Gerard Bianco Studio

Today, I'm excited to re-introduce Lin Anderson for Part 3 of her 3-part series on The Structure of Story. Lin has a lot of writing experience, having published eight novels, which feature forensic expert Dr Rhona MacLeod. Her books have been translated into several langauages and are in development for TV. Her short stories have appeared in a number of collections, most recently  Dead Close  was chosen for the Best of British Crime 2011. Also a screenwriter, her film  River Child  won a BAFTA and the Celtic Film Festival best fiction award. Lin's website is:  http://www.lin-anderson.com/   In this essay, Lin talks about the importance of the ending and how it relates to all that has come before it. To illustrate her thoughts, Lin has included one of her short stories, One Good Turn . Part 3: The Resolution Before you write your resolution I'd like you to consider one thing. What image/thought/emotion do you want your reader to have in their...

Today, I'm excited to introduce fellow mystery writer and guest blogger Jane Isaac. Jane is the author of the psychological thriller, An Unfamiliar Murder . Jane lives in rural Northamptonshire , UK . She studied creative writing, and later specialist fiction with the London School of Journalism. Jane is not only a mystery writer, she is also an avid reader, a mum, a dog lover and a traveler. Recently, she has had two short stories accepted for crime anthologies, so please listen up – she knows what she’s talking about. Here is her fact-filled essay: The Devil is in the Detail No matter what genre you write, every book carries some element of research and, for crime fiction, the weight is a heavy one. There’s not only police procedure, plotlines, areas and events to study, but also people. What’s the secret formula behind the great characters in fiction? Research. Investment into creating and layering our characters gives them the depth to become ‘real’. ...

Less than 1 month ago, I had the honor of being interviewed by Laurie Hanan,  http://www.wix.com/lauriehanan/laurie-hanan  the author of Almost Paradise and How Far is Heaven , for her blog. Laurie lives in Hawaii. (I know, I jealous, too.) The interview gave me a chance to talk about my books in depth, which is something an author rarely gets to do. It also gave me an opportunity to pause and contemplate my writing. A good interview, meaning questions that go deeper than "how long did it take you to write this book?" forces you to examine your conscience. It is something I recommend for everyone - authors and non authors alike. You may be surprised by your answers. Here is my interview in its entirety. It is an honor to have with me today the very talented novelist, playwright, artist, and jeweler, Gerard Bianco. He is the author of the award-winning mystery/thriller   The Deal Master .   His latest book,   Discipline: A Play recently won the Editor’s Choic...

I've spent 6 days on the first two paragraphs of my latest short story. I'm close to getting them the way I want. They're not quite there yet. I want them to flow. I want the reader to slide into the story without realizing he is being taken for a ride. I want him/her to feel as if they are floating with the current on smooth seas, not fighting against it, which means, I want to give the reader as much information as I can, enticing him to continue reading, but not overloading him with too much information. Let me show you what I mean. Here are the first few sentences from my story before editing: One day I came home and found a man lying on my living room rug. Ordinarily, this would have been a delightful surprise, but my discovery was far from normal. The man was dead! Here is the new version: I went for a walk one morning, and when I returned, I found a handsome man stretched out on my living room rug. I’m gay, so ordinarily this would have been a delig...

Today, I'm excited to re-introduce Lin Anderson for Part 2 of her 3-part series on The Structure of Story. Lin has a lot of writing experience, having published eight novels, which feature forensic expert Dr Rhona MacLeod. Her books have been translated into several langauages and are in development for TV. Her short stories have appeared in a number of collections, most recently  Dead Close  was chosen for the Best of British Crime 2011. Also a screenwriter, her film  River Child  won a BAFTA and the Celtic Film Festival best fiction award. Lin's website is:  http://www.lin-anderson.com/ Part 2: The Muddle in the Middle As I said in my opening piece, human beings intuitively understand when a story works. That’s probably most obvious when sitting in a packed cinema. The collective intelligence of the audience knows when things are going slack in the story. This happens usually in the middle section when the audience starts to fidget and eat th...

Yesterday, I deleted nearly 600 words from a story that I have been working on for the last two weeks. Did it hurt? You bet it did. But by doing so, it improved the story dramatically. Don't you wish you could write prose that flowed across the paper like soft butter on warm toast? Dream on. If you’re like me, you're spending more time editing your stories than almost anything else. Editing is an integral part of the writing process, and it is only through thoughtful editing that my stories have come alive. Writing a story is like building a house with a lump of clay. You begin by roughing out the shape you want. Editing is the modeling process that shapes the clay into the beautiful finished product you had in mind when you began. The more experience I gain as a writer, the more I edit. The more I edit, the more experience I gain as a writer. George Lucas, talking about film editing, gives us an excellent definition on the subject. His words apply to story edit...

Today, I'm proud to introduce guest blogger, Lin Anderson who has published eight novels featuring forensic expert Dr Rhona MacLeod. Lin's books have been translated into several langauages and are in development for TV. Her short stories have appeared in a number of collections, most recently Dead Close was chosen for the Best of British Crime 2011. Also a screenwriter, her film River Child won a BAFTA and the Celtic Film Festival best fiction award. Lin's website is:  http://www.lin-anderson.com/ This following essay is the first of a three part blog. Part 1: The Structure of Story How important is it to understand the structure of a story? When I wrote my first short story and my first novel I had no idea how stories 'worked'. I knew instinctively when one didn't work, but had no idea what was wrong with it. When I wrote my first crime piece for television, I studied how it was done by watching Prime Suspect, a classic, and noting the st...