Episode 89: Edge: Atompunk Critique

Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the beginning of Edge, an as yet unpublished atompunk novel, by Ethan Motter. They discuss the ordinary and special worlds of the story, mysteries and questions, world building, scene and summary, and dialogue tags with similes to reveal emotion. They also talk about the importance of setting writing goals for 2017.

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Show Notes

“It’s a good idea to make the Ordinary World as different as possible from the Special World, so audience and hero will experience a dramatic change when the threshold is finally crossed. In The Wizard of Oz the Ordinary World is depicted in black and white, to make a stunning contrast with the Technicolor Special World of Oz. In the thriller Dead Again, the Ordinary World of modern day is shot in color to contrast with the nightmarish black-and-white Special World of the 1940s flashbacks. City Slickers contrasts the drab, restrictive environment of the city with the more lively arena of the West where most of the story takes place. ”

— Christopher Vogler, The Writer’s Journey

Look for Leslie's post on setting writing goals here.

 

Editorial Mission—Ordinary World

Review your story’s opening for clues about the ordinary world. Keep in mind that just because we use world doesn’t mean you are limited to the setting (consider Pride and Prejudice, for example). Consider what the essence of the change will be once the inciting incident happens. How can you effectively demonstrate the contrast? What specific details will can you reveal that will allow the reader to experience the change?

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Inline Critique

Episode 88: Let's Call This What It Is: Literary Short Story Critique

Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique “Let’s Call This What It Is,” a literary short story by David Austin. They discuss plot- and character-driven stories (and the need for both elements), experimenting with the opening of your story and where to start it, brand names, and reviewing your year.

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Show Notes

“The truth though is that it just doesn’t matter what kind of “What if?” you dream of exploring. The best “plot driven” Stories have compelling protagonists who chase subconscious internal objects of desire while they are also trying to get the President of the United States out of the U.N. before the tidal wave hits. And “character driven” Stories also require compelling quests for conscious external objects of desire, remission from cancer for example, while the lead character struggles with deep subconscious internal objects of desire like the need to attain some kind of meaningfulness before death.”

— Shawn Coyne

Here is a great post from Now Novel with a list of tips that genre or commercial writers can learn from literary writers.

In this post, Nathan Bransford weighs in on what defines literary fiction.

Editorial Mission—Always Learning

It’s easy to keep reading the same type of books, same genres. We can learn a lot from stepping outside our reading comfort zone, however. Innovation is a key, but it’s also gives you a different context to notice different techniques and aspects of story. 

Find a book from a genre you don’t write in and ordinarily don’t read—then read it. You might look for a book that is representative of the genre or an that is a crossover in that it fits squarely within genre fiction but is considered to have literary qualities (for example, books by Ursula K. Le Guin, P.D. James, Colson Whitehead, Orson Scott Card—wild card: listen to the Serial podcast). After you’ve read (or listened to) to your selection, think about what you liked and didn’t and why. Look at what worked and didn’t. Consider what you can learn and apply in your own writing. 

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Inline Critique

Episode 87: Ascendancy: Sword and Sorcery Critique

Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening of Ascendancy, a sword and sorcery novel by A. B. Corley. They discuss transitions between scenes, tweaking dialogue so that the characters are distinguishable, and diction in dialogue.

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Show notes

“Transitions are important in fiction because the writer can’t possibly portray or account for every moment in a character’s day, week, or life. A story may stretch over years—readers don’t need to know what happened every minute of those years.

So, we use scene transitions to skip periods of time or to change to a new location in the story, glossing over events that happen between the new and old times or locations.”

— Beth Hill

 

Editorial Mission—Smooth Transitions

Look at the transitions between scenes to see if you are providing a smooth reading experience. Have you identified the place, the passage of time, and the POV character (if applicable)? If not, find a way to add them to keep your reader oriented in time and space.

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Inline Critique

REWIND Episode & More

 

Description

This week Leslie and Clark are taking a short break from recording, but don't worry—they'll be back soon! In the meantime, the subject of setting has been top of mind at Writership lately, so we're bringing you two great podcast episodes that discuss setting in story.

We're starting with last week's episode from the Story Grid Podcast by Shawn Coyne, author of Story Grid and a top editor for over twenty-five years, and Tim Grahl, struggling writer. Then we're rewinding to episode 78 of our own Writership Podcast to look at another aspect of setting.

Story Grid Podcast episode:
What is the Setting for your Novel?

