Comments on: How to Fix a Flat (Novel Scene) in Three Easy Steps

By: Dramatic Scenes and Dramatic Irony: Eight Easy Fixes - Surly Muse

Dramatic Scenes and Dramatic Irony: Eight Easy Fixes - Surly Muse — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 21:42:04 +0000

[...] How to Fix a Flat (Novel Scene) in Three Easy Steps(beyondthemargins.com) [...]

By: Julie Wu

Julie Wu — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:13:32 +0000

Chris, I’m going to have to start a new series based on Marge. Glad she gave you that needed shot-in-the-arm. Best of luck with your work, and do keep going!

By: Julie Wu

Julie Wu — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 04:10:04 +0000

Thanks, Di E.E.! I’m so glad this post was useful to you. A lot of interesting questions you raise there. I don’t have a writing degree myself, so I can’t speak for the programs out there. My writing education consists of a handful of workshops, shelves-full of writing craft books, many excellent and not so excellent novels by other people, boatloads of drafts of my own novel, and comments by agents and editors. My first writing instructor, Tony Ardizzone at Indiana University, taught us that a protagonist has to generate his/her own plot through action, and that being roadkill does nothing for your story. I always keep that principle in mind, but it certainly is easier to understand than to put into practice, and it’s difficult to sustain through a novel. One of the reasons I wrote this post and the last (How to Write a Great Novel Scene) is that I wish I someone had explained these mechanics to me a few years ago. I hope they save some people some time. And no, I don’t think there’s any need to go solo. It can be helpful to discuss your plot with other writers, either over cosmos or over the internet. Even if you don’t want to take their suggestions, their questions will force you to take a hard look at your story construction.

By: Andi Pearson

Andi Pearson — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 21:46:22 +0000

I’m with Chris – I’d pay good money to read more of that plot! And this action/conflict-to-move-the-story-along is exactly what I am working on today. Fortunately, I have articles like this and Lighthouse Writers here in Denver to give me the necessary shot (not with the gun!) in the arm to keep working and creating.

By: Di Eats the Elephant

Di Eats the Elephant — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:48:11 +0000

Excellent, and just what I needed, tho I expressed my problem with my story to my critique group as: “I think this scene needs something, maybe a bomb to come flying through the window.” To which one writer replied, “Please don’t do that.” And that is the duck that flies over the first scene that she shoots. You have so well – and helpfully – put what it is that the scene needs. In that novel, and in a few short stories, where I have not worked on my characters’ arcs, and I have not added to the story (other than give insight to the character.) Is there a class that teaches one to develop this skill, or is it all a matter of trial-and-error in one’s backyard, learned through the school or hard knocks? I have a BA in Creative Writing but feel it taught me next to nothing (it’s fairly old and was not taught by a fiction writer and I didn’t know what I was doing when I chose that program at that location, thinking naively that all degrees were created equally…this was back in the late 70s). Do they teach this in newer or better programs today? Or do you find out on your own or die on the vine (fail the program)? Being able to write does not help one through these flats. I know pulling out these threads and restitching is a hard and tedious task, but it seems this part could be so much fun as part of a brainstorming session over cosmos, margaritas, wine or jello-shots. Why is this something done only solo? Or is it?