goal of perfection. I've finished step 8 of the Snowflake Method. The ending was a big challenge. I rewrote the outline of the ending multiple times, trying on different mixtures of events and characters to see what produced the most drama. After that I looked at what I… Continue reading Snowflake Method 2
Haste Writing 