Find the 'inciting incident' First things first. Start your story with the inciting incident — the conflict that begins the action of the story and causes the hero to act. Think of the inciting incident as the discovery of the corpse that begins every episode of "Law & Order." Elizabeth George's For the Sake of Elena, for instance, starts like this: “Mercifully, … [Read more...] about Start with the snake
Archives for July 2013
Create your own comic
7 tools for doing it yourself If you have more time than money — and if professional quality is not an issue — you might consider creating your own comic. A gazillion online tools make it possible to put simple comics together. Among my favorites: 1. Halftone I could waste the rest of my life doodling around on Halftone, a 99-cent iPad app that turns photos into comic … [Read more...] about Create your own comic
How short on Twitter?
118 characters is the new black Give Twitter followers some space. Space to include a comment when they retweet your message, that is. Yes, you have 140 characters to work with on Twitter. And that’s not much. But leave 20 characters for your followers’ notes, and you’ll encourage retweeting. That’s right: 120 characters is the new 140. Or is it? 118 characters … [Read more...] about How short on Twitter?
Story of my life
StoryCorps animates Americans' oral histories StoryCorps, public radio's oral history project, has collected and archived more than 45,000 stories of nearly 90,000 participants. Now you can see some of them in action through its animated shorts. Also check out StoryCorp's Great Questions, a useful tool when interviewing someone about her story. How can you gather, … [Read more...] about Story of my life
Get a Web copy makeover
Make the most of your messages with Ann's before-and-after service Want to see your Web copy in a whole new light? Get a professional makeover from Wylie Communications. For years, our clients have been asking us to show them what we would have done with their intranet articles, Web pages, e-zines, magazines articles and blog posts. Recently, one of them was especially … [Read more...] about Get a Web copy makeover