What is a sequel? The sequel is the development that glues the scenes together. In a sequel the hero reacts to the previous scene, evaluates his position, commiserates with his sidekick and plans for the next scene. A sequel can (and in most cases, should) include action, but the action in the sequel doesn't directly move the plot.

Example: Suppose we are writing a novel about Fred the Corporate Man. Fred's goal is to be promoted (story question), but a nasty boss stands in the way (conflict). His storyline could look like this:

[SCENE] - Fred has a meeting with Mr. Scrooge. Scrooge assigns Fred the worst project in the company in the hopes that he will fail and be fired.

[SEQUEL] - Fred discusses this setback with Tom, his co-worker sidekick. Through his conversation with Tom, he plans to turn the disastrous project into a winner, leapfrogging his reputation over and past Mr. Scrooge and obtaining his goal of a promotion.

[SCENE] - The next day, Fred begins to assemble his project team. Mr. Scrooge interferes again by making Fred accept the worst performers in the company into his new project group.

[SEQUEL] - Fred goes home to his wife after a grueling 12 hour day. She comforts him and assures him that he can succeed.

In this way, each scene changes the status of the story goal, causing the hero to adjust his game plan and attitude toward the story situation. Scene and sequel work together to keep the story flowing toward a satisfying conclusion.

How does scene and sequel affect story? The length and frequency of scenes and sequels have a direct impact on both the speed and the tone of the story. Action and adventure stories tend to have long scenes and short sequels, making a fast plot. Romance and mainstream novels may have short scenes and long sequels, making the story more introspective and emotional. For example, in a romance novel the heroine may have a luncheon with her lover that lasts for only two or three pages, and then have a ten page sequel in which she reviews and analyzes everything that her lover said and did during the meal.

Should I plan scenes and sequels beforehand? If you are a plotter type of writer, scenes and sequels can be outlined beforehand, but it is not necessary. What is important is that you are able to recognize the scenes and sequels after you have produced your first full draft. By lengthening or shortening the scenes and sequels you can produce the desired effect and keep the plot moving smoothly.

Should scenes and sequels always be in order? Often you can juggle scenes and sequels to add mystery and suspense to your plot. Often you can open your story with a scene that leaves a lot of mystery, providing the accompanying sequel later. A prime example would be a murder mystery. Here we show the aftermath of the murder, deliberately leaving out the murder commission scene and the sequel that shows the motive and premeditation of the crime. The mystery writer gives the reader the story out of order to hide facts and add the mystery component. Here is another example:

Chronological Order

Scene 1: Bob has an affair with his secretary.

Sequel 1: He starts planning to leave his wife.

Scene 2: Bob's wife June finds out about his infidelity through a mutual friend.

Sequel 2: Unwilling to let Bob get away with this, June plans to leave Bob.

Scene 3: Bob decides to buy two tickets to Hawaii for his lover and himself.

Sequel 3: Bob discusses his plans with his lover.

Scene 4: June goes to the bank and empties out the bank accounts. She packs everything into a U-Haul truck and leaves town.

Scene 5: Bob tries to buy the plane tickets. His debit card is denied.

Scene 6: Bob finds out that June has taken all of the money and left.

Now, if we want to make this fairly straightforward plot a bit more interesting, we can move a few scenes and sequels out of order. Perhaps we will show Scene 1 and Sequel 1, skip to Scene 3 and Sequel 3, then move on to Scene 5. Like Bob, the reader won't see the surprise of the empty bank accounts coming. After Bob has had his shock, we the writer can go back and reveal Scene 2, Sequel 2 and Scene 4, allowing the reader to see exactly how Bob ended up in this unfortunate situation.

The Bottom Line: Understanding scene and sequel gives you an added amount of control over your story's pace and timing!

Hello! I’m JK Kristie. This is my 24^th published article on Triond. As of today I have also published 15 images.

My first material was published on May 25, 2008. It was hurriedly done since we’re about to go on vacation. Two days after, I checked on my e-mail and received my first ever published notification. It’s the very first paid to write article notification that I’ve received in my entire life. So yes, I was floating on air for the next few days. For me it means I have become a certified published author. Wow!