Shawn Coyne and Tim Grahl discuss what the setting is (exactly) and the four questions you should ask yourself about the world your story inhabits.

The Writership Podcast Episode 78:
Me and My Bacon: YA Critique

One aspect of the setting that is sometimes overlooked is time, including duration. In episode 78, Clark and Leslie explored this this aspect of setting while discussing Ceanmohrlass’s YA novel Me and My Bacon. 

Listen Now

Show notes

“People are almost always aware of time in their daily lives—time of day or month or year; time in relation to a job or task that needs to be completed; time in terms of religious holidays or seasons; stages of life such as infancy or teenage years, school years, years of fertility, and old age; era, such as the Roaring Twenties or Regency England or the frontier years on Mordant Five; or time as it relates to anticipation of either a dreaded or an eagerly anticipated event. Readers stepping into a story world should also step into the time reality and expectations of that world, at least the reality of the major characters. At least of the viewpoint character.”

— Beth Hill

EDITORIAL MISSION - IT'S ABOUT TIME!

Think about the different aspects of time in your story. Consider the setting: the year, time of year, time of day in which your story is set. Is this clear to the reader at the outset? How could you make it more evident without telling? What details could you use? How much time passes over the course of your story? Within individual scenes? Have you conveyed this through your view point character? Track it on a calendar to be sure it all makes sense.

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Inline Critique

Episode 86: Acolyte of Shadow: Fantasy Critique

Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of Acolyte of Shadow, an as yet unpublished fantasy novel by Daniel Kellberg. They discuss dialogue, descriptive beats, pacing, and backstory.

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Show Notes

“Delivering backstory through dialogue is storytelling within a story. Generally, anything longer than three consecutive lines of speech by one character comes off as lecturing, so, even if your character is supposed to be a bore, demonstrate it once then move on. Backstory should be sprinkled, not shoveled. Can you spread out the delivery of the details of backstory for dramatic revelations?

Examine your reasons for telling backstory through dialogue. Why is one character telling so much to another character? Would it be more dramatic and interesting to have the other character discover this information in bits and pieces and then confront the “telling” character for more? Allow the listening character to challenge the teller to break up the lecture.”

— Joni M. Fisher

Editorial Mission—What’s your dialogue doing?

Effective dialogue serves a variety of purposes. You can use it to reveal backstory and other information to the reader (and your characters), but make sure it’s serving other purposes as well. Here are some other things your dialogue might accomplish: 

• Reveal character, goals, motivations
• Demonstrate character’s reactions to one another and story events
• Reveal setting, mood, tone
• Increase tension and conflict
• Advance the plot
• Create a change in the scene with revelation or action
• Increases the pace of the storytelling
• Reveal theme 

Take a scene in your story that is heavy with dialogue, and check each line against this list. Does the dialogue do more than reveal information? If it’s being lazy, try revising or cutting it.

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Inline Critique

Episode 85: "Doing the Work": Contemporary Short Story Critique

Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique “Doing the Work,” an as yet unpublished contemporary short story by Julie Prudhome. They discuss stories that tackle social issues and ways to use them powerfully, brand names, and questions we explore in our writing.

Trigger warning: This submission contains a discussion of child abuse and exploitation.

Listen now

Show notes

“In a moment of despair bred of one too many rejections, a wise friend asked me: Which is more important to you: To do something about climate change, or to be a writer? I didn’t have to pause to think. I am a writer, I said. And instantly, I realized I needed to approach the topic differently—not by trying to move other people to some desired end but by exploring as deeply as I could my own story about being a mother in the dawning age of climate change. This was a story of what it feels like to know that people we love are at risk of something we feel we cannot control. It meant diving deeper to be more honest, more real and more vulnerable.”

— Lisa Bennett

Here’s the post containing the above quote. The author shares how she decided to present a story that explores climate change.

This episode of Writing Excuses, has a great discussion about social issues as elements in stories. 

In the show introduction we mention Scott King's book Ameriguns: A Thriller, which you can find here.

Editorial Mission—What’s Your Question?

Whether we write about social issues or not, there are questions that we tend to explore in our writing. This week, look at your body of work, I mean everything. If you write nonfiction in addition to fiction, include that too. What is the question (or what are the questions) you circle? That is, what questions do you explore in your writing? What fascinates you? You may need to dig a little, but this will help you find out what it is you want to say through your writing. And being aware of that will help you write, revise, market, you name it.

