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Tag: scenes

What “Show, Don’t Tell” Means

January 31, 2014 A. B. Westrick 2 Comments

What does “show, don’t tell” really mean, anyway? Last week Chuck Sambuchino posted my article “7 Things I’ve Learned So…

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Filed under: Atia Abawi, Chuck Sambuchino, craft, Guide to Literary Agents, revision, scenes, story, Susann Cokal, The Kingdom of Little Wounds, The Secret Sky, Writer's Digest, writing

Setting: a writing exercise

December 30, 2013 A. B. Westrick Leave a comment

I want to pass along an exercise I led earlier this month at a high school Writers Fest. I asked…

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Filed under: character, craft, Eudora Welty, process, scenes, setting, story, writing

Interviewing Characters

July 30, 2013 A. B. Westrick 4 Comments

I learn a ton when I interview my characters. Over the years, I’ve compiled a set of questions for them,…

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Filed under: character, craft, Dizzy Gillespie, emotional truth, Gigi Amateau, interviews, plot, process, protagonist, scenes, story, writing

In Service to the Story

June 24, 2013 A. B. Westrick 8 Comments

This past February while writing a new scene, a character showed up, whispered to my protagonist, “We have safe houses…

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Filed under: back-story, character, craft, pace, process, protagonist, revision, scenes, story, writing

Where to Begin a Novel

April 8, 2013 A. B. Westrick 2 Comments

How and where is it best to enter into a particular story—which moment, which sounds and which smells should a…

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Filed under: author interview, back-story, books, Come August Come Freedom, craft, emotional truth, Gigi Amateau, historical, hook, literature, process, revision, scenes, Southern fiction, story, writing, YA

Grounding the reader

August 31, 2012 A. B. Westrick 2 Comments

Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club begins like this:          Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler’s pushing…

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Filed under: Chuck Palahniuk, craft, details, Fight Club, hook, process, revision, scenes, story, tense, voice, writing

Raising the stakes

November 19, 2011 A. B. Westrick 2 Comments

At the mid-Atlantic SCBWI conference last month, keynoter Han Nolan said, “When a story scares me so much that I…

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Filed under: character, craft, han nolan, process, SCBWI, scenes, writing

The difference between content and process

April 30, 2011 A. B. Westrick Leave a comment

In mid-March, as I staffed the James River Writers (JRW) table at the Virginia Festival of the Book in Charlottesville,…

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Filed under: arc, books, conference, craft, historical, literature, pace, plot, process, scenes, structure, voice, writing

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Recent Posts

  • Her grandparents’ barn: an interview with Linda Oatman High January 12, 2021
  • Science is Mystery: interview and book giveaway December 4, 2020
  • Malcolm and Me: author interview and book giveaway November 10, 2020
  • COO: a delightful MG debut: author interview & giveaway October 16, 2020
  • Upper-MG Historical Fiction: interview & giveaway September 18, 2020

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Tweets

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Maggie Brown@MrsBrownRRMS·
15 Jan

@what_a_story @ABWestrick I LOVE this book!!! @RRMSLibrary recommended it to me several years ago and I reference it (and recommend it) every year when I teach Reconstruction. Such a great read!

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Corinne Wetzel@what_a_story·
14 Jan

BROTHERHOOD illuminates the murky origins of immediate post-Civil War white supremacy movements. I read this book when it came out, & it remains a top historical fiction choice for kids about these events in our history. @ABWestrick ‘s story of 1867 echoes in our modern time. https://twitter.com/abwestrick/status/1348736294524956674

ABWestrick@ABWestrick

"I was able to explain some of what happened...to my son bc [he'd read your book]," a mom tweeted me. BROTHERHOOD is about white supremacy--about the KKK post-civil war. When I wrote the novel, I had no idea how relevant it would become. @PenguinClass @VikingChildrens

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ABWestrick@ABWestrick·
14 Jan

I'm doing a #BookGiveaway! One copy of AS FAR AS BIRDS CAN FLY by @lindaoatmanhigh. Enter by Jan. 19 and enjoy my interview with the author about all things writing-related: https://abwestrick.com/2021/01/her-grandparents-barn-an-interview-with-linda-oatman-high/ @koehlerbooks #kidlit #middlegrade #fiction #Giveaways #mglit #mgbookchat

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Articles, Interviews, & Podcasts:

Podcast: Working Title on the 85K Writing Challenge, where I confess that I’ve stopped beating myself up over my process. It is what it is. March 20, 2019

Podcast: Working Title on the 85K Writing Challenge, where I talk about setting priorities in my writing life. February 20, 2019

Podcast: Working Title on the 85K Writing Challenge, where I ramble about my writing process, including how I conquer writer’s block. January 23, 2019

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