BRAIN DEATH, Chris Capstraw - Medical Thriller

[ChrisCapstraw]

The Art of Fiction – John Gardner

 

1. A valuable grammar Bible in Part II - Notes on the Fictional Process - that includes basic skills to avoid common errors. Gardner also encourages writers to create their own style. Both directions require practice!

 

2. Major lessons:

 

A. CHAPTER 5

 

VOICE:

 

Vary sentence lengths and rhythms to excite the reader.

 

*A sentence with three syntactic slots: The man/walked/down the road. (pg. 106)

Don’t cram all three with details.

 

Load down slot 1: The old man, stooped, bent almost double under his load of tin pans, yet smiling with a sort of maniacal good cheer and chattering to himself in what seemed to be Slavonian/walked/down the road.

 

Or, load slot 2: The man/ walked slowly, lifting his feet, carefully, sometimes kicking his shoe forward in what looked like a dance, then slamming down the foot before the sole could flop loose against grinning when it worked, muttering to himself, making no real progress/down the road.

 

Or load, slots 1 and 2

 

Write to imitate the way real people speak (pg. 107)

Avoid accidental rhyme and accent words to sound better (pg. 108)

 

DESCRIPTION:

 

Use concrete detail: write, not creatures, but snakes.

Show don’t tell and resist explanation.

 

B. CHAPTER 6 -

 

Work with structural units and don’t rush.

Avoid complex language

Use short sentences to be punchy.

Work out RHYTHM by ear – pg. 152 -154

 

C. CHAPTER 7

 

PLOTTING: Use Fichtean curve for true suspense that’s a dramatic representation of the anguish of moral choice. The ascending action is not smooth but moves through a series of increasingly intense climaxes that force the hero to keep going (pg. 188 - 190)

 

3. Gardner doesn’t educate with a systematic third person point of view. The Algonkian 4POV clarifies the flow of third person writing.

 

 

Writing the Breakout Novel – Donald Maass

 

1. My favorite since the literary agent gives, detailed, insider advice! Love his end of chapter checklists.

 

2. Major lessons:

 

A. OPENING LINE – pose a question –It happened that green and crazy summer when Frankie was twelve years old. This was the summer when for a long time she had not been a member.

 

Mini tension or conflict that lasts ½ page.

 

Then, another tension, bridge, occurs – And then, on the last Friday of August, all this was changed: it was so sudden that Frankie puzzled the whole blank afternoon, and still she did not understand

 

.. Then relax pace with toying a bit.

“It is so very queer, she said. The way it all just happened.”

“Happened? Happened! Said Berenice.

John Hendry listened and watched them quietly.

“I have never been so puzzled.”

“Puzzled about what?”

“The whole thing,” Frankie said.

 

Now, the answers –

“Your brother came home with…

 

B. Bad pacing is why this literary agent rejects most of writer submissions; escalate tension, conflict, stakes, emotion, etc. to catapult reader anticipation; breakout novelists hold back backstory for just the right moment, which can sometimes be quite late in the novel. Especially if backstory holds a buried secret; scene after a high point is often a good place to introduce subplot scene; the pitch

 

3. Conflict: This author/agent feels that setup should not occur upfront. That ‘once the main plot problem is focused and the characters have been launched, backstory can be a development, a deepening, of what is happening’.

 

Write Away – Elizabeth George

 

1. This clear, enjoyable book provided me with several educational tips, beyond the writing course. My take away notes are as follows:

Per Elizabeth George, it’s about emotion and connection. The reader will read if he cares about the character and what happens to them. Write about your passion. And a character with circumstance readers have experienced or can empathize with.

 

2. Major lessons:

 

SCENE:

 

Start scenes different ways: low point, rise, climax, resolution.

OR start at climax, back off from it and explain how we got to that point. But it will also contain rising conflict and resolution as well.

 

MOTION PICTURE TECHNIQUE Camera begins with an establishing spot; dollies into the action character or characters and the dialogue begins. With each camera movement, we get closer.

 

SOUND VERSUS SIGHT Start with bang dialogue. The reader doesn’t know where the character is or what he’s doing until the next paragraph. Then, character he’s talking to responds with dialogue.

 

PRESENT PAST PRESENT Start in real time, stop the scene, and go back to previous action to bring the reader up to date, then return to present time.

Sometimes starting with a simple time of day is fine.

 

B. CHAPTER 5 - PLOT OUTLINE

 

3. I read nothing that conflicted with lessons and readings in the writing program.

 

The Writing Life - Annie Dillard

 

1. The author, focused on her inspirational process, shared her frustration, then accomplishment through persistence. Her insight let me know that I am not alone.

 

2. Major lessons:

 

A. Gain inspiration in different surroundings.

B. Paint a canvas, one layer at a time, with my words.

C. Lay out existing structure and find problem; think on it for a week; solve it. Start again. Don't rush.

 

3. I saw no conflict with the writing course.