Writing Masterclass - Tumblr Posts
What I learned from Dan Browns Free MasterClass Session
Check out the full video on Youtube.
“If you can sit down and write, you’re nowhere near the end of your ability. […] I wasn’t born knowing this [writing] I learned it by making mistakes, reading writers who do it much better than I do and saying, wow I love the way they do that, I want to pull that into what I do.”
– Dan Brown
“Protect the process and the results will take care of themselves”: Writing is 90% routine and just 10% inspiration – a marathon, not a sprint! Create a space in which you can be creative.
“Make it important to yourself”: Writing has to be a project, a priority which importance you have to enforce with yourself and your surroundings. And sometimes that’s hard and uncomfortable.
“every story has been told”: We know the hero will safe the day, but it’s all about how things happen! You get a template on which you can apply your creativitiy and voice.
“be honest with your reader”: creative liberties are alright (e.g. in historical fiction), but you have to be upfront with your reader about what is accurate according to your research and what is your creativity.
“the three C’s” for great stories: clock (time pressure, e.g. a time bomb), crucible (a box that encloses the action, restrain characters and make them face their demons, e.g. a sinking boat), contract (every page should be a promise to the reader: “I know something you don’t know and if you turn the page I promise I will tell you”).
“sticking to the right POV let’s you play fair with the reader in withholding information”: omniscient narrators owe it to the reader to spill a secret the POV character knows – if somebody has a secret that shouldn’t be told yet, stick to another POV
“whichever character has the most to loose, that’s the one you write from”: whoever is the most emotionally stimulated, just found out something upsetting or is in danger, tends to be the most interesting POV.
“I wanna do this better tomorrow”: If something doesn’t work out at first, come back later and give it more creativity, tell yourself that you can make it better to stay motivated, take it as a challenge!
“The way you spark creativity is to empty your mind”: meditation, taking a walk in nature, turn of television/smartphone, whatever let’s you be blank, your mind doesn’t like to be empty, so it will make something to fill itself up.
“Setting the table for breakfast”: Before you end your writing session, start the first paragraph for the next session – it will keep you from going back and being stuck on the last things you wrote.
“You always want people looking in the wrong direction”: Never underestimate your reader! They can tell that the person the author is shining a spotlight on is the red herring. Create a second red herring character on the sidelines who the reader could pick up on as the villain.
“The Michaelangelo way of writing”: At the first stage of writing start with many clues, make sure all the information is there. You can take unnecessary or overdone clues away during editing. It’s easier to take things away than it is to add them.
“I’m always trying to get out of a scene before it’s over”: rather than wraping everything up in a nice bow – get out before the bow is tied. A later chapter can tie up the bow of something that happened a few chapters back! You’re simultaneously solving a problem and posing a new problem. Introduce and answer questions as you go to keep things satisfying. It’s all about tension and release.