Lovely read, thanks. Lots to think on. I largely agree, though I am still new to writing and have been battling with figuring out how best to work with being subtle vs not-so-subtle, as well as seeding information and plot points. A lot probably just comes from works I've read and enjoyed and analysed why I've enjoyed. Thanks for the stimulating article and links/mentions of other things to read along these lines.
In general, I think however obvious you think you’re being with dropping info and plot points, it’s probably half! Or less. And if it is too obvious, that’s easy to fix in revision. Sometimes writers also struggle with making things flow from causation instead of just I want this to happen. But absolutely your best guide is learning from the things you love. Thanks for reading and happy writing!
I recently wrote a trilogy of little stories for a friend. They began packed with inside jokes and ending packing an emotional punch. The parts I'm proudest of are the parts where I make no attempt to hide the emotional core of the story.
For example:
"The play was brilliant and Kandi loved it. Reading it felt like unwrapping an exquisitely packaged gift. It was as though Dylan had distilled and condensed the heart of their friendship, creating a piece of art by turns playful and gorgeous, melancholy and filled with hope, secretive and winking and somehow universal.
It was beautiful and perfect and the thought of performing it in front of an audience terrified her.
The play itself didn't feel fragile, but each time she imagined performing it, she envisioned herself cracking her ribs open and pulling out her still-beating heart for an audience to look at in a clinical and critical fashion.
But she guessed that was pretty much what art was."
I decided emotion is what I'm best at so obviously I need to write romance.
Obviously! And this is LOVELY. Thanks for sharing it.
Writing emotion is a great superpower to have. I really had to work at it to learn how to do interiority, because when I first got serious and disciplined, I was writing scripts and those are all about showing the interior through the exterior. When I switched to novels, I had to figure out how to undo the inexplicable robot effect that approach can give if you use it in prose.
Lovely read, thanks. Lots to think on. I largely agree, though I am still new to writing and have been battling with figuring out how best to work with being subtle vs not-so-subtle, as well as seeding information and plot points. A lot probably just comes from works I've read and enjoyed and analysed why I've enjoyed. Thanks for the stimulating article and links/mentions of other things to read along these lines.
In general, I think however obvious you think you’re being with dropping info and plot points, it’s probably half! Or less. And if it is too obvious, that’s easy to fix in revision. Sometimes writers also struggle with making things flow from causation instead of just I want this to happen. But absolutely your best guide is learning from the things you love. Thanks for reading and happy writing!
Great points 👍😀
Sara Gran! <3 She's *so* good. Thanks for this lovely post, very tinely, since I'm going into a first edit of a new romance novel quite soon...
Glad it helped! And yay, happy editing!
I recently wrote a trilogy of little stories for a friend. They began packed with inside jokes and ending packing an emotional punch. The parts I'm proudest of are the parts where I make no attempt to hide the emotional core of the story.
For example:
"The play was brilliant and Kandi loved it. Reading it felt like unwrapping an exquisitely packaged gift. It was as though Dylan had distilled and condensed the heart of their friendship, creating a piece of art by turns playful and gorgeous, melancholy and filled with hope, secretive and winking and somehow universal.
It was beautiful and perfect and the thought of performing it in front of an audience terrified her.
The play itself didn't feel fragile, but each time she imagined performing it, she envisioned herself cracking her ribs open and pulling out her still-beating heart for an audience to look at in a clinical and critical fashion.
But she guessed that was pretty much what art was."
I decided emotion is what I'm best at so obviously I need to write romance.
Obviously! And this is LOVELY. Thanks for sharing it.
Writing emotion is a great superpower to have. I really had to work at it to learn how to do interiority, because when I first got serious and disciplined, I was writing scripts and those are all about showing the interior through the exterior. When I switched to novels, I had to figure out how to undo the inexplicable robot effect that approach can give if you use it in prose.