I’m not supposed to be proud of that article but it was my ticket to being a paid published author. Had that been declined I think I wouldn’t be here on Triond since I’d be too discouraged to continue writing.

It took me almost three months to publish the next article. The succeeding ones were declined until I quit writing and haven’t checked on Triond for two months. How I get to keep on writing again is another story. For now I just want to introduce myself.

I have used several pen names since I started including The WHAM and Karen Chien. Next to JK Kristie, The WHAM was the longest I’ve used. Why did I finally changed it and made it permanent happened after I read the Triond Help Center. In the Publication button I’ve read the question that goes: “What should I choose for my pen name?” I’ve read it twice or thrice in the past, but at that time I haven’t really established my name yet in the community. I had neither friends nor fans. At least, that’s what I thought since I had no idea then who or how to know who the fans are. I’ve found out later that with only one published article I have a fan since June 4.

As I continued exploring Triond I read that pen name part again and finally brain storm on what my publisher’s name will finally be. I was in bed drifting off to sleep one night when I finally zeroed in on JK Kristie. Triond said: “We suggest that you choose a pen name that is either your own name, or sounds realistic.” That’s what I did. J is actually my husband and our baby’s initials while K is my first name’s initial. Kristie is my Christian middle name.

By the way, I’m a full-time-stay-at-home mom. Since a friend shared to me the Triond website, I have made myself into a work-at-home one. Ironically, that friend of mine hasn’t submitted anything on Triond yet.

I was lucky. The first piece I wrote was accepted and led to several years of solid work. It was only when I started to write fiction that I discovered rejection, and how painful it can be.

Amongst short story writers, you might think that how successful they are would correspond to how much talent they have, but that’s often not the case. It can be their reaction to rejection that makes the difference between success and failure. 

I can safely say that I get more rejections than most writers.

The reason is simple. I write vast numbers of stories, many  of which are rejected by at least one editor or competition judge. In fact, some of my stories get rejected several times.

Being rejected  stopped bothering me when I finally learned something very important. Stories and articles are rejected for all kinds of reasons. The editor may have just bought something on a similar theme. It may be a good story but the wrong length, or written in the first person when they prefer the third person.

Unfortunately, editors are usually too busy to say why they are rejecting your work. It may simply be a case of bad timing, and that certainly isn’t a good reason to give up. Try the piece somewhere else.

If you receive a rejection note on which an editor or publisher has written a comment, read it. Take note of it, and if you can, act on it.

If they have taken the trouble to write something rather than sending a standard rejection letter or note, that often means they think your writing has merit.

Take it as a good sign, and send them something else as soon as you can. .

A story needs to be fiction. A factual account of something that happened to you, or an article, is unlikely to make the short list.

Join your pages together 

Otherwise, the pages may come apart,  but avoid using pins. A judge who has just pricked their finger will not be in the best frame of mind when reading your entry.

Use a ‘normal’ font

Eleven is good,  twelve is better. It needs to be easy to read, but not so large that only two hundred words fit on a page. Stick to boring fonts like Courier and Times New Roman again because they are easier to read.

Read all the rules

Competitions often ask that you don’t put your name on the manuscript. This is done to make judging fairer. If you break and of the rules, however unimportant they may seem, you may be disqualified and waste your entry fee.

Check the word count

If the word count states 2000 words, a 2100 word story could be disqualified. Aim for a word count just UNDER the limit or write a shorter story. After all, there is nothing to prevent a one thousand word story winning a competition with a longer word count. It’s the quality that counts.

Check postage and payment

A great story will not win if it fails to get delivered because you haven’t used enough stamps, and if the cheque isn’t made out correctly, your entry will not even get to the judging stage.

Use white A4 paper

It may be boring, but judges prefer all the entries to be on the same colour  and size of paper as that  makes it easier to sort the entries, and to read them.

