Tag: creative writing

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Floyd Wray, Author of the Duplexed Narrative

C.A. SimonsonLeave a comment

A self-described “media migrant,” Floyd Wray has written for television and film. As a contributor to technical journals and magazines, he has also performed technology research for American and Japanese companies.

Anticipating the eventual transition from paper-based to electronic narrative, Floyd Wray explored a wide variety of hybridization styles. Since no single authoring solution addressed the broad requirements for rich media integration, he developed his own company – MotionBooks. *(See more at motionbooks.com)

As a filmmaker-videographer, Wray provided production services to the Austin tech industry in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In the mid-80s, he joined the team at Byte by Byte Corporation, during the company’s development of the first 3D-modeling software. In the 1990s, Wray worked with Human Code, a digital media company in Austin, Texas which included media research for The Discovery Channel.

Wray has written numerous books: Raising the Dead, The Adventures of TBUG & Sasquatch, Scribe-Geezer, and Blood Toys. (Use your smart phone or tablet to take a screenshot of the QR code. Then in photos, click the code and scroll through videos to see the Blood Toys trailer). His most recent work includes an augmented reality history in The Battle of the Alamo.

When partnered with a smartphone or tablet, The Battle of the Alamo invites the reader to travel back to 1836 and “step inside” the Alamo. The magic of a Smart Book! Look and feel – the duplexed narrative is what brings a book to life in real time. Starting with traditional text, it includes QR coding to link to enhanced media.  It’s a 3D interactive adventure in augmented reality! Floyd Wray will be demonstrating this technique at the June 22 meeting of the Springfield Writers’ Guild.

Resource Tips

Plotting: Knowing Which Scenes to Include

Springfield Writers' GuildLeave a comment

writing in notebookHow do writers know which scenes to include and which ones to summarize?

Jody Hedlund, best-selling author of over a dozen YA medieval novels, offers a few great tips on writing scenes.  She says:

“Obviously we can’t write every scene that takes place over the time period of our books which usually spans weeks or months. We have to narrow down how much of our story and character’s lives we reveal on the page. That means we often have to summarize events or leave them out entirely with the assumption that our readers will piece everything together without having to know every detail.

There’s not a hard, fast rule or formula for which scenes to write out in detail and which ones to summarize, but there are a few principles we can keep in mind when choosing scenes to include in our books… 

Read more

Source: jodyhedlund.blogspot.com

Resource Tips · Writing Tips

Crafting a Winning First Page

Springfield Writers' GuildLeave a comment

A good writer grabs their readers and makes them hang on until the end –
either gripping the edge of their seat or panting all the way.

How do you do that?

The first step in hooking your reader is nailing the first page. Zip over to
One Stop for Writers and download this powerful first-page cheat sheet: https://buff.ly/3pY7rsr

Speakers

Linda Apple, July 2022 Speaker

C.A. Simonson1 Comment

Linda Apple is the author of nonfiction, women’s fiction, and children’s books. Her recent middle-grade early reader, BOWWOW-Book of Winston’s Words of Wisdom, is being used by school districts for their One-Book programs. Book three of her Moonlight Mississippi Series, Lexi’s Choice, was released May 4th.

 She has served as president of the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. and the Ozark Creative Writers Conference. Linda has taught writing workshops in the Midwest and southern portions of the United States, as well as Great Britain and Ireland, which was on her bucket list. She is also a motivational speaker.

Linda is a firm believer in writing with the reader in mind and leaving them better after having read her books. She also encourages writers and readers alike to value their own stories and to share them.

She lives in Northwest Arkansas with her husband, children, thirteen grandchildren, and her writing partner, Winston, a feisty Scottish Terrier. He barks; she types.

Linda will present an unconventional approach to character development. Oftentimes, as writers, we put a little bit of ourselves into our characters which results in too much blending of personalities. By assigning an element such as earth, fire, air (wind), or water, to a character the contrast is sharp. It also improves how your characters interact with each other. So, what are the characteristics of each element? Join us and find out. This is an interactive session and above all, it’s fun.

See more of Linda’s works at www.lindaapple.com

Resource Tips

Powerful Writing Techniques

Springfield Writers' GuildLeave a comment

“A well-written action scene thrusts the reader smack into the middle of the story. It’s another way to evoke emotion and empathy for characters,” says Henry Herz. Below, he gives five great writing techniques to improve your story. Set the hook and pull them in.