Lew's AUTHOR BLOG

·   plots should not insult reader’s intelligence, no holes in plots, characters who are real  ·   create subplots that illustrate the same theme through different situations  ·   every scene advances either the plot or one of the subplots (or it doesn’t belong)  ·   using a piece of information from the character analysis, twist the story one more time ·   keep aware of what the reader knows or doesn’t know at each point in the story  ·   Ask questions about each character  ·   Work with your characters to design the plot  ·   Plot is what characters do to deal with the situation they are in  ·   primary event – that which gets the ball roiling in the novel  ·   Events must be organized with an emphasis on causality  ·   The first event (scene) triggers the event that will immediately follow it  ·   High drama: direct conflict between characters, discovery, revelation, personal epiphany  ·   Plot must have climax, and climax itself must have a climax  ·   Post climax comes resolution – tie up loose ends, illustrate the nature of the change that has occurred in the characters  ·   Open up the story by asking dramatic questions (but do not answer)  ·   I always know the end in advance  ·   subplots arise out of a novel’s theme, mirror the theme  ·   you need to end every story you begin   ·   theme – the basic truth about which you are writing. ·   you may not know the theme in advance, but it will emerge (???) ·   the writer’s object is to keep the reader reading  ·   if a plot is essentially believable, it can sustain a suspension of belief  ·   every story needs plot points, critical moments when events change