1. The effect must be very close to the cause. If you have Bill punch Jack in the face, move on to your dramatic dialogue, change point of view for a couple of chapters, and then return to Jack and show that his nose is bleeding, your reader may have to pause and try to remember exactly why that should be. Keeping your cause and effect relationships close together helps to eliminate confusion.
2. As much as possible, keep causal relationships separate. In other words, don't show Cause 1, Cause 2, Effect 1, Cause 3, Effect 2…. Again this creates confusion in the reader and slows enjoyment of the story. Using the fighting analogy again, you wouldn't show Bill punching Jack, Bill kicking Jack in the shins, Jack reeling from the punch, then Jack holding his knee. Show the punch, the head moving back, the kick and then the knee holding reaction.
3. Don't overwhelm a character with actions. If Marsha screams at Adam, throws a bottle at his head, threatens to call the police on him and shoots him with pepper spray, now what will he do? He has too much stimulus thrown at him at once for him to react to all of it. Try to keep it to one action plus one reaction at a time.
4. Sometimes the reaction will be unexpected. For example: “Will you marry me?” John asked Julie. Julie hit John over the head with a beer bottle. At this point, the reader is saying, “whaaat?” Obviously there is something missing here. In a scenario like this, an internalization (character's thoughts) is needed to clear up the confusion. The edited version will look like this: “Will you marry me?” John asked Julie (cause/action). How could he ask me now, she thought. Now that I've finally given up on him and said yes to Fred? What a jerk! A sudden fit of anger hit her (internalization). Julie hit John over the head with a beer bottle (effect/reaction). Now the reaction makes sense.

What is continuity? Simply put, continuity is story logic. When you start a plot element and don't finish it, make characters behave contrary to what we expect, make the reader focus on an object or person and then don't make them significant later, you have committed a continuity lapse. Unlike reality, nothing should be arbitrary in your story. The following are some common continuity lapses that should be avoided:

1. The insignificant object. As we discussed in Lesson 11, an object, location or person should not be described in great detail unless they are essential to the story. Think of description as pointing a video camera at an object during a movie. If you make a big deal out of pointing out an object and then you never refer to it again, it gives the reader the impression that you are either a sloppy storyteller or that you forgot that object.
2. The inconsistent character. This one refers to a previous lesson also, Lesson 5. Once you have established the basic nature of a character, you must stick to that personality. It is a challenge to establish personality in a character in the first place, and if you go counter to it you will ruin all of your previous hard work. Honest characters don't steal, prudish heroines don't fall into bed without any resistance, and shy characters don't sing karaoke unless a death threat is involved. It is okay for a character to have opposing characteristics, but you must establish that early and often. The continuity lapse occurs when you break character late in the story, after the personality has been set in stone.
3. The dangling plot point. Any time you put a twist or significant development in your plot, it should have a downstream effect on the rest of the story. When significant events happen that have no effect on the story, it can make the story lose its punch and feel trite. For example, if you show Jeremy cheating on his wife, he should be shown dealing with that later in the story at some level. If he has his fling and then it is never mentioned again, the reader feels as if that event meant nothing to the character, and they lose respect for the character and consequently, the plot itself. Even if Jeremy is a villain, this event should serve to solidify his wanton ways or lead to further debauchery. If an event is meaningless to the plot, either greatly downplay it or eliminate it altogether.
4. The cut scene. Sometimes you will have two or more storylines that are running parallel to one another. This can be a great way to keep a story alive, changing viewpoint every so often to keep the reader engaged, leaving one character at a great narrative hook moment to focus on another. It is very important that when you leave one storyline for another, you must pick the first storyline up in a place that logically follows where the reader left him/her. Example: At the end of Chapter 3, Edgar has had a terrible car wreck. We leave him in this predicament for a couple of chapters while we explore our second storyline. In Chapter 7, we open with Edgar boarding a plane for Paris. What is missing here? If you want to move from a car accident to an international flight, you can. To pull this off you must add a segue, such as, “People stared at the bandage on Edgar's head as he waited in line for his luggage.” As long as you refer to the previous scene, your reader can handle the change of setting. If you leave out the linking actions or phrases, it prompts the reader to thumb back to the past chapter, wondering what he or she missed.
5. Abandoning the story question. Hopefully you have accepted by now that the story question IS the story. If you wander too far from the basic premise of the plot, you will eventually lose your reader. Nothing is more frustrating as a reader than to read fifty pages of something only to find out that it has no effect whatsoever on the story question that we have invested time and interest in finding the answer to.

