Category Archives: Writing Tips

Hada’s Fog Chapter Eleven, Scene One is Posted

Hada's Fog

Hada’s Fog

Hada’s Fog Chapter Eleven, Scene One is posted.

Please see the menu above, click and scroll down to the beginning or to where you left off.

Hada continues to defend Samuel, her first-born. In case you missed my post about gender and birth order of characters’ siblings, the link is below. That explanation goes for main characters who aren’t siblings as well. In this novel’s case, it applies to the two grown sons’ and their dispute. One son is the antagonist. Hada, the protagonist, denies his wrong-doings, and Lev protects the youngest son. Birth order in this story plays a huge part.

The Gender and Birth Order of Characters’ Siblings Can Deepen Viewpoints

Jacob fishing silhouette

Jacob fishing and reaching

In Chapter Eleven, Lev calls Nissa and chats with Jacob, Abe’s son. Hada reminisces about Jacob’s personality and his fishing trip with Lev.

 

 

 

 

 

Julaina Kleist-Corwin

Editor of Written Across the Genres

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Radio City Music Hall Could Be a Setting for Fiction Writing

location news in historyRadio City Music Hall, a magnificent Art Deco theater in New York City, opened December 27, 1932. Until the late 1970’s, the theater alternated between showing first-run movies and as a site for gala stage shows. “More than 700 films have premiered at Radio City Music Hall since 1933.”

The Christmas Spectacular with the “high-kicking Rockettes, a precision dance troupe”, has been shown there since the 1930’s. Over a million people see the show annually.

“In 1999, the Hall underwent a seven-month, $70 million restoration. Today, Radio City Music Hall remains the largest indoor theater in the world.”

For more information go to:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/radio-city-music-hall-opens

As I read this information, and remembered my two visits to Radio City Music Hall in the 1970’s, I imagined several different characters and their possible stories with the music hall as a setting. Art Deco is one of my favorite designs in buildings, clothes, jewelry, movies, and art. A story set in a time and place that I find fascinating would make writing about it enjoyable.

For more settings in fiction writing, go to:

https://timetowritenow.com/category/settings/

 

Have you thought of a setting you’d like to use in a future story? Let me know in the comment section.

 

Julaina Kleist-Corwin

Editor of Written Across the Genres

 

 

 

 

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Exercise for How to Write Descriptive Body Language

Body LanguageWriters are told to show how, not tell. How would you write this girl’s feelings without saying that she’s sad or that she’s alone?

You would describe in gripping sentences, not a list, how she looks: her head is down, her back is bent over, and her arms hug herself.

body language cryingHow about this emotion? Would you say  that she’s crying? Maybe, but first describe her body language, one hand covers her right eye, we can assume both eyes are closed, tears on her cheeks, etc. You wouldn’t write a list like I did, your writing would flow using well-written sentences that capture her emotion.

In my writing class, I assigned an exercise. I asked the members to pair up with one person being A and the other person being B. A is the protagonist talking with B about C who is not present. A and B have opposing opinions about C. Or, either A or B gives information about C who is not present. The members would observe each other’s body language and take notes. How did one show disagreement? How did one show shock about the information, etc.

There are many books that tell how to write body language, but if you directly observe it as you are acting out the emotions in a real conversation, details appear to use in your writing.

Body language 2 happy

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Two Protagonists Or One in Hada’s Fog?

protagonist who isA new scene from Hada’s Fog has been posted (see menu above). This Chapter Five is from Lev’s point of view. Chapters consistently alternate between Hada and her husband, Lev.

Do two viewpoints mean two protagonists? I didn’t plan the novel to have two. I use Lev’s chapters for the readers to know about Hada’s positive side, to understand her internal struggle, and to observe her arc from Lev’s point of view.

Sometimes Lev is a catalyst for action. Sometimes he interferes with other characters’ actions. Sometimes he has internal conflicts. Toward the end, he will exhibit a change in his thoughts but the change does not involve an arc.  Lev is who he is, fair and responsible, a man with high integrity and he maintains his values which does not involve a true arc.

In the next scene of this chapter that will be posted in a couple of days, I’ve included a flash back, which is different from back story. A flash back shows a scene from the past relevant to moving the plot forward, whereas backstory is information from the past in a telling format that often isn’t essential to the plot.

Hada's Fog

Hada’s Fog

rose yellow petals

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Rare Supermoon Eclipse Tonight

+supermoon+lunar+eclipse with link credit

www.nbcmiami.com

 

Total-lunar-eclipse-moon-drawingpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look out your window tonight, you can observe an event that is happening for the first time in more than 30 years. The last supermoon eclipse was in 1982.  Supermoons happen once a year. It means the moon appears 14% larger and 30% brighter. However, the combination of the eclipse and supermoon is a rarity. It won’t happen again until 2033.

The orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle. At times it’s closer to the earth than at other times. Tonight’s supermoon is the closest full moon of this year. Here in the San Francisco East Bay Area, it’s a cloudless, fogless night and the moon is in plain view.

Take a look, it might be a useful addition to a setting for a story.

 

 

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