tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45155572110390463582012-02-16T09:51:19.396-08:00Opinions, Advice and Writing Wisdom PearlsJasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.comBlogger91100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-39076480755046354912007-11-02T09:20:00.000-07:002007-11-05T19:32:47.883-08:00

The power of prose lies in the imagery. I know this instinctually, but putting it into practice without slipping into floridity is a tall task. I was reading something I wrote years ago. Lord, how it embarrasses me now. It’s so obvious that I was writing with a thesaurus at my hip. And I remember thinking how I was just the cat’s meow for being so creative. Are you there? Have you been there? I

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-37812233702149475932007-10-15T23:01:00.000-07:002007-11-06T23:17:20.870-08:00

Several folks have written me to ask what craft books I have on my bookshelves. There's a ton of them let me tell you and I use them all! Not at the same time. . .but still. I've linked them to Amazon, so if one of them looks interesting you can go straight to it.StoryTechniques of the Selling WriterComedy Writing WorkbookFirefly: The Official Companion, Volume 1 by Joss WhedonFirefly: The

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-27119418207412910742007-09-06T16:51:00.000-07:002007-09-06T16:57:52.207-07:00

Hello, my apologies for being absent for so long. Doing this blogging thing so consistently is more work than I thought it might be. But here is, for your enjoyment, my next attempt.Okay…better beginnings. I can’t cover everything that makes up a great beginning or this would be a very long post, indeed. So I’m going to have to break things up and make this a series. Better beginnings part one

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-83346554644082735222007-08-10T00:08:00.000-07:002007-08-10T00:17:57.027-07:00

So this was my first requested blog, coming from at least two people. So how could I say no? Thank you, ladies, for thinking that I might have some insight on this. I’ll try and not let you down. Sexual tension, you know it when you read it, but how do you create it? Is it simple lust? You know I’m going to say, no. Right? Is it two-sided or can it be one-sided? Again, no, it can’t be one-sided

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-81507845984142064172007-08-06T21:36:00.000-07:002007-08-07T18:58:43.649-07:00

Conflict part deux. So last month we talked about how to create conflict with the gap, and someone asked me if this was just away to setup obstacles (external conflict) to which I said …no. Internal conflict can be created through the gap as well as long as it forces the character to make a choice. External conflicts deal with fixing something or overcoming something outside ourselves. Internal

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-74954460157519279572007-07-27T08:32:00.000-07:002007-07-27T08:40:05.652-07:00

This week, I want to give a quick look at creating (external for the most part) conflict and what conflict is. Let's look at what conflict is first. Conflict is a gap between a person's expectations and reality, and that reality shaping itself to the negative.Huh? I hear you say. Okay more. Humans, all of nature in fact, are conservative in our actions; we put forth exactly, as little effort as

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-16709760768258583742007-07-19T21:48:00.000-07:002007-08-07T14:02:14.305-07:00

So, we've all seen the twelve steps of intimacy, right? We demonstrate how our character's romantic relationship moves from one physical level of intimacy to the next. If you haven't, Morgan Hawke has an in depth article on Making Romance Happen that lays it all out. And while the article is excellent, it's missing the emotional side of the equation, the when these steps should happen. So that's

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-90859851634250495012007-07-14T12:42:00.000-07:002007-07-14T16:24:44.825-07:00

So one of the more insipid aspects of storytelling is description. Description of places are often, the room was big, it had a couch and a dozen tables with chairs and a band playing a waltz. Yawnsville. Or of people, the bellhop was old with gray hair bright blue eyes.Now my question for you is what do these descriptions tell you about the observer? Nothing, not a cotton-picking thing. And

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4515557211039046358.post-48593830123355250062007-07-06T15:28:00.001-07:002007-07-20T06:48:44.252-07:00

I need to vent. Let me preface this post with a disclaimer; this isn't sour grapes. At least not exactly. I'm not pubbed. I'm not ready to be pubbed. I'm not even ready to submit anything yet. But I'm a reader and I keep feeling like I'm being ripped off because an author has "potential."How the frack do some people get pubbed? Not only pubbed, but loved. I've recently been reading two different

Jasshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11331930029735743022noreply@blogger.com1