Category Archives: Page-Turning Scenes

The Apple iBooks Author Issue: Small things, and large principles
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The short version: I have removed my books from sale on iBookstore because Apple has included a clause in software I don’t use and wouldn’t have used anyway a clause claiming the right to refuse publication on its platform of works created with this software (which is fine and I applaud their right) and further stating that if they reject your work you cannot sell it in the format the software created anywhere else.

THE LONG VERSION:

Here’s the clause:

B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows:

(i) if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means;
(ii) if your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.

And then the next paragraph is bold-faced, just so you don’t miss it:

Apple will not be responsible for any costs, expenses, damages, losses (including
without limitation lost business opportunities or lost profits) or other liabilities you may incur as a result of your use of this Apple Software, including without limitation the fact that your Work may not be selected for distribution by Apple.

Here’s the guy who found, dissected, and posted about it, along with his dissection, and it will save us a BUNCH of time if you read his article.

So what’s the problem? You’re not going to use the damn software anyway!

Nope. I’m not. But I had ten books up on the iBookstore, which I put there using iTunes Producer, which is software. I do my epub versions of most of my books in iWorks Pages, which is software. And I work on Apple computers, an iPad, and an iPhone, all of which use Apple software. OS X and iOS 5 at the moment.

And the rule of software is this: Software does not get to dictate the use of output. Period. Software does not get to tell you WHERE you can sell what you’ve created, only that you have the right to sell it (in the cases where software requires a commercial license if you are producing for profit).

Software does not get to tell you, “If you create this work on our software and we don’t want to distribute it, we own the rights to the version our software created, and if you want another version, you will have to disassemble this one, and rebuild it from scratch on other software.”

The purpose of purchasing and/or using software is to make your work easier.

It is not to have the software claim ownership of any part of what you have created with it.

There is no difference—except in number of people affected—between a company claiming ownership of the rights to something you created with its ebook publisher, and something you created with its OS.

    The principle is identical.

(Apple is not claiming to own rights to your work if you work on OS X. My removal of my own work from their site is on principle, not because my own work is affected.)

And there is no number of people affected that is insignificant. The smallest minority is the individual, and minority rights protect the rights of the individual because those are the only rights there are.

So THAT is why I pulled all my books from distribution on the iBookstore, why none of my further books or any of my writing courses will be going to the iBookstore, and why I can no longer recommend the iBookstore to my students.

And this in spite of the fact that Apple makes my favorite products in the world, and I hate like hell having to do this.

And if they remove their damn clause and respect the purpose of creative software and the rights of the individual, I’ll go back.

COMMENTS have now been closed on this post.  Please read the follow-up post, and if you choose, comment there.

iBooks, My Clinics, and the Magic Button
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My Magic Button at iBooks showed up today, and I have now uploaded Plot Clinic, Culture Clinic, Language Clinic, and Page-Turning Scenes to Apple.

Probably on Friday you’ll be able to find them there.

chocolate chip cookiesVirtual double-chunk chocolate-chip cookie to the first person who spots them before I do.

5:04 pm – Just Heard…

The queue for books to go live at iBooks is apparently about three weeks long. So figure the 48 hours thing as “would be nice” and the last of this year or the first of next as a LOT more likely.

But still—that cookie is waiting.

NovelWritingSchool.com coming in November
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I have the temporary front page up here: http://novelwritingschool.com/

I have beta testers going through a free plot-outline course (a major upgrade on the current version done via e-mail on THIS site). We’re finding bugs and getting them out of the way now. Once we get the bugs out, this will go live for EVERYONE, well before November. Probably next week. I’ll post here with a link when it does.

I’ll have some of the simpler existing courses ready for you in November, and will gradually build out until all of my courses and existing freebies are transferred to the new school—and then I’ll start adding new courses.

The reason? Site maintenance on a bunch of different platforms and at a bunch of different domains has become too much for me to handle. So Holly Lisle’s Novel-Writing School will free me up to concentrate on course building, NOT web work.

My Birthday Bash: Presents for You
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Yeah, my birthday is almost here, and I decided this year to celebrate by giving presents to other people. And not just on my actual birthday, either. I’m giving away presents every day next week, plus a couple of presents starting today.

So what are your presents?

Total value of my birthday presents?

Absolute lowest value—$1720.33
Absolute highest value—$1987.43

But it’s more than that, really.

