Reading for insight

I reread books to find clues to how other authors create tension, connect the dots, keep readers turning the pages. Currently I'm interested in multiple point of view characters and techniques to structure these in a story. In the Time Traveler's Wife Henry and Claire each are primary POV characters. Each tells the story of their love affair from their own perspective. Each scene is identified in terms of time and age of the two characters. The reader always knows where she is in time and whose POV is 'telling' the story. Each scene is written in first person. Everything about the story flows, each character relates his/her viewpoint in their own voice. Excellent structure for handling multiple characters, shifts in time, and creating story tension.
See new post on Dubious Grief page.

Writing first lines

In the short story class I've taken the instructor - Nina Hoffman - encourages students to write first lines for stories. These first lines generate ideas for the story and aim to generate interest in the reader. I took up the challenge and over the past several days I've written opening lines for each of the fifteen chapters I envision for my reorganized Dubious Grief. With each attempt at generating first lines my insight into what each chapter is about emerged more clearly. Some of my chapter titles changed as well as two section titles. This exercise has brought clarity to some hazy concepts. And I now have a better roadmap from which to rewrite my story.

I'm Back!

Let's just say I took a short hiatus from blogging to READ - WRITE - REWRITE but mostly to THINK about my Dubious Grief story. I struggled through the memoir writing class for the third time and was at my wits end trying to find my voice and my story. I pondered the essential question: what is this book about? throughout February - March - April. And then one day in early May a voice somewhere inside my skull screamed "GRIEF you idiot!" Even the title - Dubious Grief - shouted the story; how could I have missed it all this time? Immediately I embarked on devising a new story structure based exclusively on my grieving. Where had my grief begun? What had awakened my grief? Changing the focus from what happened to Glen, his struggle and my reaction to it, I now focus on what was happening with me during that time. This book is about my journey with grief and hence the working title became: Dubious Grief: A Journey because grief is not an event, it's a journey. Yesterday I drafted sixteen pages about my two-day getaway in July 2008 and how taking care of myself landed me on my path of awakening grief. That is when and where my story began.