02 February 2009

The Power of Three - Writers' Version

Three really is a magic number. Most major religions have a symbolic three of some sort. Maiden, Mother, Crone. Father, Son, Holy Ghost. The God, the Goddess, the One. Even the symbol for the sacred chat Ohm is shaped like a three.

The magic of three isn't relegated to worship. The symmetry of the number is seen again and again as a writer hones their craft. (Well, at least I keep seeing it, but then I'm a conspiracy theorist so everything has a hidden meaning to me.)

Here are some for your consideration.

1)Beginning, middle, end. - This one is pretty basic, but hey...if you have a story, you have to have this. Otherwise, it's a blurb.

2)Hero, heroine, villian - All right, so you don't have to have one of these. You can tell a perfectly good story without one of these elements, but hey...we're romance writers so the story rocks harder if you have all three.

3) Goal, motivation, conflict - And on the 6th day, thy writing instructor created these and they were good.

4) Plot, voice, pacing - Break one of these in the writing triangle and the entire book crashes and burns faster than the Hindenburg.

5) Grammar, syntax, punctuation - Not the most fun of the writing trios, but important in their own rights.

Taken singularly, each of these topics/categrories help to make your book come to life. Together they make it explode off the page. Like a really good magic spell - or potion- all the ingredients mix and meld together to make a delicous brew your readers won't be able to to put down.

Happy writing,

-Kat

No comments: