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Friday, May 13, 2011

Friday Fricassee

Thanks for another round of awesome comments!  This community is such a wonderful combination of advice, empathy, and now-I-don't-feel-so-aloneness.

I've got a good link for you today:  Jodi Meadows's Beginnings: Action and Change.

Read it! We often hear, "Start your story with some action!" when that's not exactly the right thing to do. Necessarily. Jodi says it all really well.

As for me, I'm looking forward to an afternoon of revising with Ben and Jerry's new flavor on the end of my spoon.  HAVE YOU SEEN IT? Coffee and malt (MALT!) ice cream with a whiskey caramel swirl. There are no words for this.

Maybe I should just soften it and use a really fat straw.

Have an awesome weekend!  See you during Monday's Secret Agent frenzy.
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6 comments:

  1. Leslie S. RoseMay 13, 2011 at 4:10 PM

    Ice cream run first, and then I'm off to the link. Thank you for two Friday goals.

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  2. Leslie S. RoseMay 13, 2011 at 4:16 PM

    I lied. I went to the Jodi's link first. Well worth it!

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  3. TurboMay 13, 2011 at 5:24 PM

    The first version of my novel-on-the-market got to action quickly, then people complained they were lost and needed setup.

    When I added more setup and had the first chapter as character/worldbuilding, people wanted action faster. *shrug* No one way will please everyone.

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  4. AuthoressMay 13, 2011 at 5:39 PM

    But see, I don't think it's about pleasing everyone. When they say they want "more action," I think what they REALLY want is more CONFLICT. Which may or may not be action (as Jodi says). So if you've got a whole chapter of character/worldbuilding with no CONFLICT, then people are probably going to say things like, "I want more action." Which really means conflict (or, in Jodi's terms, CHANGE).

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  5. BronMay 13, 2011 at 9:54 PM

    A very timely post for me, since I'm re-writing my first page at the moment (based on last month's SA contest!). I think Jodi explained the difference between action and conflict nicely.

    Turbo - I'm having a similar problem at the moment. I think I just haven't found the right balance yet!

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  6. Richelle MorganMay 16, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    I loved the link AND the ice cream. Beginnings are hard, but that new Ben & Jerry's flavor definitely soothed my writerly soul. Thanks for both!

    ReplyDelete