Archive for July, 2007
#6 (Dull) Beginning, (Sagging round the) Middle and (Lame at the) End.
Monday, July 23rd, 2007Dull, sagging and lame. Who would want a life like that? Who would want to be like that? Yet, it’s amazing how many stories sitting in slush piles around the world seem to have been modelled, at least partially, on this the ‘Dull beginning, sagging middle and lame ending.’
Beginning
When you sit down to […]
#5 Pace: Cracking or Grinding?
Wednesday, July 25th, 2007Your reader is into the third paragraph of your story and although she has already developed a connection to your main character, nothing seems to be happening. She’s beginning to feel the tug of the outside world. The main character doesn’t seem to be doing anything. The shopping list for this evening’s […]
#4 Enter Deus Ex Machina; Exit Reader
Tuesday, July 31st, 2007Enter Deus Ex Machina; Exit Reader
Ben Elton was being steered away from committing the crime of ‘Deus Ex Machina’ by a master of plot-writing. ‘Deus Ex Machina,’ translated literally as “god out of a machine,” is an unexpected, artificial, or improbable character, device, or event which drops into the story from nowhere. Its sole […]