  • Because today five people will win. ($79.95 minimum, $159.75 max in presents)
     
  • Friday four people will win. ($103.60 minimum, $167.80 max in presents)
     
  • Saturday three people will win. ($107.55 minimum, $179.85 max in presents)
     
  • Sunday, two people will win. ($91.60 minimum, $123.60 max in presents)
     
  • Monday, two people will win. ($211.40 minimum, $243.50 max in presents)
     
  • Tuesday, two people will win. ($303.28 in presents)
     

    AND…
     

  • Wednesday two people will win. ($564 minimum, $600 max in presents)
     

So the minimum total in presents I’m giving away for my birthday is…

$2518.87

And the maximum total in presents I’m giving away for my birthday is…

$2993.22

But that’s not all. EVERYONE who enters will receive one gift on Monday, October 13th.

The total value of my birthday bash giveaway including those gifts should be well over $5000. Could be a lot more. I’ll let you know once the confetti settles. :D

RULES

Who can enter?

Anyone but my immediate family.

And…

You could win twice, if you enter early. Here’s how:

Anyone who wins an e-book gift cannot win any further e-book presents, but will be re-entered for one of the full scholarships.

What if you win and you’re already a student in the Think Sideways course? Then I’ll refund the tuition you’ve paid to this point, and you are in free for the rest of the course.

Will I refund you for e-books you win but already own? No. Therein lies a madness of paperwork I will not even consider. HOWEVER… I’ll be very happy to send any prizes you win (INCLUDING a full scholarship if you want to be that generous) to someone you choose. If you win and this is an issue for you, contact me.

So…

How do you enter?

Follow me on Twitter. Here’s my page: http://twitter.com/hollylisle

It’s free, it’s easy, and I’m already discovering that Twitter is a lot of fun.

If you’re already following me, you’re already entered. If you’re already a Twitter member, go to my page and click Follow and you’re entered. If you’re not already a member, it’s free and it only takes a minute to join. Then return to my page click Follow. The Follow button is right under my picture on the top left corner.

I’ll print off the complete list of my Twitter followers every day, and do a random drawing from those pages, PLUS the pages from every day’s pages before. Yes, this means that if you start following me today, you’ll get one new entry in the drawing every single day. Yes, this will improve your chances of winning, at least a little. I have no way of figuring odds. I have no idea how many people will enter. Today, right this minute, you’re odds would be about 5:32. I expect they’ll get a bit steeper over the next few days.

I’ll announce the winners at around noon my time every day. On Twitter. :D (Except today, when I’ll announce at around two, because I am SO behind schedule.)

And I’ll do a final listing of everyone who won here after it’s all over. Probably on Tuesday the 14th. Finally, EVERYONE who’s following me on Twitter will get a link to one gift on that day.

So. Does that count as a cool way to celebrate a birthday?

How To Write Page-Turning Scenes Is LIVE
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How To Write Page-Turning Scenes The course is done, it’s in the shop, and it’s available now.

So… what’s in Page-Turning Scenes?

  • The two critical parts EVERY scene must have? (Page 13)
     
  • The FIVE types of conflict that will make writing your stories easier, and keep your readers hooked. (Page 14)
     
  • The short, simple story PLAN technique that will keep you from writing the wrong book. (page 16)
     
  • The TWO absolutes that apply to every form of conflict and every scene. (page 23)
     
  • The special scene technique that lets you grab your reader’s attention and totally mislead him WITHOUT cheating.(page 25)
     
  • The great conflict trick that lets your reader see something go wrong, and know it’s gone wrong, and makes him NEED to keep reading to find out why. (page 26)
     
  • Internal conflict that shows your reader your hero’s anguish–and that makes him empathize–WITHOUT resorting to a bad replay of Hamlet’s monologue. (page 28)
     
  • 28 types of conflict between your characters that AREN’T arguing. (page 33)
     
  • Conflict between characters on the same side of your issue. (page 35)
     
  • The ONE kind of conflict that can provide your entire story and everyone in it with a reason to go on. (page 37)
     
  • The way to know which are good scenes and which are bad scenes BEFORE you write them. (page 43)
     
  • An answer to the problem of TOO MANY ideas. (page 58)
     
  • The easiest way to spread out the good stuff over an entire book, and not show your whole hand in just one scene. (page 60)
     
  • A step-by-step method for getting your hero OUT of the corner you got him stuck in. (page 64)
     
  • Straightforward directions on how to dump your boring scenes while identifying and saving what matters in them. (page 71)
     
  • TWO simple, fun, easy ways to write in "breathers" for your readers that DON’T include letting them put the book down. (page 75)
     
  • Five ways to write scenes that suck readers in even when your story is NOT about life-or-death issues. (page 81)
     
  • TWO types of great transitions that will spice up your pages and let you leap all of time and space (or as much of it as you need to) in two sentences? Just two. (page 86)
     
