Writers know the importance of back story, the story behind the story. We try not to abuse it, like info-dumping it in the first chapter. But do you know how to backload?
Backloading a sentence, paragraph or scene puts the "punch" at its end. It gives your words power. Take, for example, this sentence from The Spell Breaker:
Immediately, she drew back, shock numbing her.
Not bad, but it could be stronger. Immediately, she drew back, numb with shock. Isn't "shock" have more punch than "her"? Or, take this example, Mahogany, (table edge) she noted as her eyesight left her. Could we empower it more? ...as her eyesight dimmed.
It's little substitutions like this that make your work stronger. Go through your work and rearrange. Substitute. Play with the sentence structure to add power. Every sentence doesn't have to end with a wow factor, but you should strive for paragraph and scene endings.
BTW, none of this is my idea. I took an online workshop three years ago from Margie Lawson www.margielawson.com She'll be offering the same course "Empowering Character's Emotions" for the Kiss of Death online chapter next month. (www.rwamysterysuspense.org) <--shameless plug. I'm doing a read-through of The Spell Breaker, backloading, and am pleasantly surprised some of it was done unconsciously. The sign of a good teacher, yes?
2 comments:
How do you fit all of your smarts into your regular sized head?
I was gonna say the sign of a great writer - so there.
Post a Comment