CB's Top 100 Writing
Tips,
Tricks, Techniques and Tools
from the Advice Toolbox
Break the rules, not the writing
Carter Blakelaw
CB's Top 100 Writing Tips, Tricks, Techniques and
Tools from the Advice Toolbox: Break the rules, not the writing
First eBook edition. January 12, 2021.
© 2020, Carter Blakelaw. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by The Logic of Dreams
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While every precaution has been taken in the
preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or
omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained
herein.
Cover art and book design by Sanja Baletic & Jack
Calverley
Photography by Florian Klauer and Pawel Czerwinski
from www.unsplash.com.
Aaron Sorkin, 155
actions
boring list
of, 62
Alfred Hitchcock, 88
antagonist
character arc, 105
definition, 8
must be
effective, 104
Anthony Burgess, 35
Anton Chekhov, 165
Chekhov's Gun, 87, 118, 165
the task of the writer, 154
as you know Bob. See dialogue
audio
said tags, 52, 73
synchronization, 58
backstory
how to
introduce, 76
Catharine Abell, 6
character
all have
goals, 105
core beliefs, 102
create plot
from, 93
defining
features, 96
distinct
names, 98
emerge from
plot, 91
goal, 48, 70
in a scene, 70
jeopardy, 70
readable
names, 98
skill-set, 111
topic, 91
unlikeable, 100
Chekhov's Gun. See Anton Chekhov
cliché
authenticity, 156
behavior, 96
genre, 140
proselytizing, 155
the mirror, 109
topic,
22, 119
white room, 97
comparison
in-world, 59
topic,
58
conflict
definition, 7
Cormac McCarthy, 8
critiques
triaging, 159
curiosity
contextual, 26
Dark Passage. See Humphrey Bogart
David Farland, 6
Demolition Man, 23
description
bring the
static to life, 39
what to
include, 37
deus ex machina, 117
dialogue
as you know Bob, 53
character
goal, 74
dialect, 57
exposition, 53
maid and butler talk, 53
on the nose, 54
phonetic
spellings, 57
said tags, 73
small talk, 52
Douglas Adams, 60, 89, 98
drama. See scenes; See suspense
dramatic irony, 55, 80, 133
Dunning–Kruger effect, 135, 165
Easter eggs, 88
emotion
amplify, 132
definition, 7
story ups and
downs, 113
textual real estate, 85
excuses
but it happened in real life, 52
fiction
must make sense, 52
filtering
states of
mind, 127
the world, 18
flow
cause and
effect, 29, 83
conceptual, 26
hooks, 81
real-time or
fast-forward, 84
rhythm, 33
sounds, 31
foreshadowing, 116
Frank Herbert, 32, 99
genre, 96
a promise to the reader, 137
and the Good Idea, 136
beta readers, 13
contemporary brands etc., 87
dangers of
metaphor, 61
expected pace, 35
games of discovery, 97
philosophical paper, 6
reader expectations, 121
relation to active protagonist, 101
resonance, 17
text layout, 134
topic,
139
triaging critiques, 159
trope or cliché, 119
George V Higgins, 130
gossip
tuning in to
story, 106
grammar
and when to ignore it, 64
hooks
flow, 81
gossip, 106
inciting incident, 149
Humphrey Bogart, 124
Hunter S Thomson, 47
immersive reading, 10
inciting incident, 148
information-hiding, 71, 97
intertextuality
topic,
88
J Michael Straczynski, 32
Jane Austen, 8
Jeanne Cavelos, 6
kill your darlings, 160
Lauren Bacall, 124
maid and butler talk. See dialogue
main character
commits to task, 150
definition, 8
superpower, 111
unlikeable, 100
Marx Brothers, 45
metaphor
extended
metaphor, 60
in genre
fiction, 61
in-world, 59
mixed, 60
resonant, 18
topic,
58
Milton Jones, 44
movies
are not prose fiction, 123
names
distinct, 98
fictional, 32
narrative
initial
promise, 151
intrusive
author, 114
what to leave
out, 125
no-but / no-and, 75
normality in story, 125
obstacles
ever-present, 76
Orson Welles, 72
pace
real-time or
fast-forward, 84
variety, 35
paragraph
focus,
individual, 51
topic, 49
personality
definition, 102
point of view
definition, 8
enter the
POV's mind, 123
head-hopping, 79
information-hiding, 72
interests, 37
portraying
self, 109
proximity, 78
violation of, 109, 114
presentation, 85
professionalism
for the
writer, 161
promises
to the reader, 137
pronoun
antecedents, 63
proscenium, 113
proselytizing, 96, 125, 154, 155
protagonist
definition, 9
does things, 100
flaw,
102
guiding
principle for writer, 152
reader
active role in story, 142
and page layout, 133
avoid
atrocity, 121
expectations,
mood, 151
satisfaction, 154
representation, 85
Robert Ludlum, 9
Said Bookism, 73
scenes
causal
connections, 83
discarding
trivia, 86
drama, 71
emotional
shift, 74
ever-present
difficulty, 76
hooks, 81
large scale events, 85
orientation, 69
topic, 69
variety in
setting, 75
zooming in, 78
sentences
ambiguity
removal, 42
the
unexpected, 46
too many
adjectives, 41
topic, 26
setup and payoff
unfulfilled, 71
showing and telling
at the start, 39
dialogue, 67
in scenes, 89
sentences, 47
words, 24
simile
in-world, 59
topic,
58
slow-motion, 85
Stephen King, 114
story
definition, 141
entry and
exit points, 147
in three Acts, 146
initial hook, 150
the inciting
incident, 148
topic, 139
two-sentence
synopsis, 145
unexpected
but inevitable, 84
submissions
obey the
guidelines, 160
subtext
in dialogue, 55
suspense. See scenes, drama
topic,
122
Suzanne Collins, 102
symbolism
topic,
87
the Good Idea
topic,
135
The Hero’s Journey, 140, 167
The Hero's Journey, 144
The High Concept
topic,
143
The Jar of Tang, 71
The Keystone Event, 149
The Rule of Three, 95, 153
The Turkey City Lexicon, 73, 166
theme
topic,
124
time
ongoing vs.
single event, 37
treatment
definition, 65, 113
point of view, 79
tone, 130
voice, 129
trope, 119
unreliable narrator, 22
validation, 148
topic,
157
voice
developing, 32, 129
words
extended
descriptions, 14
overuse, 23
pivotal [as, that, since], 44
resonant, 17
rhyme and
repetition, 49
right vs.
almost right, 12
sensory and
evaluative, 11
short and
simple, 14
soundalike, 13
specific and
general, 10
summary, 12
topic, 10
vague, 15, 19
write what you know
topic,
155
yes-but / yes-and, 74