Action Adventure Fiction

Its been a while, so I thought it was about time I put up something else about writing. I went and assembled another report from a series of articles in Randy Ingermanson’s Advanced Fiction Writing e-zine. This one is called “Creating Characters.”

He gives some great ideas on how to make you characters not only seem more real, but be more interesting.

The report is 18 pages long and is in pdf format. It weighs in at a hefty 150 kb.

Just for future reference, I’m also putting this one on the resources page.

Download: Creating Characters

Recently I started looking around for podcasts geared toward writers and writing. Here’s a few:

Creative Writing Podcast @ American Writers - Some great audio essays on topics important to fiction writers.
Holly Lisle On Writing - She’s got some great ideas, but unfortunately she seems to have stopped doing these. However, there are five up for your listening enjoyment.

I Should Be Writing -  A podcast by a wanna-be writer for wanna-be writers.

The Writing Show - “Where writing is always the show.”

I’ll go ahead and add these to the resources page, too.

When discussing literary fiction and “commercial” fiction, I’ve often read that they are two different schools of thought. Maybe that’s because in today’s world, we are trained to divide any concept into two and then pick a side. I don’t think you have to choose one or the other. Stephen King once wrote an article of writing tips where he said, “Write to entertain. Does this mean you can’t write ’serious fiction’? It does not. Somewhere along the line pernicious critics have invested the American reading and writing public with the idea that entertaining fiction and serious ideas do not overlap. This would have surprised Charles Dickens, not to mention Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Bernard Malamud, and hundreds of others. But your serious ideas must always serve your story, not the other way around. I repeat: if you want to preach, get a soapbox.”

It’s weird how so many (more…)

Randy Ingermanson finally got his Advanced fiction writing blog up and running. In his first post, he asked “What Drives You To Write Fiction?”

For me, the stories themselves drive me to write. It’s kind of like they take a life of their own once I start writing something. Once I’ve started it, the story begs my subconsciously to finish it, and I need to know that it’s complete.

Take my current project, Oasis. I can’t stop now, even when I try to take an extended break. I mean, those zombies aren’t going to kill themselves, so I’ve got to make sure it happens.

I also write because it’s fun and relaxing to me. And of course, I like it because I like to call myself a “Writer.” But those things are secondary.

Here are a couple of things that have helped my writing recently:

The Snowflake Method - This is pretty much the way I write now, because it’s how I think. It is geared for writing novels, but the concepts can be used for many things.
Writing the Perfect Scene - A good article on writing scenes that keep the reader into your story.
Lester Dent Pulp Paper Master Fiction Plot - How to write a story just like the creator of Doc Savage did. This is good stuff.

This will be a place for me to blog about storytelling, writing, pulp stories, and like everyone else in the blog world, anything I feel like.
Just to start things off, here's a little essay I wrote a while ago. It's based on a conversation I had with a friend, after which she asked me, "We weren't really talking about strawberries, where we?"

Not a story, but at least I still find it amusing.

On Eating Strawberries
by Bryce Beattie

In order to have a truly enjoyable experience, clearly the selection of the strawberry is of paramount importance. Now, there are few un-rotted strawberries that could still be considered bad. However, there is a special certain class of strawberry that can define the goal experience. The ideal strawberry must be plucked fresh from the plant by the eater. It is firm. It is the perfect shade of red. It is plump and juicy to the point that it appears to be ready to burst its skin.

Upon choosing an ideal strawberry, it is torn or cut from the plant, leaving all less than exemplar fruit behind, for imperfect strawberries may become perfect over time. The strawberry is raised casually to the lips. It is brought to rest gently between the teeth. In the instant before the first bite is preformed, the tip of the tongue is placed on the tip of the strawberry, preparing itself for the inevitable rush ahead. The slightly rough texture is swiftly fondled and the flavorless skin is savored for a brief moment of increasingly sweet anticipation.

This anticipation lasts only half an instant, but is still quite unbearable. And so it happens.

The initial bite issues a fine burst, a tiny wave of flavor, striking first the sensitive, waiting point of the tongue. The gentle sweetness awakens the dormant taste buds. If this glimpse of a taste was all this little fruit had to offer, it would be enough. Fortunately, and to our great pleasure, it does not stop there.

As this bitten piece is moved to the side of the mouth a trail of nectar is left on the tongue, exciting every instant more taste buds. The full sweetness is finally at hand. As mastication commences, all firmness and form of the strawberry are sacrificed to envelop the tongue in a blanket of juicy ecstasy. The delicious taste is at last accessible to the entire mouth.

Each successive bite hails a new wave of enjoyment, building upon the power of the last, pleasure and excitement expanding, until the mouth is encased in rapture.

Then altogether too quickly, the strawberry is gone, and the leafy green top is cast aside. After all, it is only a strawberry. That perfect taste lingers momentarily, however, with no sticky film, no unwanted residue, soon fading to the tenderest whisper of taste.

Although the strawberry is now gone, the lips can almost still feel its weight and texture. The tongue can almost still taste it. The ultra-sensory experience hangs on the very verge of reality, pleading to be encountered, to be indulged in, again, and again. Every time another strawberry is seen or even thought about, this memory comes close to actuality, and the event is craved afresh. Having once been known, how can the fruit be resisted?

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs2.5 License.