Ask a male author about your male character traits or thoughts.

Amazon links to my stories: The Chess Master, Cinnamon & Sugar, Autumn Breeze, A More Perfect Union, Double Happiness, The Wolves of Sherwood Forest, Neanderthals and the Garden of Eden can be found down the right side of the blog. Another site very useful in categorizing books in their proper order is: https://www.booksradar.com/richard-rw/richard.html


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Sunday, November 1, 2015

Viral writing

What’s the difference between a popular book, video or song?

Not much.

They all hit you with strong emotional content, easily identifiable by the reader/watcher/listener.

They all have amazing voice, tone* and imagery.

In scene one, we have been taught to introduce the inciting incident, but it’s more than that. The reader must identify with and feel a strong pull from the character.

*Tone: I have discovered (listening to NPR) that across the world, in all cultures, we make similar “nonsense” sounds to our babies. We modulate our voice in pitch, tone and quickness to either award behavior, say no or stop, offer encouragement etc. I believe the best singers and writers know how to communicate with their audiences at a subconscious level and that the sounds of love or the honesty of the written word will carry the same basic tones as our coos to a baby. You will forever hear these hit (whether book or song) melodies in word or voice and the sounds mean something deep within you.

Almost any song today or yesterday has these so-called human nonsense sounds (especially doo-wop). In good writing, it’s the emotion of the character on display that creates these resonances within us.

(Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Natural Born Charmer). There was something visceral about a girl in a beaver suit and the quarterback in his hot car screeching to a halt. You feel it, immediately. He was not only tired of all the perfect girls with nothing interesting to offer him. He wanted more from life and he hardly knew it.
 
Her first paragraph in the novel: It wasn’t every day a guy saw a headless beaver marching down the side of the road, not even in Dean Robillard’s larger-than-life world. “Son of a…” Dean slammed on the brakes of his brand-new Aston Martin Vanquish and pulled over in front of her. [simple words, right? their impact is unforgettable and immediate]

Here's a song I was attracted to when she introduced "nonsense" sounds, especially the ones half-way through. You might not like this character, but it's not a romance. I think her sounds are easily translated. As a father, I see a lost soul and hope for her recovery.

Tove Lo, 2013, Habits

1 comment:

  1. Yeah, she does look like the typical teen. I liked her sound, and the nonsense words are catchy.

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