Crafting in Dreams

In crafting a narrative dreams can be elemental for the author, the characters and even the premise of the tale. In countless instances authors have cited dreams as the instrumental step in crafting their best work. The author assembles a narrative from the various scenes that have come to them while sleeping. The dreams come together as a road map with each of the scenes as pit-stops along the journey. An entire outline for a narrative born from nothing more than dreams. Often when an author hits writer's block they turn to dreams...

Attaining Direction

A narrative is an assemblage of concepts that the creator wishes to convey within the confines of a world. Development of the primary concept begins with establishing the supporting elements of both characters and conflict. These elements become extensions of the original idea that permit the author to explore different aspects that would not have been possible otherwise. Through characters the author can explore the emotions and thoughts that surround a founding idea. In every action, thought and emotion the characters can reveal a...

Setting in Tone

Style, Tone, Distinction... As with any project, the ability to find distinction for a narrative lies in the assemblage of elements and how they are woven together. Where a rising wave of events can sweep up the reader and the style of the story can enhance the characters to provide distinction, the tone of a narrative can determine if that first chapter is finished. The tone of a narrative is at its very essence the attitude of the project. An attitude that is reflected in prose, setting and even the thoughts of characters. Prose is set...

Crafting the Style

As a project comes to life out of the emptiness of a blank page the creator is challenged to produce a work that will resonate within the psyche of readers and define itself as a unique perspective. Out of the mountains of narratives that are produced, every reader has a desire to discover something that stands out.  While there are many elements a writer can choose to emphasize to impose distinction on their creation, among character, premise and emotion the strongest can be the simplest. Style.  When looking at the most distinctive...

Writing the Tide

As every tide has an ebb and flow so does the narrative. It is upon the writer to establish a strong tide that the reader can ride to it's inevitable resolution. Narrative pacing is no different than waves in the ocean, each consists of a multitude of variables that determine the shape, size and power of that wave. A simple change in one variable and the wave is broken, the narrative falls. At the core a wave has two primary components; the crest and the trough. In narrative guise these are the conflict and the resolution. The power...

Crafting the Abstraction

There are no shortage of ideas for stories nor limitations on possibilities for how a writer can craft one. Every story begins with the premise, the concept that the writer wishes to convey. The process of exploring that concept is an abstraction on the part of the writer. It is taking that premise and deriving the base traits. At the core, a premise is a character, their motivation, the emotion and the steps taken for that character to evolve. The plot is sculpted with care to gradually reveal the premise to the...

Writing the Instigation

Instigation, inception, opening, the beginning. The beginning of any project is also the crux of the project. The first words, first sentence, paragraph, even chapter become the measure by which a project is evaluated. While it is important to consider the inception of a story from the carefully chosen words used to open it, it is even more important to consider it from the internal perspective. When a story opens it is with characters and most importantly a singular moment that is responsible for instigating the story. Concepts may breathe life...