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Inline critique

Episode 84: Women’s Historical Fiction Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of a women’s historical fiction novel submitted by an anonymous author. They discuss tension, conflict, character traits, and description.

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Show Notes

“Tension isn’t an experience of the moment, it’s a partial experience of the moment with a constant focusing of attention on what comes next. Tension depends on the idea of events beyond the section in which the reader actually feels tense.

The constant force that keeps events tense is the reader’s constant awareness of what comes next.”

— Robert Wood

Editorial Mission—Increase the Tension

Below, are several options for increasing the tension in your story. Look for places where you can apply them to keep your reader fully engaged.

• Time pressure
• Characters with opposing goals
• Take away something she’s relying on
• Increase the stakes
• Reveal a twist
• Make it personal
• Conflict waiting to happen/anticipation

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Inline Critique

Episode 83: The Moorpark Horror: Middle Grade Horror Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of The Moorpark Horror, a middle grade horror novel, by Russell Gibbs. They discuss proactive protagonists, making transitions clear, and conflict.

Listen now

 

Show Notes

“The passive protagonist is one who either has no goal–or is making no effort to achieve his goal. If your character spends most of his time staring out the window or observing as other people do things, that’s a good sign he’s lapsed into passivity.”

— K.M. Weiland

 

Editorial Mission—Active Protagonist

Read the first quarter of your book and ask yourself these questions for each scene: 

• What does the protagonist want in this scene?
• How does it relate to her big goal for the whole story?
• What does she do to try to get what she wants?
• What stands in her way?
• What does she do to overcome the obstacles?

This will reveal whether she’s actively pursuing what she wants or waiting to see if it will come to her. 

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Inline Critique

Episode 82: Archmage’s Rage: Fantasy Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the first chapter of The Sentinels Sworn Book One: Archmage’s Rage, a fantasy novel by Andrew J. Cardin. They discuss world building, strategic use of exposition, point of view, tightening your prose, and the role of sidekicks. 

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Show Notes

“Your cast has the knowledge of the past, present, themselves, and each other that your readers or audience members will need to know in order to follow events. Therefore, at pivotal moments, let your characters use what they know as ammunition in their struggles to get what they want. These revelations will deliver the pleasure of discovery to the emotionally invested reader/audience as the fact quickly vanishes into the story-goers background awareness.”

— Robert McKee

Editorial Mission—Strategic Exposition

This week, schedule ten minutes each day to write about your world, whether it’s fantastical or commonplace. I recommend free writing (no editing, no crossing out, keep writing through misspellings and grammatical misadventures). Write by hand if you normally type and try different locations if you can. The object is to get as many details down as possible over the course of the week and shake things up so that you are accessing deeper layers of your mind and the story.

On the last day, look over what you’ve written and pull out the top five details you mentioned on each day that communicate something about the world. How do you know which ones will do that? Make your best guess; you know your world better than anyone, but try to see it with fresh eyes (this is why I suggested writing by hand and changing location). In today’s example, I would definitely include the spire and shards, for example. 

In the alternative, look at a scene from your manuscript each day for a week and cull the details about your world for your list. 

Take that list of 25–35 details and record why the reader needs to know each one, when they need to know it, and who can deliver it (and how) to greatest effect. Add these details to your story in the appropriate places. 

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Inline Critique

Episode 81: Dark Water: Dystopian Science Fiction Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique “Dark Water,” a short story by James Middleton. They discuss world building, genre, and how details can affect the stakes in your story.

LISTEN NOW

Show Notes

“I’m not going to tell you how to start a bug-powered vehicle, I’m just going to put you inside one with somebody who knows how, and send you off on a ride.”

— Kameron Hurley

 

Editorial Mission

Viewing your fictional world through your main character’s point of view will help you convey the details that he or she would notice. To that end, we suggest that you interview your character. As an intrepid reporter who will tell the character’s story, create a list of questions based on what you want to know and what aspects of the world aren’t clear to you (topography, climate, government, cultural practices, technology). Ask some wild card questions just to see what comes up: What’s your favorite place? What do you eat for dinner? 

Then change your role and answer the questions as the character. Get into character as much as possible. Change your location and perhaps the means of recording the answers (grab your phone and record your voice). Try wearing an article of clothing that reminds you of your character and adopting his posture or mode of speech. Your character can act as a guide to help you enter the world. The more you can become your character, the more easily you will access what he or she knows about the world. 