The Bottom Line: It is very important that everything you write is logical and consistent. Help your reader to follow and enjoy your story without messing with his head!

1. Read the news. The daily newspaper is a great source of inspiration, regardless of what genre you write in. New technology can spark a sci-fi idea. Celebrity scandal can be great fodder for a confession-style novel. Unusual crimes, political instability, business maneuvers, even the obituaries can jog an association and get your creative juices flowing.
2. Reverse an expectation. Taking a person, group of people or situation and making it the opposite of what is expected can make interesting stories. For example, in my first novel I took a homeless man and made him into my protagonist. Taking someone that we sniff at as we drive past them at 60 MPH and making him sympathetic challenged me as a writer and made for an interesting tale. For more details, read Lesson 10: Reversal of Expectation.
3. Mix and match. Sometimes you can get a new idea by combining two or more traditional genres into the same story. How about a romantic novel that takes place on a space station? How about a horror novel set in a Western town at the turn of the century? Playing with genre conventions like this can create a very fresh feeling story.
4. Revamp a classic. There are many classic stories that can be reinvented or retold with a new slant. For example, nearly every vampire novel ever written either uses or reverses the standards set by the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. Take a classic that you have enjoyed, analyze what you like about it, and see if you can add to its high points while injecting your own flavor and improving the elements that you didn't enjoy about the original.
5. Do a technological update. Revolutions in communications, transportation, medicine and other technologies make some stories obsolete, while at the same time opening new possibilities. Think about the invention of the cell phone. How did that alter the old "car breaks down in a deserted area" type horror novel? You can take an old storyline and apply new technologies to it to see what problems it eliminates, and more importantly, what new problems it creates.
6. Travel! Visiting new regions, climates and countries stimulates your creativity and gives you a new perspective on your home life. Whenever you have the time and money, see new places as much as possible.
7. Try new hobbies. Almost anything new that you learn can give you ideas for a story. Adventurous hobbies tend to help the most. Outdoor activities like whitewater rafting, hiking and camping not only provide an instant change of scenery but also help by providing an atmosphere void of "civilization chatter," allowing you to be absorbed in your own thoughts without the television/radio/computer demanding a portion of your brainwaves. Learning about new cultures through museum tours, art galleries and other cultural areas of interest can provide a good perspective. Attending theater plays, ballet and opera can help you to explore your own emotions and appreciate how visuals and ambiance can stimulate certain feelings.
8. Change your crowd. Meeting interesting, intelligent and well-traveled people is a good way to stimulate thought, which spawns ideas. Having a friendly debate with someone who thinks opposite of the way that you do can help you to more strongly define your own values and also expose yourself to alternative ways to think. Try making friends with people who are in different categories of age, ethnicity and culture than you. Not only will this help with ideas, but it can also give you inspiration for new characters to people your novel.
9. Explore your family tree. You can be pleasantly surprised at the exploits of your own ancestors. The true life adventures of your past family can be a good source of storytelling.
10. Imagine the sequel to a favorite story. The best stories leave the reader wanting more. If there is a story that you love and wish that "they" would make a sequel, try imagining that sequel yourself. Of course you cannot write an actual sequel to a novel unless you have express written permission from the original author, but you can create an original sequel-like plotline and insert your own characters into this scenario.

This is a fun one. You get to show your dark side or defame someone you don't like. Don't get me wrong, the antagonist isn't always a dark character but they are always the protagonist polar opposite. If the main character is a bad guy then the antagonist should be a good guy. Don't use the words hero or villain (as you read this you will see why). They are outmoded point of view that is over used and over stated. Now let's have a look at them.

Make your antagonist tough. The antagonist should always be as tough or tougher then the protagonist. They should never be unbeatable but should be indestructible. If your antagonist is out of the story before it's over then the stories done. This is especially important in a series. Recurring antagonists make the story more exciting.

Make them hold malice against the protagonist. One way or another, the two characters don't like each other. The antagonist should have an irrational hate for the protagonist and find any reason at all to attack the protagonist, physically or any other way they can. The attack should never be too destructive; the protagonist should always win in the end with few exceptions.

