Thursday, July 26, 2012

SCWC: Tweaking - Making the Difference Between Good and Published

-        Build to power.  Always end your sentences with the strongest/most powerful word.
-        Change the order of words in sentences/move sentences around.  Save “what happens” for last.
-        Make material visually attractive.  Hard nowadays to distract people from their busy lives.
-        Paragraphing accentuates dynamic/pivotal points.  Put sentences in their own paragraphs to demonstrate their importance.
-        Use punctuation “tricks” to add drama.
-        Don’t be afraid of sentence fragments or one-word sentences.
-        Ellipses imply the character’s thoughts are trailing off.  A surprise sentence ending.
-        Don’t be afraid of short and/or long sentences.
-        Use prepositions to add more sentence variety.
-        Make dialogue unusual/brilliant
-        The best writing is fast writing—spontaneity creates a better story/flows better
-        Take out dialogue introductions, use “shortcuts.”
-        Most of us are pretty dull most of the time; make the character more interesting than you.  We don’t want boring conversation, we want the best of what we say.
-        Use action tags for dialogue—carefully and sparingly
-        Can characterize people through the words/actions of other characters
-        Pause for reaction time.
-        Make your dramatic scenes long (and longer).  Inject heart-stopping events

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