logic in fiction - The Writer's Ally™

Harrison Brought Logic To AWESOMECON—MAY 29-31, 2015

It was that time of year, when we “genre” geeks got awesome for AwesomeCon! The Washington, D.C. area convention featured celebrity guests Karen Gillan, WWE Superstar Seth Rollins, and William Shatner just to name a few. And that made us doubly excited that our very own Harrison Demchick was invited to speak at the three-day event, which included opportunities to get autographs and interact with the celebrity guests as well as interesting and informative panel discussions, and so much more. AwesomeCon was held May 29-31, 2015 at The Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C.

Harrison, who is the author of the acclaimed horror novel The Listeners in addition to being a fabulous editor, gave his popular talk “Bad Math; or, How Right and Left Brains Work Together: The Function of Logic in Fiction.” See, most fiction writers are right-brained people, filled with creative ideas they’re outright compelled to bring to the written page. The inventiveness of the creative mind is a remarkable and romantic thing, but a novel is a big and complex entity, and it doesn’t work on creativity alone. For many would-be authors, even genuinely brilliant ones, managing and understanding story logic is a difficult task to achieve and the greatest obstacle to overcome. This talk addressed various types of logic issues, including some writers rarely hear about, like rationalization and context. With Harrison, the participants explored exactly why logic is so important in a field founded in the magic of creative invention.

Harrison provokes thought at every level of the writing process, from the very basics that are all too easy to overlook to the intricacies of wordsmithing.–Chris O’Brien

Many thanks to conference organizer of AwesomeCon for the invitation, and to all the volunteers who made the event such a great experience.

Harrison brings Logic to AwesomeCon—May 29-31, 2015

It’s that time of year again, that time when we “genre” geeks get awesome for AwesomeCon! The Washington, D.C. area convention this year features celebrity guests Karen Gillan, WWE Superstar Seth Rollins, and William Shatner just to name a few. And that makes us doubly excited that our very own Harrison Demchick has been invited to speak at the three-day event, which include opportunities to get autographs and interact with the celebrity guests as well as interesting and informative panel discussions, and so much more. AwesomeCon runs May 29-31, 2015 at The Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C.

Harrison, who is the author of the acclaimed horror novel The Listeners in addition to being a fabulous editor, is giving his popular talk “Bad Math; or, How Right and Left Brains Work Together: The Function of Logic in Fiction.” See, most fiction writers are right-brained people, filled with creative ideas they’re outright compelled to bring to the written page. The inventiveness of the creative mind is a remarkable and romantic thing, but a novel is a big and complex entity, and it doesn’t work on creativity alone. For many would-be authors, even genuinely brilliant ones, managing and understanding story logic is a difficult task to achieve and the greatest obstacle to overcome. This talk will address various types of logic issues, including some writers rarely hear about, like rationalization and context. With Harrison, you’ll explore exactly why logic is so important in a field founded in the magic of creative invention.

For more information, check out http://www.awesome-con.com/. And don’t forget to tell your friends!

Are These Four Logic Problems Ruining Your Novel or Memoir?

One of the best ways to alienate a reader is to present them with a scene that just doesn’t add up. A character receives a letter weeks before it was supposedly sent, a pet changes gender halfway through the novel—these kinds of logic problems must be found and fixed. Without solid story logic, a manuscript will fail.

In his guest post on Writers Helping Writers, TWA editor Harrison Demchick compiled a list of the four most common logic problems he has come across and the best ways to fix them.

Harrison’s post, “Four Logic Problems that Will Ruin Your Day (and Your Manuscript),” covers what I agree are the four most common logic issues in manuscripts—Rule Violation, Continuity, Inconsistent Chronology, and Rationalization. The detailed post contains an explanation of each issue, how it affects the manuscript, and how to resolve it. Logic problems do not have to be a manuscript’s undoing; as Harrison puts it, “Remember that you control both sides of the equation.”

Make sure you check out this valuable post, and never forget to mind your logic. A great big thank you to Becca Puglisi of Writers Helping Writers for hosting Harrison!

Harrison Demchick came up in the world of small press publishing, working along the way on more than two dozen published novels and memoirs, several of which have been optioned for film. He is an award-winning, twice-optioned screenwriter, and the author of literary horror novel The Listeners. He’s part of The Writer’s Ally team as a developmental editor of fiction and memoir, for which he’s currently accepting new clients.

Harrison’s Advice About Rules of Logic Published on Book Dreaming

It’s always a privilege to be asked to contribute a guest post to great blog! The Writer’s Ally editor Harrison Demchick recently penned “The Bird and the Biscuit: Playing by the Rules,” for author Shannon O’Donnell’s blog, Book Dreaming.

In this article, Harrison shares the dangers of including even one little snippet of illogic in your story. He warns that even if you tell a fantastic tale, readers will always be distracted by details, small as they may be, that don’t fully jibe with the rules of logic you’ve established for your story. When you read his post, you’ll find how he helped resolve a flawed series of events involving a bird and a biscuit for one of his clients.

Shannon’s Book Dreaming blog features articles that offer helpful advice and inspiration to writers, especially those who write for teenage, or middle grade, audiences. Shannon herself is the author of two picture books and a middle-grade novel. She is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary. With a master’s degree in Education, she teaches high school English in Montana and works with young writers in her community.

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