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Karen’s Fiction Korner

Karen Newcomb

Tips for fiction writers. Reprinted from November 2006

What elements do you need in a story outline?

a. A focal character.

b. A situation in which this character is involved.

c. An objective that the Character wants to obtain.

d. An opponent who strives against the Character.

e. A climactic disaster on which to hinge the resolution.

Write with feeling. Feeling is the place every story starts.

The physical story starts the day something is different for the main character. There is always a problem and a goal to reach from page one.

The actual story starts when the main Character takes on the problem.

Write with description (but don’t go on and on forever). Let the reader experience the story as vividly as if they were living it. Use the senses as common denominators of human experience. Put these senses in terms of action and movement.

Use picture words. Use active verbs, verbs that show something happening. Work with nouns that are specific, definite and concrete.

Show, don’t tell a story.

Do not use repetition. Rehashing usually occurs during the middle part of a story when the author has run out of necessary information to move the story forward. Often they have the character repeat actions from the beginning of the story. Move on. Change. Add new elements and twists.

Build a story with scenes and sequels. A scene is a unit of time and conflict lived through by the character and the reader. A sequel is a unit of transition that links two scenes.

A scene structure is, goal, conflict, disaster. The sequel is, to translate disaster into goal, to check reality and to control tempo.

Changing viewpoint causes the tension to drop.

Flashbacks stop the forward movement of the story.

Foreshadow your story’s climax. Climax gives the reader the final conclusive proof of what the focal character deserves. Resolution sets forth what he gets.

Next month I’ll continue with the elements of writing.

Keep writing and I’ll see you in print.

Karen

Be sure to check out the Lake Tahoe Writers Conference website. I’m working hard to make it a yearly destination conference.