When writing fiction, I struggle to envision precisely how I want to execute some scenes, and 'winging it' just gives me a product to discard, not revise. How can I maintain writing inertia when my imagination falls short of the goals I have for my story?
It sounds like you need to exercise your imagination a bit. Any novel is a written record of the author's imagination. There are exercises for writers, writing short prose in response to a prompt, improvisation games that expand your ability to think and imagine quickly.The first thing I would encourage you to do is to find a writing group in your area that uses the AWA (Amherst Writers and Artists) method for writing and feedback. Find their page here www.amherstwriters.comIn my main group, we write for a half hour, then read our pieces and give positive, supportive feedback. In that time, I can write anywhere from 500 - 1200 words in a short short story with beginning, middle, and end. Done weekly, that is enough for two or three publishable collections in a year.Second thing: there are two books I recommend to new authors who have a hard time creating characters and drama. The first is Constantin Stanislavski's "Building a Character." This is one half of my core writing library. I discovered the book when doing comedy and dramatic improv on stage. The second book is Keith Johnstone's "Impro." This book was read so many times that it fell apart on me. I now have three copies on my shelf behind my desk in the writing room. Read it, inhale it, live it, and practice.This sounds like work, doesn't it? Well, writing is work. It doesn't have to be painful work. It can be fun and inspirational and therapeutic, but it is work. If you want to be good, work at it.Thanks for asking.Kevin Cookewww.mainlyprompts.com
What do you struggle with most when writing books?
“What do you struggle with most when writing books?”Sex Scenes.I’m a creative lover, but writing sex scenes is incredibly challenging - I don’t want to turn a suspense fiction novel into ‘porn’, but it feels like a cheat to write a graphic violent scene and gloss over a sex scene. So most of the sex scenes in my suspense fiction are ‘fade to black’, although I will often describe the foreplay, whether it’s physical or verbal or psychological. Just like a fight scene should not be about the mechanics of people hitting or shooting each other, a sex scene shouldn’t just be about this part entering into that orifice, but about the experience and the involvement of the senses.My wife challenged me to write erotica.She’d seen the Fifty Shades movie, like it, and asked me about the books. I tried reading those books, but I got annoyed at having to experience the events through the eyes of Anal Steele and her cheerleading Inner Goddess, so I told her not even to bother reading them. Especially because she wanted to read some BDSM-related erotica and Fifty Shades is closer to domestic abuse than to consensual sexual roleplaying.My wife hasn’t read my suspense fiction, but she knows the quality of my writing is supposed to be quite good (based on enthusiastic fan mail and positive reviews my work gets), so she challenged me to write an erotic BDSM-related story.I didn’t want to write a Fifty Shades-story. There are already too many clones about and, frankly, I detest the Billionaire Falls for Insipid Girl storyline. So I wrote Just Enough Rope, about an aspiring journalist who gets dragged by her aspiring photographer girlfriend to the boonies to interview a potter/sculptor. Since I enjoy suspense, I added suspense to the erotica, so it became an erotic suspense novel.My wife loved Just Enough Rope, and I’m working on the sequel Limelight, but I’m hesitant to publish the books because I don’t want to be viewed as a smut peddler, even if I publish it under M.V. Halm instead of Martyn V. Halm.Not to mention that my betas for the Amsterdam Assassin Series are not erotica readers, so I have to find new beta-readers who enjoy reading about protagonists getting tied up and mindfucked, and provide me with usable feedback to improve the books before they get published.
How can I write a realistic stabbing scene?
Actually, the blood would gush out like in a horror movie. The artery in the neck can spurt out stream of blood at least 5 meter long, and gush out a few liters of blood in a minute, all thanks to the powerful heart. Depend how deep the cut is, if the cut is through the voice cord, there would be no noise made by the victim, just blood got shot up through the throat and exit through the mouth. The victim will die either instantly due to shock of pain or 1-3 minutes for the brain to die because lack of oxygen(that is why sometime in movies the characters held up to their neck before they die).
How do you write a sad scene in a story?
It's all about the setup. In order for it to be sad, your readers have to care for your characters. You can't jump in with a sad scene right off the bat: you have to make people care that your characters are sad. Then, it's just a matter of letting the scene unfold at the right pace. Often, beginning writers struggle with making sad scenes overly dramatic. The goal isn't to accurately depict the anguish or the pain that your characters are feeling. The goal is to make your READER feel those things, and that sometimes means insinuating feelings, rather than going into huge descriptions about the feelings. It's about describing the situation, and the feelings end up being a side-effect of that situation. The best thing you can do is think of a scene that you thought was sad, in a book. Reread it as a writer. What kind of words is the author using? How is he/she describing the feelings? How much description is there of the scene itself, of the character's actions, of dialogue? Picking apart stories that are written well is often the best way to guide yourself when writing your own work. Best of luck!
I am preparing for the AP exam and i need help with anazlying this piece of writing:?
When he is leaving, it brings to mind that he may be dying as he is old and is suddenly aware of his surroundings. Perhaps he sees them as useless articles of materialism, stuff he should have thrown away years ago, but in his arrogance kept. He could be seeing his life in those pieces of trash, realizing that he has lived in vain, or that his life means nothing. He may also be frugal, or trying to hold on to his past, "junk and trash an old man saves", as many older people do. Adjectives: swept unevenly, red sand (symbolic of blood?), boxes spilled (a fight?), junk and trash. Is it possible that the old man has just been murdered and as he makes his way up to Heaven, he is struck by the scene, the red of the floor and the mess he has made in his struggle? I think the old man is tired and ready to give his soul up to Oblivion. I think this scene is just after the death blow is dealt and he is reflecting on his life. However, I don't know if this is the whole piece, or if this is all you're given. Much Luck!!! ~~Naomi