Now, onto the writing part. This movie is an excellent example of conflict and piling more and more on the character. One problem resolved, quick breather for the character, then another disaster. It’s a roller coaster that is perfectly executed.

Whether you’re interested in screenwriting or not, I recommend this movie for every writer, especially suspense and thriller writers. It is the best example I’ve seen of ratcheting up the stakes while making the viewer care deeply for the main character in a long time. The movie’s setup is quick, giving us just enough interaction with Bullock and Clooney to care, and then all hell breaks loose and last until the last seconds of the movie.

Beyond that, the character growth is very strong. Through fear, desperation, panic, and finally, faith, Bullock keeps fighting. We see her terror while witnessing her strength, and that is a damned hard thing to pull off.

Genre tastes aside, this movie is a must see to better your writing craft.

Have you seen Gravity? Do you plan to? What movies have helped shape your writing?

Skeleton’s Key (Delta Crossroads #2) broke into the top 100 in Mystery Series in less than a week of release! Thank you so much to those of you who attended the launch party on Facebook and who are reading/reviewing the book. I’m thrilled with the positive response!

A very quick teaser for Skeleton’s Key:

When I started writing INTO THE DARK, I was a true pantster. I had no idea where the story was going, and it was only when I really started studying story structure that I started seeing the value of plotting. But I still clung to the belief that I couldn’t be inspired if I didn’t write by the seat of my (too big) pants.

And then TIN GOD came along, and I had 987 ideas and my critique partner Catie Rhodes introduced me to Scrivener. If you haven’t tried it, definitely check the program out. For the organizationally challenged like me, it is a Godsend.

TIN GOD is the first book I tried to plot. I really did have my own version of an outline…which changed about 10 times as I wrote. And that was all right. I was still learning structure and how to use my ideas efficiently. The second Delta Crossroads Book, SKELETON’S KEY, just got delivered to the developmental editor, and while I managed to mostly stick to the loose outline, it was also a story that sort of raged out of me in about three months total.

Which brings me to my current WIP. It’s going to be different than anything I’ve attempted. It’s a thriller and a time slip novel, meaning there will be scenes set in the past, and the subject matter(s) are delicate. The plot is the most intricate I’ve ever attempted.

I had to plan this book out, because by now, my control freak tendencies have crept into my writing and will not be ignored. I’ve read a lot of plotting books, including Scene and Structure, but I still struggled with how to full visualize my story before I started writing. Again, at the prodding (almost always gentle) of my critique partner Catie Rhodes, I studied Patti Larsen’s method. If you don’t know Patti, she is a prolific writer (30 books in something like two years, and they are good!) and great teacher. Her method is easy to understand and was a huge lightbulb moment for me.

But I also had to make it my own. I started out with my notebook and wrote down idea after idea, slowly fleshing out each character. Then came the plot ideas. What if this, and what if that? A lot of them were chucked out. A few were kept. Over and over, narrowing it down. I started this journey at the end of April and today, I have a 43 scene detailed synopsis. When I say detailed synopsis, I mean I know what the arc is of each individual scene, what the high points are, which ones have the key symbolism that plays into the plot, etc. Catie’s read the synopsis, we made some changes, and now I am fine tuning.

The benefit of having this synopsis is that we can see plot issues before we even start writing! Now, that doesn’t mean that more won’t pop up–that’s inevitable. But hopefully, we can catch the worst offenders now.

A year ago, I would have said this would never work for me, that the scenes would be flat and uninspired with so much early planning. Maybe that was true then, but it isn’t now. I’ve also been doing a lot of craft studying, and if you haven’t read Donald’s Maass’s Writing 21st Century Fiction, do it now. There is much to be learned from that book, for writers of any stage. As I’ve developed as a writer, my process has changed, and it changes for each book. I can’t tell you exactly how I got to this point for the WIP, and I probably won’t be able to replicate it for the third Delta Crossroads book. And that’s okay, because writing is ever evolving. Point is, we as authors need to be willing to learn and change. Just like a child, every book we write has different needs.

The point of this post? To tell you that I am SO FREAKING EXCITED to have this synopsis. Going this route has been perfect for me, and it will enable me to write slower, focus more on the nuances and micro-tension of each scene. I’ve gone from feeling as though I were flailing around like a decapitated chicken to being just a bit cocky about my plans for this book.

So there’s my thrilling story. Thrilling to me, anyway. I feel as though I’ve turned a corner with my writing, and I’m excited to see what’s down the road. And if you’re a panster, I’m not saying give that up and start plotting ahead. Just be flexible. Let the book tell you how it needs to be written.

The Bookshelf Muse is one of my go-to sites for writing, and The Emotion Thesaurus has been an amazing asset. I love having the book at my fingertips when I’m writing a tough scene. Take it away, Becca!

My Favorite Teacher? Stephen King

I read my first Stephen King book when I was 14, in the back of a travel bus on a youth mission trip (hiding under the sheets, no doubt, because my reading material would not have been approved). Night Shift, it was, and honestly, that story about the mutant rats in the sewers scared me so bad that I gave the book back to my brother and didn’t revisit Stephen King for ten years. But when I did…The Shining. Oh my, yes. And that was the beginning of my stalkerish writer-crush on Stephen King.

He’s a polarizing author—either a writing genius or a hack. People moan about his craft, the shock value, and the content. But in many ways, King is a masterful writer whose techniques can benefit us all. Here are a few of the lessons I’ve learned:

1. The Importance of Tapping into Reader Emotion. Want readers to connect with a story? Make them feel something. King is clearly an expert at writing in a way that makes readers share his characters’ emotions. If fear and unease aren’t what you’re going for, what is? Know which emotion you want the reader to feel, and convey it through your character.
2. Don’t Hold Back. One reason I think King is successful at evoking emotion is that he goes all out to get it. He puts his characters in the most awful situations possible. And then he makes it worse. Look at poor Carrie. Her life is a nightmare. She lives with a religious freakshow of a mother who abuses her and undermines any chance she has at normalcy. That’s bad enough, right? Apparently not. Prom + pig’s blood + spontaneous combustion = annihilation and self-destruction. If there’s anything we can learn from King it’s that we can always make things worse for our heroes. Always.
3. Make your Characters Real. Take away their circumstances, and King’s characters are fantastically relatable. A frustrated writer struggling with alcoholism and personal demons. A group of boys on the verge of manhood, seeking adventure. The grieving father who would do anything to get his son back. Readers respond to these characters because they recognize them in themselves and the people they know. However unique your story circumstances may be, make the characters regular people and your readers will warm to them.
4. Keep at It. King survived a life-altering hit-and-run accident in 1999 that nearly finished his career. But he recognized that he had a choice: give it up altogether or adapt. He chose Door #2: writing less prolifically than before, but still writing. If writing is your passion–what you were meant to do–then figure out a way to make it happen, no matter your circumstances.
5. Be True to Yourself. Stephen King has withstood his fair share of derision. He’s gifted, no doubt about that. He could most likely succeed at writing any genre he chose. But he remained true to himself, writing the stories he loved without caving in to the criticism of others or taking it too much to heart. Don’t give in to the naysayers and ambulance-chasers who tell you to write what’s mainstream or profitable. Stay true to yourself. Write your own stories.

Any Stephen King fans out there? I’d love to hear which of his stories are your favorites, and why.

Becca Puglisi is one half of The Bookshelf Muse blogging duo, and co-author of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. Listing the body language, visceral reactions and thoughts associated with 75 different emotions, this brainstorming guide is a valuable tool for showing, not telling, emotion. The Emotion Thesaurus is available for purchase through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Smashwords, and the PDF can be purchased directly from her blog.