A Few Tips Part 2

I would like to take this whole part and talk about The Magic Paragraph. Why? Because it is so important for every writer to know! And until about a month ago I didn't know about it!!! So here we go...

A magic paragraph. Definition: A single paragraph that is meant (if done correctly) to draw the reader into a fictional dream. It is hard to compose one during the first draft process. So I find it easier to insert them during the second draft stage.
A magic paragraph is composed of four parts:

1. Signal which head to enter. Start the paragraph right off the bat with whose head are we in? You can very easily destroy a magic paragraph by finding halfway through the paragraph we are in someone else's head than originally thought.

2. Twang a sense or start a thought process. Example: Jon smelled the musty air. It seemed it always rained on his bad days. The twanged sense here is smell and it brings with it a thought.

3. Show what the character experienced. Example: Jon felt an amplified ache in his chest as he watched her walk away. That echoing clip-clop of her high heels that had become so familiar left him forever. Here instead of saying: Jon sadly watched her walk off. The sound of her high heels clomped away forever. I showed what Jon felt and what he also saw and heard without making it two boring sentences.

4. Start the character thinking. To continue from the last segment: Jon wished he could call her back. Say he was sorry. But he couldn't. It was too late. Here I started Jon's thought process again.

And now you should have something resembling a magic paragraph! Though, Ron Benrey says it much better in his book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian Fiction. So if you want more on the subject read his book. He has an entire chapter on it.

(Note: I am not quite sure on the following but you should probably follow these steps in this order! Not sure though)

The final part still to come! Part three and a few last tips for writers.

A Few Tips Part 1

I have been reading a lot of books on how to write good Christian fiction. And I thought I would post just a few tips for all the other writers out there.

#1: Write write write! Write every day. Whether you're pecking two hundred words out or fifty. The number of words doesn't matter! Write every day no matter how bad it may seem. To improve one must write...

#2: Blow through the first draft. Don't edit a chapter after you finish writing it, just write it. Write and don't look back until the first draft is complete...

#3: Keep it true to life. Just because it's fiction doesn't mean you can't use funny stories that have happened to you. One author I read said something like this, "One day I was waiting in line at the airport. By the time I got to the front, I had picked out different people in the crowd, drawn their descriptions down on paper, and planned to use them in a novel I was plotting out." So keep it real...

#4: Don't preach a sermon. This is a huge mistake made by young Christian writers. (Myself included) They have a great story going, then (instead of incorperating a message/theme smoothly) the reader feels like he/she's being preached at. This does a few bad things to a manuscript. It makes the reader draw back and get defensive. And it draws them out of the fictional dream. Not good...

More writing tips to come and something you may never heard of before. A magic paragraph! Check back soon...

Ultimate Dog Tease! Hilarious!

A Funny Story

Okay, this is a true story. It happen to none other than myself and it happened a few years ago.  (And it's just a little exaggerated) (Just a little)

My family was blessed by receiving a free three-wheeler. We owned four acres of land, but my grandpa owned all the woods and fields behind our house. It promised to be great fun, but ended in a stomach ache.

The first one to ride it was my brother. He zoomed around the house. Lesson number one: Three-wheelers are extremely hard to turn. You think you're gona make that turn and you don't. That's just the way it is. So my brother tries to turn it while he's on the edge of our backyard. Of course, he didn't yet know that it was hard to turn. Wham! My brother (related by blood as you'll soon see) smashed through fifteen rows of corn!

Ouch!

Yeah, it might sound like it hurt but that's nothing compared to the 'funny story' I am about to tell you. Nothing! (It may sound funny, even I think it's funny now, but at the time I would've slapped anybody that would've called it 'funny')

So, we'd had the machine for a few weeks. I was confident that I could drive it. I was even doing a few moderate tricks on the thing. I'm driving it in our backyard and we have this trampoline (some of you know where I'm going with this) and to the left of the trampoline was a swing set. There was probably ten feet in between them. Now, if I would have had an hour to think this out I would've just gone around them. But, no. I had about five seconds. So, I decided to try (yes try) to go in between them.

Lesson number two: If you aren't sure that you're going to make it on a running vehicle, bale off!

I saw that I wasn't going to make it. Again, if I would've had an hour to think it over I would've baled off. But, no. I had three seconds. I clenched my eyes shut tight waiting for the metal to meet my flesh. And boy did it.

WHAM!!!

Have you ever had a sibling punch or kick you in the stomach? Yeah, it hurts. Try multiplying it by five. That trampoline took me off the fast flying vehicle at the stomach. Oh, my body hurts just thinking about it. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes (other than a vision of heaven coming near) was the three-wheeler still running underneath the tramp. I jumped to my feet and...the pain. I doubled over and tried to suck in air. Suck, suck suck. But no exhale.

Two of my brothers ran over to me. "What's wrong?" "What do you need?"

If I could've spoke I would've said, "Air, you fouls. I need air!!!"

Well that's pretty much the just of it. I couldn't breathe for at least a minute. Afterwards I figured out lesson number three: Never, EVER, run into a trampoline on a three-wheeler! NEVER!!!

Vacation

Leaving for vacation in the morning!!! Hopefully, I'll be able to do some blogging then. (But doubtful.) Not sure if I will have much time to write. Hopefully, I will. Until next week,

CP

Grab a snack, turn on the music, and enter a fictional world. Ah, a writer's dream.

The First Hundred Words

Here are the first hundred words to my next attempt at a novel. At this point you might say "What? You already started again!" Well, to tell you the truth, I have been plotting this one out for weeks. So now it's time to get it on paper!!! Here you go:


Jon Douglas looked from the road to the small Golden Retriever pup in the passenger seat. Why had he succumbed to his feelings for it. Jon had stopped in a small town to eat his packed lunch. He didn’t like to spend his hard earned dollars on takeout.
After eating, he had taken a little stroll on main street. Jon had stopped in front of a pet store. Two Golden Retrievers played with each other. Chasing, tackling, biting. Then out of nowhere, a set of arms reached in and grabbed one. The last pup, stunned, looked at its sibling being ripped away from its life. A low pitiful whimper released from the pup’s throat. It turned, and looked out the window. The pup tilted its head and gave Jon its puppy eyes. Those hazel eyes.

Okay so it was 124. (If I counted right) I didn't want to stop mid-paragraph. What do you think? Did it make you want to keep reading or stop? It may be hard to judge a book by 124 words.

P.S. The book is a sub-genre from mystery. They call it a cozy mystery.