by lzadmin | Oct 13, 2013 | Reading & Writing, ROCK your Writing
WATER is symbolic! You know that! We use water to bless, baptize, cleanse, and purify. Authors use a dunk under water to indicate a character’s spiritual change or spiritual rebirth! A character might: dance in the rain, indicating joy at their new lease on...
by lzadmin | Oct 9, 2013 | Reading & Writing, ROCK your Writing
“Ain’t no river wide enough…ain’t no mountain high enough…to keep you away from me, babe.” We know it’s not a real river or mountain but a symbolic obstacle to overcome. Geography is more than just the setting of your novel!...
by lzadmin | Oct 7, 2013 | Reading & Writing, ROCK your Writing
Weather is more than just the change of atmospheric conditions! It’s fraught with symbolism—especially bad weather. Need to portend a change? Use weather! A few quick examples: The crack of thunder after a character’s ominous OR foreboding OR creepy...
by lzadmin | Oct 2, 2013 | Reading & Writing, ROCK your Writing
BaM! SmAcK! POW! Violence! We love it! And in many genres it’s 100% necessary! Most of us include some type of violence in our novels. In literature, violence can be: thematic: Think Fight Club or The Old Testament or Heart of Darkness or The Things They...
by lzadmin | Sep 29, 2013 | Reading & Writing, ROCK your Writing
Have you created a character who sickens and/or dies? Or maybe a character—for plot’s sake—just has TO GO! Make it awesome by having their illness be SYMBOLIC or IRONIC or DIVINE . Writers often use illness to reveal a character’s: flaws or...