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Inline Critique

Episode 80: As Realms Unravel: Epic Fantasy Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of As Realms Unravel, an epic fantasy novel by Steven T. Bushar. They discuss world building, flashbacks, conflict, and dialogue.

Listen Now

 

Show Notes

“Above all, worldbuilding is not technically necessary. It is the great clomping foot of nerdism. It is the attempt to exhaustively survey a place that isn’t there. A good writer would never try to do that, even with a place that is there. It isn’t possible, & if it was the results wouldn’t be readable: they would constitute not a book but the biggest library ever built, a hallowed place of dedication & lifelong study. This gives us a clue to the psychological type of the worldbuilder & the worldbuilder’s victim, & makes us very afraid. [sic]”

— M. John Harrison

 

Editorial Mission - An Alternate Approach to World Building

One of your characters has just arrived in your setting. She writes a letter to her parents describing what she has encountered so far. Experiment with different purposes: At first she wants to reassure them. Then she wants to scare them for attention.

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Inline Critique

Episode 79: Hiraeth: Family Saga Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Hiraeth by Robert Fritz Gaston, an as yet unpublished family saga novel. They discuss point of view, tense, introducing characters, and characteristic moments.

Warning: NSFW! This episode contains some adult language.

 

 

Listen Now

Show Notes

“The Characteristic Moment is a work of art. We can’t be content to open with our character doing any ol’ thing. We have to select an event that will: Make the protagonist appealing to readers, introduce both his strengths and his weaknesses, and build the plot.”

— K.M. Weiland

Editorial Mission

A characteristic moment tells the reader right away who your character is in the briefest span of time (number of words) in a way that connects to the plot before life changes as the result of said plot. It also allows the reader to compare it with another moment at the end of the story that demonstrates how the character has changed. It should show his strength and his flaws. That is a lot of heavy lifting for one moment in a story to do. But you can craft it! 

Make a list of your character’s defining qualities. Everything you can think of. Strengths, weaknesses, what he wears, how he talks, the way he looks at life, good habits and bad, the way he treats people, etc. From that list pick the top three that are related to what happens in the plot and write a scene that demonstrates those top three things.

Want to see an example of this in action? In the opening scene of this story, William’s family gathers for a photo. Everyone looks “clean-cut and poised.” Where is William? He is hiding out having a quiet drink and smoke behind the trellis. We find out later in the scene that he is wearing the same outfit he wore for the last photo, and it’s a bit tight. So we know that William doesn’t quite fit in with the family in at least two key ways: appearance and caring about appearance, showing up for things that don’t seem as important (contrast with how he shows up in the next scene, and smoking).

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Inline Critique

Episode 78: Me and My Bacon: YA Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Ceanmohrlass’s Me and My Bacon, a published YA novel. They discuss the passage of time, setting as it relates to the characters, and the characteristic moment.

 

 

 

Listen Now

 

Show Notes

“People are almost always aware of time in their daily lives—time of day or month or year; time in relation to a job or task that needs to be completed; time in terms of religious holidays or seasons; stages of life such as infancy or teenage years, school years, years of fertility, and old age; era, such as the Roaring Twenties or Regency England or the frontier years on Mordant Five; or time as it relates to anticipation of either a dreaded or an eagerly anticipated event. Readers stepping into a story world should also step into the time reality and expectations of that world, at least the reality of the major characters. At least of the viewpoint character.”

— Beth Hill

 

Editorial Mission - It's About Time!

Think about the different aspects of time in your story. Consider the setting: the year, time of year, time of day in which your story is set. Is this clear to the reader at the outset? How could you make it more evident without telling? What details could you use? How much time passes over the course of your story? Within individual scenes? Have you conveyed this through your view point character? Track it on a calendar to be sure it all makes sense.

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We respect your email privacy.

 

Other resources

• If you want to read more from Me and My Bacon, you can find it on Amazon.
• Here's the link to the post we discuss about the passage of time in fiction.

 

Inline Critique

Episode 77: Ashes Like Snow: Literary Short Story Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Brian McWilliams’s
“Snow Like Ashes” an as yet unpublished literary fiction short story. They discuss short stories, character arcs, conflict, and narrative identity. Special notice: This story contains some disturbing scenes involving the situations that firefighters experience.