  • The SIMPLE way to use flashbacks, flashforwards, dream sequences, and other scenes that jump your story through time. (page 91)
     
  • THE FOUR SECRETS to when and how you’ll use step-by-step action to make your scene gripping, urgent, and must-read…and when you must NEVER use step-by-step action. (page 92)
     
  • The FIVE STEPS to misdirecting most of your readers most of the time? (Though Abraham Lincoln was right. You CAN’T fool all of the people all the time.) (page 95)
     
  • The FOUR ways to choose the right viewpoint character for every scene. (page 98)
     
  • The HOW, WHEN, and WHY behind introducing and using secondary characters. (page 100)
     
  • SEVEN ways for getting real emotion from your head into the scene. (page 107)
     
  • The dialogue technique that will save you (and your readers) from the dreaded Talking Heads Syndrome. (page 107)
     
  • Description that readers NEED, that creates OPPORTUNITIES for plot twists, and that keeps your story moving without EVER bogging it down. (page 109)
     
  • The FIVE senses–plus any others you can invent–used the right way, at the right time, and for the right reasons. (page 112)

I’ve kept it as lean and to the point, I’ve done everything in my power to answer every question you asked, and I think you’ll be excited by what it can help you do with your writing.

Pick Up Your Copy Now

E-book, 118 pages, and lots of techniques, explanations, examples, and exercises to show you EXACTLY how to make your scenes compelling, exciting, and critical to your story.

Page-Turning Scenes Leaps Forward
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I’ve hit an important milestone with Page-Turning Scenes–my planned “finished” wordcount. Rolled over 15,000 words today.

I’m not finished. There’s so much that’s important in writing a good scene, and while it always looks simple on the surface, it’s when you dig deeper that you discover termites in the foundation and bugs under the rocks.

I’ve found bugs the size of camels and termite mounds that would squash your house–it’s all good.

I’m breaking everything in to clear steps, giving lots of examples and plenty of exercises, and I’m also having a ridiculous amount of fun. Every time I write one of these things, I remember all over again why I love writing so much–you never know it all, but figuring it out is such a blast.

Tiny Snippet of Page-Turning Scenes
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Got 3000 more words today. And I’m tossing in a bit I wrote on Internal Conflict for everyone to peek at. All the snippet copyright and no-quote rules apply.

Internal Conflict

Now we’re showing more, hiding less. Internal conflict is the character’s fight with himself over something he wants but can’t have, has but doesn’t want, or needs in spite of the fact that he cannot or will not or fears to get it. It can be done through description, internal or external dialogue, or action. The reader sees the moment of change, as well as the struggle leading up to it, and has some clue (as much as you care to share) about why it’s important.

Showing internal conflict in a scene does not necessarily involve internal dialogue—that is, one character alone, sitting still, thinking about things. Internal dialogue is what many writers first think of when they think of internal conflict, though. Unfortunately, writing a character sitting still and thinking and making this interesting is one of the hardest things to do well when writing, so a lot of bad scenes happen when inexperienced writers collide with internal conflict.

  • CRITICAL POINT: Remember that Internal Conflict and Internal Dialogue are NOT the same thing!

3000+ Words on Page-Turning Scenes
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I’m really, really pleased with what I got today. I wrapped up all five types of conflict and how to use them, and now I’m into how to choose which scenes to write (Storytelling).

This flew today. Now I need to go figure out how I’m going to edit SILVER DOOR. That came in on Wednesday, and I read my edit letter, and now I’m thinking. It’ll need to perk a bit, but the whole first chapter is going to have to be redone.

It’s been a wild, wild week. I sincerely hope next week is calmer.

Into the Fun Stuff Now
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Here’s a little snippet from How to Write Page-Turning Scenes.

Here is an example of the simplest of all possible scenes. Omniscient narrator, no characters, no props, one change. (I have thrown in time, but could have done the scene without it and had the same result. I just happen to like light and dust motes.)

White wall, white ceiling, cold and stark and simple. And silence, nonbreathing silence, patient, without creaks or ticks or hums. Light, morning light came through that far window and cast squares of whiter white high up, and dust motes sparkled. And then a stain on the white ceiling, first pale, and then dark red like old roses, red that grew glossy, a little mar in the perfection. And then a drop. Red. Slid from the ceiling down the wall, a single jagged line that traced itself over textured paint, dancing, dancing, while the dust motes sparkled and the bright white squares of the morning sun tracked down the wall ahead of it.

It doesn’t take a lot to build a compelling scene, to catch the attention, to make the reader shiver just a little and picture not just a corner of a wall with squares of light on it, but a body lying dead and still and punctured somewhere up above.