Writing Technique: The Kitchen Sink

This week (and maybe next week, depending on how this goes) I'll cover a slew of stuff having to do with the craft of writing. Today's going to be a hodge-podge of craft-related links.

I'll start with an article on Point of Veiw and Motivation-Reaction Units. If you're not familiar with MRU's, I suggest you look into it. Using these has improved my writing by leaps and bounds, bringing the reader closer to the charcater and making the sequence of events make more sense.

On a similar note, Plot to Punctuation addresses a common issue: dismemberment of your characters. You may be putting your character's parts and feelings ahead of the characters themselves. This is something that can really throw a reader out of your story, but it isn't addressed very often. Since I'm bad at explaining it, here's a quote:

Every time you put one or more of a character’s composite parts in the subject position of the sentence, you rob the character of just a little bit of power. You take the whole character out of control, in favor of a mere portion of the character.

Ever wonder about internal monologue? C. Patrick Shultz gives some fantastic guidelines here.

A scene has to be tight. You need to clear away all the garbage in order for the gems to shine. Here's something on the Glory of the Garbageman from Imperfect Clarity. Roz Morris says, yes it's important to get rid of the clutter, but don't get rid of the gems, too! She tells writers how to Control Your Text.