Tag: exposition

Story Lessons from THE LORD OF THE RINGS, part 1

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Creativity Sessions, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment
Creativity Sessions writing process. Evening Satellite Publishing.

After some lackluster reading the last month or so, I am embarking on an epic quest: to reread The Lord of the Rings! I will not be reviewing these stories in a critical sense, because how could I? Instead, I will share some storytelling insights I pick up as I go along.

This will be primarily focused on the books, but I will also reference the films by Peter Jackson to compare the stories as they are told between these two media.

Spoilers ahoy.

Continue reading “Story Lessons from THE LORD OF THE RINGS, part 1” →

3 Tips for Writing Snappy Dialogue

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Creativity Sessions, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment
Creativity Sessions writing process. Evening Satellite Publishing.

The more I write, the more I find I enjoy writing dialogue. The interplay of characters can be really engaging and tends to liven up the story — and the writing process — for me.

However, it can still be a challenge to write dialogue that is both meaningful and compelling. As a reader, dialogue that drones on is somehow worse than long stretches of exposition. So I just wanted to provide a few tips for writing snappy dialogue that moves the story forward and keeps the reader interested. Continue reading “3 Tips for Writing Snappy Dialogue” →

Leaning into the Discovery Draft

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Creativity Sessions, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

I’ve been known to self-edit when I write… a lot. For the first draft of WoEM, I think I wrote and rewrote the first couple of chapters three or four times before I made any real progress on the story.

I’ve been knee-deep in the discovery draft of my short stories for a couple months, and it’s taken a while to convince my brain that it’s only the discovery draft.

So I just wanted to talk about some things to keep in mind as you write a discovery draft. Continue reading “Leaning into the Discovery Draft” →

Introduce Your Characters in their Element

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Creativity Sessions, Writers - Steve D'Adamo1 Comment

Writing introductory sections is hard. I struggle to write intros to my blog posts sometimes.

Okay, a lot of times.

But I’ve picked up on one key way to introduce characters to the reader in a new story: introduce your character in their element.

Continue reading “Introduce Your Characters in their Element” →

Friday Write-Day: Small Progress

On By Steven D'AdamoIn The Warden of Everfeld, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

Holiday weeks are always a little wonky. We returned from our long weekend at the lake house on Monday evening, went to work on Tuesday, had Wednesday off, and work again Thursday and today.

Why we get Wednesday off rather than the nearest Monday or Friday is beyond me, but it makes the work week disjointed. Especially when half of the country is on extended vacations.

Anyway, the weirdness threw my writing schedule off a bit, too, but I think I did alright. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: Small Progress” →

Creativity Sessions: Inner Monologues and Deductions

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Creativity Sessions, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

I love the concept of the inner monologue in writing, probably because I’m constantly up in my own head with thoughts and ideas that I might not express vocally. In writing, though, I think it has to be used delicately. Continue reading “Creativity Sessions: Inner Monologues and Deductions” →

Pre-NaNo Update: Progress through Outlining

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, Writers - Steve D'Adamo4 Comments

Well, it’s just about mid-October, and my novel is coming along. I’m not writing at a break-neck pace, but I have written almost half of my pre-NaNo goal. I’m at 36,000 words and change, with 13,000+ to go before November. Continue reading “Pre-NaNo Update: Progress through Outlining” →

NaNoWriMo Returns, and so does my motivation

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, Writers - Steve D'AdamoLeave a comment

Holy crap, it’s almost October. This is the reason I avoid lofty New-Year’s-resolution-style goals at the beginning of the year. I am happy to say that I am on pace to meet some of the realistic goals I’ve set for myself. I should exceed my minimum for financial savings this year. My wedding is almost exactly one year away, and we have most of the major plans in place already (thanks mostly to my fiance, but whatever, I helped!). Continue reading “NaNoWriMo Returns, and so does my motivation” →