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January 2, 2005

things to remember before we start

To recap:

1. Do important stuff in scene. That means, you don't have the crucial confrontations, discussions, stares happening out of the reader's view. It's disappointing and frustrating to work toward the day when Jane finally tells Inez what she really thinks of her, and then not be invited to observe.

2. Dialogue is gold. Every word has to bear multiple burdens. Few writers can pull off pages of dialogue. Try writing a five page scene that is nothing but a telephone conversation, and you'll see what I mean.

3. Trust the reader to make logical leaps. We don't need, we shouldn't be subjected to, every movement and thought.

Now I'm going to take the puppyboys for a walk while I think about people mad at each other on paper.

I'm not sure about this, but.

Apparently this weblog has been nominated for a BOB award. Here's the link. I know nothing about BOB, but hey, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

So if you have time and energy to go over there and say hey and maybe vote, great. Otherwise, you're wondering, why am I not writing about writing? Because these last days I've been writing about Jennet and Luke and Hannah and about gardening. I have a friend who is launching an online gardening magazine and well, my philosophy is: you support your friends in the things that matter most to them. So for a while here y'all took a back seat to Garden Sense, but things are almost ready to launch over there and then I'll be done. Really.

Anybody interested in a discussion of writing argument and fight scenes?