Excerpts

Excerpt from Chapter 12: Voice

An early seafaring novel by a celebrated nineteenth-century novelist begins:

It was the middle of a bright tropical afternoon that we made good our escape from the bay. The vessel we sought lay with her main-topsail aback about a league from the land and was the only object that broke the broad expanse of the ocean.

Years later the novelist wrote another first-person seafaring novel that begins:

Call me Ishmael. Some years ago—never mind how long precisely—having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.

The opening of Omoo raises some intriguing questions—Why does the narrator need to escape from the bay? Whom are the narrator and his companions escaping from?—and gives a clear and vivid picture of the waiting ship. The opening of Moby-Dick is irresistible. What makes the difference?

Excerpt from Chapter 7: Interior Monologue

How do you handle your interior monologue’s mechanics so that it reads smoothly and professionally? As with dialogue mechanics, the sterling value is unobtrusiveness. And there is one actual rule: Never, ever use quotes with your interior monologue. It isn’t merely poor style; it is, by today’s standards, ungrammatical. Thoughts are thoughts, not spoken.

Also, it’s rarely a good idea to have your characters mumble to themselves or speak under their breath. It’s almost always going to come off as a contrivance.

Excerpt from Chapter 5: Dialogue Mechanics

Mr. [Robert] Ludlum has other peculiarities. For example, he hates the “he said” locution and avoids it as much as possible. Characters in The Bourne Ultimatum seldom “say” anything. Instead, they cry, interject, interrupt, muse, state, counter, conclude, mumble, whisper (Mr. Ludlum is great on whispers), intone, roar, exclaim, fume, explode, mutter. There is one especially unforgettable tautology: “‘I repeat,’” repeated Alex.”

The book may sell in the billions, but it’s still junk.

--Newgate Callender, The New York Times Book Review

Imagine you’re at a play. It’s the middle of the first act; you’re getting really involved in the drama they’re acting out. Suddenly the playwright runs out on the stage and yells, “Do you see what’s happening here? Do you see how her coldness is behind his infidelity? Have you noticed the way his womanizing has undermined her confidence? Do you get it?”

SEO by AceSEF

Excerpts

Excerpt from Chapter 12: Voice

Excerpt from Chapter 7: Interior Monologue

Excerpt from Chapter 5: Dialogue Mechanics

Explore the site