 

 

 

 

Listen Now

 

Show Notes

“Short stories typically represent only a crucial episode in a character’s life, but it’s precisely the episode which matters most, in which the biggest change occurs. (Of course there are stories which are more or less biographies of the character’s entire life, but those are fairly easy to see from a character arc point-of-view). In the case of the “life episode” short stories, the arc is much shorter. I wouldn’t even call it an arc, but a transition. The core elements of character arcs apply, certainly, but in a much more condensed way.”

— Veronica Sicoe

Editorial Mission

Identify the character arc in your story, whether it’s a short story or novel. Does the change (or lack of change) make sense given the plot? Can we see a clear beginning (the character starts out this way) and ending (the character becomes this way)? Does your story contain sufficient motivation for the change, or is it abrupt? 

Inline Critique

Episode 76: The Automatic Author: Literary Science Fiction Critique

Episode Description:

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Marcelo Mendes’s “The Automatic Author” an as yet unpublished literary science fiction short story. They discuss short stories, economy of words, where to start your story, and ways to evoke feelings.

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Show Notes

“You think writing 100,000 words is tough? That shaping them into a coherent and meaningful story is challenging?

Try writing 1000 words sometime. Or 5,000. With the same goal.

Try writing a short story.

As paradoxical as it may seem, short stories are harder to wrap your head around than a novel. And harder yet to successfully pull off.
”

— Larry Brooks

Editorial Mission—Write a Short Story

Drafting short stories is one way to explore and practice all the elements of story in rapid succession is to play with short stories. Write a short story and focus on an element of storytelling that is most challenging for you. Experiment! This is not your work in progress with which your heart is indelibly entwined. Have some fun and take risks.

Other Information

Here’s a great blog post from Karen Woodward about different ways to structure a short story.

Inline Critique

Episode 75: The Wolf and the Ravens: Historical Fiction Critique

Episode Description:

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of D.J. Umber's The Wolf and the Ravens, an as yet unpublished historical fiction novel. They discuss explaining character motivations, trusting your readers, and making the setting clear.

Listen Now

 

Show Notes

“This is the hard part, knowing what’s too much and what’s not enough. In a first draft, I err on the side of caution and explain things. (In a show way, not a tell way) Sometimes you don’t know where the best spot for those clarifications are, so I put them in where they feel right and edit out later. If you have a good crit partner or group, they can provide valuable insight into where you need more or less info. If you’re on your own, then let your manuscript sit for a month or two before you revise. Then read through it in one or two sittings.

***

You can also look for areas in which you do spell it out. Common trouble spots here are in the emotional or motivational areas. Writers often do a great job of showing why, then doubt themselves and add in a told “this is why” statement at the end.
”

— Janice Hardy

Editorial Mission—Check your why

Take a pivotal scene or one that seems complex or confusing and check that you haven’t explained too much, particularly about why characters do what they do. See if you can show what has been told through exposition or thoughts. Trust that your reader to be able to work it out.

Other items and resources

Listen to Clark and Peter discuss three pitfalls to avoid in worldbuilding.

In this post, Leslie writes about getting your worldbuilding just right.

Inline Critique

Episode 74: Hanna's Hearts: Romance/Science Fiction Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Bobbie Carlton-Hess's Hanna's Hearts, an as yet unpublished Romance/Science Fiction novel. They discuss backstory and ways to convey what's important for the reader to know as well as polarizing topics.

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Show Notes

“Whether the story you’re writing is speculative or not, the key to building your strange world is actually counter-intuitive. What you have to do is pretend to “take it for granted” that everyone—characters and readers—have a basic understanding of your world.

I say “pretend” because, of course, you can’t take it for granted at all. You simultaneously have to assume your readers know zilch. This is where the delicate dance begins.
”

— K. M. Weiland

Editorial Mission—Check Your Polarizing Issues

If you have a divisive or polarizing issue—like religion, gender, or race—great! These hot topics yield lots of conflict that can fuel your story. But, consider the story reason for including it and check that the way you present it achieves your purpose.  

Other items and resources:

Listen to Clark and Peter discuss three pitfalls to avoid in worldbuilding.

In this post, Leslie writes about getting your worldbuilding just right.

Check out the Indie Author Spree, a weekend of best practices, experiments, and strategies for indie authors. I'll help you find your perfect editor match. Even better, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Johnny B. Truant, and Data Wizard Brian Meeks will be there. Take advantage of this amazing free, online resource August 26-28.

Inline Critique

Episode 73: Feathers of the Phoenix: Historical Fantasy Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of J.T. Morse's Feathers of the Phoenix, an as yet unpublished historical fantasy novel. They discuss point of view, the omniscient narrator, word choice, and accents.  

