MAY IS HOSTED BY WRITING
RULES BY WRITERS, DONALD MAASS' TWEETS ON CREATING THE
PERFECT NOVEL ;) & SECTIONS INSPIRED BY THESE:
“Stop
in the middle of a sentence, leaving a rough edge for you to start from the
next day — that way, you can write three or five words without being “creative”
and before you know it, you’re writing.” ~ Cory Doctorow
DONALD
MAASS WRITE TIP 78
Find
a scene that’s all action. Drop in an emotion that your protagonist doesn’t
expect to feel.
An
archer threw himself from a rocky outcrop and stabbed at her neck with a short
sword. She blocked him with her shield and stunned him with the wild magic she
harnessed from the powerful surge of fear that flooded the clearing. Mendia
shrugged the man’s dead weight away her as she turned. From the red glow in the
distance it seemed Ardac was channelling envy. Didn’t the magician who wielded
his own emotion suffer recurring bile? She grinned. Then, forcing her wayward
spell wider to enhance her protection, she slashed on towards Galan and the
heart of the conflict.
How
do you think a counter-emotional reaction from your protagonist would improve a
scene?
