Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Links of Interest


CREATING A MEMORABLE VILLAIN:



WORLDBUILDING, MAPS AND MYTHS:



FACEBOOK CHANGES AUTHORS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT:



ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH TO SELF-PUB?



FIVE WAYS TO USE IRONY IN YOUR WRITNG:



TIPS FOR MARKETING YOUR BOOK:



FIVE APPS TO HELP YOU COPY EDIT YOUR BOOK:



HOW TO USE DIALOGUE ATTRIBUTIONS:



FORESHADOWING:



FINDING AND AVOIDING CLICHES IN YOUR WORK:



WRITING ACTION SCENES:



AVOIDING THE MUDDY MIDDLE OF THE PLOT:



BLOG PROMO TIPS:



WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN MEDIA CONTACTS YOU:



WHAT TO DO WHEN THE BOOK YOU ARE WORKING ON IS NO LONGER “FUN:”



INFAMOUS PUBLISHAMERICA HAS CHANGED ITS NAMES BUT NOT ITS TACTICS:



MAKING YOUR SETTING MATTER:



CREATING CLIFFHANGERS:



Monday, January 27, 2014

The Woman as Warrior


Xena and her movie and TV sisters have a lot to answer for in action/adventure scenes. Some writers see these women as realistic female fighters, and they aren’t even remotely realistic either as women or human beings in fighting methods, stamina, and strength.

Maybe your warrior princess or action babe in leather and overpriced stilettos is as tough as any man, but she will have certain physical limitations. Use those limitations to be creative in fight scenes.

The strongest woman is rarely as strong as the strongest man, but she may be faster, smarter, or more supple, or she may be trained in combat when he isn’t. Use her realistic strengths rather than using unrealistic strengths.

Many women are pragmatists, as well. The rule that both parties must use the same weapons for the fight to be “fair” has nothing to do with reality, and pragmatists know this. If a huge man with a knife charges toward your action babe, she should shoot him and not feel bad about it later.

Years ago, I had a chat with a world-class weapons and combat expert about fighting. I asked him who was the most dangerous opponent in a fight.

His answer-- “In a bar fight most men will keep fighting until they go down. Later, they’ll get up, and we might have a beer together. A small man doesn’t do that.

“To him, it’s not a fight, it’s survival. He’s fighting to kill because he knows he might not survive otherwise. If he goes down, he doesn’t stay down. He comes right back up and keeps fighting until he takes you down.

“He’ll use any weapon he can find to kill you, too.

“Never pick a fight with a small man.”

Think of that attitude when you write a woman fighter.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Links of Interest


HOW SETTING CAN AFFECT YOUR CHARACTERS:



CREATING FIGHT SCENES, THE PROCESS (A REALLY NICE ARTICLE):



WORLDBUILDING, ALCHEMY, SCIENCE OR MAGIC?:



WORLDBUILDING, UPDATING ESTABLISHED MAGIC SYSTEMS:



THE MOST PROFITABLE PRICE FOR EBOOKS, A STUDY:



FORENSICS, DEAD BODIES:



HOW TO DO SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:



TIPS FOR FIRST-TIME NOVELISTS:



SURVEY ON HOW MUCH SELF-PUBBED, TRADITONALLY PUBLISHED, AND HYBRID AUTHORS MAKE:



NAMING YOUR CHARACTERS:



EMOTIONAL RESONANCE:



WRITING THE BACK COVER BLURB:



HOW TO TURN A PLOT CLICHE AROUND:



CREATING GREAT DIALOGUE:



WHAT YOUR READER AND CHARACTERS SHOULD GAIN FROM A BATTLE SCENE:



HOW NOT TO USE TWITTER:



Monday, January 20, 2014

Love and Action Scenes


In a recent blog, I discussed how sexual attraction can detract from an action scene--a person facing an enemy is more likely to die if they are thinking about sex with their romantic and fighting partner so such thoughts in fiction makes the scene unrealistic, and the pace of the action scene is also ruined by the constant interruptions.

Long declarations and discussions of love or long introspective moments when a character is fighting are no more appropriate, but, surprisingly, the emotion of love isn’t such an interruption if used correctly as motivation. Love, particularly a love that makes the lover’s life more important than his own, will make a character do unexpected things in a fight. 

She may be so busy keeping an eye on her lover that she isn’t protecting herself well enough. He may be so concerned about keeping her safe that he doesn’t trust her to fight as she is capable of doing and interferes disastrously in her fight.

Love as a motivation in battle can make the strong weaker, and the weak stronger. It can be the Achilles heel of a powerful fighter if the enemy recognizes it.

A life-threatening moment can also be a revelation for a character. He may not have realized the intensity of his feelings for the woman until her life stands in balance. 

She may know how she feels, but never said anything until the fight is over, and they cling to each other after nearly dying, then she blurts out her feelings without meaning to. 

Love is the most powerful motivation in the world, and using the characters’ feelings for each other can make an action scene even more powerful.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Links of Interest


WHY FIRST CHAPTERS MUST GRAB THE READER:



REJECTION LETTERS RECEIVED BY BESTSELLING AUTHORS:



WHEN THE PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU WANT YOU TO STOP WRITING:



CURING THE CARDBOARD VILLAIN:



WRITING AN EFFECTIVE SYNOPSIS:



WRITING CHASES AND ESCAPES:



THE ROLE OF THE RIGHTS DEPARTMENT IN A PUBLISHING HOUSE:



POINT OF VIEW:



DO YOU OWN YOUR COPYRIGHT, LEGAL ANALYSIS:



SCRIBD’S NEW EBOOK SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE AND EBOOK PIRACY (A GOOD EXPLANATION OF AUTHORS’ ROYALTIES FOR SERVICE):



TIME TRAVEL THAT ISN’T TIME TRAVEL, NARRATIVE TECHNIQUES:



EDITNG TIPS:



FORMATTING AND UPLOADING TO KINDLE, CREATESPACE, ETC.:



MAXIMIZING CONFLICT:



MARKET LISTINGS, NOVEL AND SHORT STORY:



MAKING SIMILAR SCENES DIFFERENT:



CREATING THE MOOD IN OUR STORIES:



THE PLOT TWIST:



CREATING THE CONCEPT OF YOUR NOVEL:



SIX WRITNG LESSONS FROM HITCHCOCK’S REAR WINDOW



Monday, January 13, 2014

Sex and Action Scenes


Recently, I read a paranormal novel about a romantic couple fighting demons. During the action scenes, they were so busy fantasizing about the other’s crotch that I wondered at the brains and survival skills of these people. In the real world, a fighter who is busy thinking about sex before and during a fight is a dead fighter.

The pace was also ruined because the constant sexual elements, and sexual introspection distracted from the peril.

Brief bits of body language--a touch, a smile, or caress, as well as brief snippets of romantic dialogue can keep the sexual tension and caring evident without bringing the story to a dead halt.

Wait until a lull in the fighting to put your couple in a safe hiding place where they can repair their wounds and chase each other around the bed.

The important thing to remember is that even in a romantic story, sex shouldn’t be paramount in action scenes, but after the battle is won, all that extra adrenaline is a nice appetizer to sex.