Listen Now

Show Notes

“A novel has no camera because a novel is just a big brick of words, but for the sake of delicious metaphor, let’s assume that “camera” is representative of the reader’s perspective. We often think of point-of-view as being the character’s perspective (and it is), but it’s also about the reader’s perspective. A third-person narrative has the camera outside the action—maybe hovering over one character, maybe pulling back all the way to the corner. A first-person narrative gives one character the camera—or even goes so far as to cram the camera up their nether-cavern and into their brain and against their eyeball. The question then becomes: is the reader here to witness what’s going on? Or experience it? Third-person asks we witness, first-person allows us to experience (and second-person really utilizes the experiential mode but, again, probably don’t do that).”

— Chuck Wendig

Editorial Mission: Check Your Point of View

Take a pivotal scene from your story and write it from a different point of view, either use another character or a different form altogether (if you wrote it in first person, try third or vice versa, or even try omniscient). Experiment until you know the best way to tell your story in terms of the information you reveal and intimacy that occurs. Should the reader be observing or experiencing your story? What’s tricky about this is that it’s a big change if you decide to do it, so check this out early and think about early in your revisions.

Leave us a comment at the bottom of the show notes or drop us a line at writershippodcast@gmail.com to let us know how it goes.

Other items and resources:

Follow today’s author, J.T. Morse, here. 

Want to know more about point of view? Here’s a list of posts at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University.

Find Clark’s latest book, Hank Hudson and the Anubis on Amazon.

Inline Critique

Episode 72: Bloodbound: Paranormal Fantasy/Horror Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Sarah Brett's Bloodbound, an as yet unpublished paranormal fantasy/horror novel. They discuss active opening scenes, scenes and sequels, character motivation, and literal and metaphoric elements. 

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Show Notes

“[U]nderstand what makes a great hook. Begin with a problem (scene), not THINKING (sequel). The problem doesn’t need to be earth-shattering, and if it is, make sure it’s something you can outdo later. Don’t have the biggest loop of your roller coaster at the front of the ride or everything else will be anticlimactic.”

— Kristen Lamb

Editorial Mission: Strong Verbs

Your opening is a scene and should contain the basic elements: a character with a goal, someone or something standing in the way of the goal, and success or failure in achieving the goal. Assess your opening to make sure you have these necessary components.

Other items and resources

If you enjoyed Sarah's story, you can find her books other books here and follow her here.

Clark mentioned The Emotion Thesaurus, a great resource to help you show rather than tell about emotions.

You can find Clark’s latest book, Hank Hudson and the Anubis, here.

Inline Critique

Episode 71: Daughter of the Flood: Magical Realism Critique

Episode Description

In this episode, Leslie and Clark critique the opening pages of Chrishaun Keller-Hanna's “Daughter of the Flood,” an as yet unpublished magical realism story. They discuss identifying characters, dialogue tags, setting, and strong verbs.

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Show Notes

“Verbs bring action—motion and movement—to our sentences. Without verbs, nothing happens.

Verbs move story people, both literally and emotionally.

Without verbs, characters and story go nowhere. Without the right verbs at the right time, characters and story go to the wrong places or get there in the wrong way, lacking impact or being overwhelmed by unnecessary actions.
”

— Beth Hill

Editorial Mission: Strong Verbs

Poets don’t have the luxury of excess words to convey meaning, so prose writers can learn a lot from them about making every word count. This week, we've adapted the editorial mission from a technique used by poets (from James Tonn and Mollie Coles Tonn) to make their verbs strong. Take a five- to ten-page passage from your story and write down the verbs you use. Rate them with a one, two, or three.

·       Ones are the weakest verbs, often linking verbs: to be, to have, to feel, to seem, to become.

·       Twos are medium verbs like these (some of which can act like linking verbs): put, place, walk, move, head, grow, sound, remain, look, smell, taste, resemble—they are a notch above ones but don’t convey everything they could.

·       Threes are strong, specific verbs: punch, saunter, creep, grab, delegate, manipulate, negotiate.

Strive for as many threes as you can manage. Leave us a comment at the bottom of the show notes or drop us a line at writershippodcast@gmail.com to let us know how it goes.

Other items and resources

You can find Clark’s latest book, Hank Hudson and the Anubis, here.

Preorder “Daughter of the Flood” to continue reading the story.

Find out more about Allazar here.

Inline Critique