Figure out who is the villain or hero. Through most people write about a good guy character some do write about the bad guy. In these cases the antagonist is the good guy. These are the only cases the antagonist often wins. They don't always win but they often do and if you think I'm wrong look at the stories where the bad guy wins and see who the story is really about. Sometimes these stories are better then the ones with the protagonist winning.

Figure out what the antagonist is. When creating an antagonist you should make them someone powerful. A powerful antagonist make's the protagonist a far more interesting and exciting character. Your protagonist should rarely be a person with power and almost always be weaker then the antagonist. People love to see the underdog win so make the protagonist the underdog.

Have fun with the character on both sides and remember that this is for a story with action but can be used for drama as well.

Strange bedfellows, these two present a great dichotomy. The page, in all his emptiness, is hungry to be filled.  The muse must dance to survive.  He must be fed and she needs her venue.  His hunger makes him yawn and he screams for thoughts and dreams. His starving gasps result in mere gasps and cries of pain. He begs to be filled with the joy of words that bind and blend with him and with ink for words once penned. The muse anxiously runs to her lover to relieve him of his agony. She nourishes him and comforts him with thoughts, gestures and the words he so desperately needs. They come together in a ménage with the writer and together the three turn the nightmare into a dream; a thought, or a story, or a poem.

Remember the analogy of the road map.  You have a plan to go from NY to LA, you want to go and you have purchased a road map.  Now, does that mean you are done?  Of course not, we know that to actually go from NY to LA you have to get in the car, turn it on, put gas in it and get on the road.

Once on the road, you follow your road map. So, in order to move from the idea of writing a book to actually writing a book you can follow these steps, but you actually have to take out paper and put ink on that page!  Utilize the following list:

• Find a quiet place
  
• Write from the heart
  
• Start writing without worrying about structure, just write your thoughts
  
• Draft pictures of the vision of your ideal book
  
• Type and Edit later, after you feel you are finished with your writing
  
• Don't ask anyone's advice, these are your thoughts, not their thoughts
  
• Don't be discouraged if your thoughts look disorganized at first, have faith and visualize the results you want
  
• Give you're writing the time and focus you need to get the job done. It's better than catching up on American Idol!
  
• Find the right self-publishing option
  
• Let's publish!

 

 

 

 

Before thinking about the characters, you must calculate how many of them you need. Usually, there is a proportion in the number of characters and the size of the novel. Huge novels with only one or two characters may become too dense, and too many Characters for a small novel will make all characters uninteresting. For a hundred thousand words novel you should never have more than 6 main characters, and following that proportion you will produce an adequate number of Characters.

Now let's build the Characters:

1. Buy a nice notebook and a pen you like. Believe me; working with tools you enjoy make the work easier. You can extrapolate that to the other tools you have like desk, computer, light, or anything else you might want to use.
2. If you will build 6 characters, write on the top of six pages “character 1,2,3…6”.
3. Now, you will build each character separately. Go to Character number 1 and proceed. Now, you will think about what your character looks like physically. Black, white, tall, short, fat, thin, and every physical aspect that you think is important. Put everything on the paper and proceed to the next step.
4. Now that you built the body design of your character, is time to decide what he wears. I will not be the first one to say that a person's clothes tell very much about her, so, think carefully on the clothes. The way your character dresses is the first impression he will give to the world. The body is under the clothes and will be the second.
5. Step 5 is when you will describe your character's mood, the way he talks, walks and thinks. Basically, here you will build the Character's personality.
6. Now that you know the way your Character looks, thinks and acts, it's time to think what life he had to make him what he is. That's right: Background time. That is also something that you should give careful thought, because Characters' backgrounds interfere and relate directly to the novel. Of course, that's also a nice opportunity to think about your story.
7. Repeat the same process in all the pages, and voilá. Congratulations, your Characters you be made and ready to use.

One last tip I want to give you is the way I build many of my characters. Sometimes you can just re-create a Character you already know. TV shows are great resources. You can copy a Character you like from CSI, for example, make some minor alterations, give him a completely different background, and you will have a new character in half the time.

Hope I could be of any help, and good luck in writing your novel.

The Thinker by Auguste Rodin

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