Tuesday's Inspiration - NY Times cartoon viewed by Janet Lane Walters

I wish I could post what I saw in the NY Times Book Review Section. A wonderful cartoon showing a roller coaster ride taken by every author. Some of the things made me smile.

Lengthy Prologue - I seldom use them but I have read ones that are pages and pages long. From there the cartoon goes on to Exposition. We all use this when writing and this took a huge space on the roller coaster. Rising Action was next. Sure something we all need to keep the readers moving. To the climax of this scene. Falling action, This means it's time to take a breath. We've all read books where there is no stop from action to action and we're either breathless or put the book aside.

This one brought a chuckle from me Extraneous Scenery. Sometimes I tend to ignore the scenery. We come to a Jarring Twist. That can take the story in a direction not intended by the writer. This is followed by an Unreliable Narrator. Is this one who says things to throw the reader off. Then there was the Plot Hole. How often have you encountered this when writing. I usually finish a rough draft of a story thinking there are holes in the plot large enough for three semis driving in a string across. Something that must be fixed.

Now since many of my stories are romances we come to the Tunnel of Badly Written Love. Must check the love scenes to make sure they are possible. Is the person on the bottom prone or supine. This has fouled up many a love scene I've read.

Then there is the Unresolved Subplot. Must go back and check to see if I've tied up all the loose ends. This is followed by the Denouement.

The final part of the ride brings us to Critical reaction. This showed some people yelling Yes and others saying No. And that's usually what happens and something we need to learn. Not everyone will love your story. They may say bad things about it but there are also those who say they really enjoyed. Those are the people we want to please.