Without purpose, not without worth

I was supposed to write a blog post about writing for audio, but early in the post, I got distracted with another theme. I’d love to finish it, but I have to get back to the original topic. So, I thought I would share it with you, because while I can’t use it, it’s not exactly useless. And hey, there’s stuff here that people might like to argue with me.

Pick a novel, open to a page, and before you start reading it, just look at it. Without knowing what book you chose, without knowing what page you flipped to, I would bet I can guess what you’re looking at.

Dialog and action. The page has chunks of it, right? There are really only four types of paragraphs that I’ve seen. Setting, Contemplation, Action, and Dialog. While I’ve heard of many books being heavy on setting or too introspective, I’ve never heard of a book that had too much action or dialog.

Now, before you start casting me as the lead in the Micheal Bay biography, please understand that I’m not advocating more action or dialog in a book. I’m just trying to recognize what is already there. A good book is a story. A story has movement and change.

Now here’s the interesting thing. The best way to tell a story is through a storyteller. Look at how many novels are written as old men reminiscing about their past adventures. Look at how many are told from the first-person perspective. People love a storyteller.


I’d like to remind you that I am a professional fiction writer, and each post I write takes time away from my fiction writing.  So please, if you’re getting something out of the blog, help fund my blogging habit.  Thanks so much.





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