Jordan Rosenfeld

What is the sound of story? Voice in writing can seem elusive and hard to define. It’s more than just style it’s rhythm, energy, attitude, and the unique fingerprint of a narrator or character. Voice is shaped by culture and history as much as the mechanics of language. In The Sound of Story, author and writing teacher Jordan Rosenfeld demystifies voice and its close companion, tone, offering writers the tools to develop and refine their own. Through contemporary examples, this book explores how syntax, point of view, emotion and more shape voice on the page. Whether you’re crafting fiction or nonfiction, this book will help you shape and refine voice to create compelling, authentic narratives. The Sound of Story empowers writers to wield voice and tone with purpose, increasing their chances of publication, and delivering a compelling story that leaps off every page. Sibylline Press is proud to announce its new imprint, Sibyl Writing Craft, dedicated to providing definitive titles on writing craft and the book business for writers.

Dead-broke single mother Stella Russo, daughter of a world-class prima ballerina, has nearly given up on her own professional aspirations-much less true love-when a dazzling impromptu stunt by a mysterious troupe reminds her just how empowering performing onstage can be. Convincing herself that a dependable gig with such a company just might be the ticket to a better life for her musical-prodigy daughter and now-invalid mother, Stella takes a giant jet of faith and joins up. When she lands in the clutches of an enigmatic and demanding impresario bent on making her his star at any cost, she becomes entangled in the troupe's secrets. Women in Red draws readers into the dark, dangerous, and dramatically sexy underworld of dance-but also into the longing of every living, breathing being for a family of one's own.

Journalist Justine Goodman, stifled by new motherhood, surrenders to an obsession with Project Nemesis-an all-women group of eco-anarchists set on dismantling dirty energy companies. She risks everything to gain entry into their inner circle, but tragedy strikes before she can even begin to savor her involvement.

Grace Jensen survived a horrific fire at age 15. The flames changed her: badly scarring her body and mind, but also giving her a new gift, an ability to feel other people's pain. Reclusive and unable to bear human touch, she lives with her mother, tends wounded animals, and nurses a little crush on her former doctor. Her carefully curated world explodes when the magnetic Marly Kennet reappears in town; Grace falls right back into the dynamic of their complicated teenaged friendship. When Marly impulsively exhorts Grace to return to her home in Las Vegas, Grace takes a leap of faith and accepts, thrilled to follow Marly's sizzling energy back into the world. But Marly keeps secrets, including one that has haunted Grace for over a decade: what really happened the night of the fire?

Between the very sentences of page-turning stories thrums an element that pulls you on without your notice, beckoning you forward with an outstretched finger, your heart beating all the while. Without this element, even the most well crafted characters and compelling plots would fall flat. In a word: tension. Page-turning stories thrive on this element of the craft like lungs do air. Tension in novels, stories, and even memoirs, is like the connective tissue that allows muscles to attach to bones, and thus flex their might. It's the heart of conflict, the backbone of uncertainty, the hallmark of danger. It keeps readers guessing, and characters on their toes. When you've got tension in place, stories leave readers breathless and wanting more. When it's missing, scenes feel inconsequential, plots drag, and characters meander. Learning the craft of writing can sometimes feel like a paint by numbers approach--connect compelling character A to plot event B. To avoid writing that's formulaic, predictable, and slow, this book will help readers sew the threads of tension tight for an unforgettable story. While this book walks you through the obvious areas that need tension building, from character to plot, it also delves deeper, to the subterranean places in a story where tension is often lacking: into the inner conflicts of a character's deepest psyche, to the breath beats between the very words you write, to the mechanics of how you reveal information to the reader.

The definitive guide to writing scenes--now revised and expanded! Scenes are the building blocks for any work of fiction--the DNA sequence that makes a novel un-put-downable and unforgettable. When writers are able to craft effective, engaging scenes, they can develop a complete, cohesive story--and a mesmerizing experience for readers.Make a Scene Revised and Expanded Edition takes you step-by-step through the elements of strong scene construction and demonstrates how the essential aspects of a compelling story--including character, plot and dramatic tension--function within the framework of individual scenes to give momentum to the whole narrative. You'll learn how to:Craft an opening scene that hooks readers and foreshadows conflict.Develop various scene types--from contemplative to suspenseful to flashback--that are distinct and purposeful.Establish characters' intentions within a scene that drive the plot.Transition into new scenes by clearly establishing details of setting, character, and point of view.Create resonating climactic and final scenes that stay with readers long after they've finished your story.The revised and expanded edition includes brand-new examples, an increased focus on advancing plot and character development, and the same knowledge and clarity that writers have come to expect from Jordan Rosenfeld. Make a Scene is an essential part of any novelist's library--make sure it's in yours.

Of all the elements of fiction-plot, dialogue, character, etc.-point of view might be the most misunderstood, yet the most critical, to telling an effective story. In this new book, Jordan Rosenfeld makes POV as compelling and exciting as creating characters and developing plots by recasting it as a way to explore characterization in an intimate way, and-dare we say it-making POV sexy. By mastering point of view, writers aren't just learning the basic tenets of "first-person," "second-person" and so on; they're discovering new ways to create intimacy between reader and character, and capture readers' minds and hearts in the process.This book transforms dull, didactic explanations of point of view by offering a system of character cues-specific behaviors, sensory perceptions, dialogue, and visual imagery-and breaks down character emotion into two easy-to-understand "levels"-Surface Feelings and Subset Feelings. It also offers exercises for the writer to practice test-driving each point of view for a fully rounded, multisensory, layered emotional experience. The book provides fresh examples from best-selling literature to illustrate the various techniques. Readers connect with characters whose senses they can experience, whose minds they can dive inside, and whose emotions they can truly feel. Writing the Intimate Character shows writers how to do all three.