Want to write a visually powerful novel? Shoot Your Novel takes an in-depth look at cinematic technique for fiction writers. No other writing craft book teaches you the secret of how to "show, don't tell."
Best-selling authors of every genre know the secret to hooking readers—by showing, not telling, their story. But writers are not taught how to “show” scenes in a cinematic way. Without a clear, concise, and precise method for constructing dynamic scenes, a writer will likely end up with a flat, lifeless novel.
Filmmakers, screenwriters, and movie directors utilize cinematic technique to create visual masterpieces, and novelists can too—by adapting their methods in their fiction writing.
By “shooting” your novel, you can supercharge your story!
Sol Stein, in his book Stein on Writing said, “Readers, transformed by film and TV, are used to seeing stories. The reading experience . . . is increasingly visual.” Novelists today—regardless of genre—need to learn how to write cinematically because that's what readers want!
Inside, you’ll learn:
The real secret to “show, don’t tell” and how it’s all about “the moment”
More than a dozen “camera shots” novelists can borrow from screenwriters and directors to create powerful, active scenes
Instruction on how to piece camera shots together to create cinematic scene segments
Examples from novels and screenplays showcasing each facet of cinematic technique
How to devise a thematic image system of key shots, motifs, and images
Ways to use colors, shapes, sounds, and angles for purposeful subliminal effect
Shooting your novel with a filmmaker’s eye will transform your good novel into a great one and will change forever the way you approach constructing your scenes. No other book gives you such deep, thorough instruction in cinematic technique for fiction writing.
Shoot Your Novel released in October 2014 and is consistently selling hundreds of copies a month, increasing monthly. It often ranks in the top ten for writing reference, writing skills, fiction writing books, and other related categories. It is one book in my new Writer's Toolbox series, with two books now out and two more to come in 2015. My award-winning blog and reputation in the US publishing industry as a novelist, writing coach, copyeditor, and workshop instructor help with the sales of my books. Followers of my blog, which provides writing instruction, are found in six continents around the world, and I believe there will be a great interest in other countries for this unique writing craft book, as people all over want to know how to write a great novel.
INTRODUCTION
POINT AND SHOOT
So, a man walks into a bar, accompanied by a large piece of asphalt. He goes up to the bartender and says, “I’ll have a whiskey.” He nods at his friend and adds, “Oh, and one for the road.”
If I told this joke to you and a group of your friends, I’m not sure you’d laugh as much as I’d hope, but one thing I am sure of—you would each have pictured this playing out in your head, and each would have seen a completely different “movie.” Maybe you pictured this taking place in a Western saloon, with the man dressed in cowboy boots and wearing a Stetson hat. He probably had a Texan drawl, and maybe was chewing tobacco as he spoke. Maybe one of your friends imagined a Yuppie high-end urban bar, with soft leather upholstery and smelling of expensive Cuban cigar smoke.
However you envisioned this briefly described scene, no doubt your friends “saw” something wholly different in their minds. Here’s the point: if you had watched this in a movie on the big screen, you and your friends would have seen the exact same things. You wouldn’t be arguing later whether the piece of asphalt was black or gray or the man was wearing that hat or not. The film itself provided all the details for you, leaving little to your imagination.
Tell It Like You See It
With fiction, though, writers are presented with an entirely different situation. The reader reading your novel will only see the specifics if you detail them. And even if you do, it’s likely she will still envision many of the scene elements different from what you hoped to convey.
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Italian
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Already translated.
Translated by Emiliana Erriquez
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Ana Claudia Antunes
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Author review: Ana Antunes is a wonderfully competent and hardworking translator. She helped me understand the process, did excellent work, communicated quickly, and was kind and diligent and fast! I will have her translate all of my books! |
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Spanish
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Translation in progress.
Translated by Horacio Salazar
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