Fiction and Literature

If you haven’t been living under a rock the past few years, you’ve likely heard someone touting the benefits of green tea, whether in a magazine, online ad, or television special. The truth of the matter? Weight loss with this tea is possible, but not for the reasons many advertisers represent. This tea itself doesn’t contain magical fat burning particles that will make you drop 100 pounds overnight – in reality, there is no substance that will. So what’s with all the hype? Just because it doesn’t instantly shed weight, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t excellent for your health.

The Green Tea Diet Substitution

People who have a problem maintaining a healthy weight often have unhealthy habits. One of the worst offenders, outside of junk food, is the practice of constantly drinking soda. Some people trying to lose weight switch to juices, not realizing that many of them are just as sugary and unhealthy as soda! This tea is a real, viable option in this scenario, because it helps curb eating and drinking in several ways. Primarily, drinking this tea instead of soda keeps those cola calories off your hips, the liquid fills you up so you don’t eat as much, and you’ll also be staying hydrated, which keeps your metabolism working.

How to Enjoy It

Green tea weight loss solutions start with forming a pattern. Make an effort to drink this tea at the same time every day; this will help you get in a rhythm with your other weight loss activities as well. The tea can be enjoyed hot, as is traditional, but you should hold back on the sugar or it will sabotage the effect. Instead, try using Stevia, a sweet plant extract that is available in powder form in most supermarkets, or a little bit of honey to sweeten your tea. Green tea can also be brewed hot and poured over ice for a refreshing treat you can keep in a pitcher to sip from anytime.

Why It’s Good For You

Green tea contains Polyphenols and antioxidants, which studies have shown help fight free radicals, which can speed up the aging process and lead to health concerns. Most experts agree that the “closer to the leaf” one can get – meaning drinking whole leaf green tea instead of pre-bottled mass-marketed “beverages” – the better the benefits for their health in fighting these. So brew up a cup today and start enjoying the green tea weight loss effects that frequent tea drinking can offer.

Great Literature And Fiction Picks

One book that is popular is Lisa Gardner’s Alone. In this thriller, a woman with a dark past is married to a man who is rich and erratic, and mother to a son who is always ill. A call to the police asking for help against the harm the erratic husband is about to inflict upon their son, leads a police sniper, who is enamored with her, to kill off her husband. However, her rich husband’s judge father and blueblood wife believe it was conspired and will stop at nothing to take her son away from the main character. In this thrilling mystery/suspense book filled with police chases and political power, the twist at the end will keep readers breathless and gratified. In this psychological thriller, one must wonder whether the woman with the dark past really conspired to do away with her husband or if she really is a victim in a mess that is not her own fault.

Another book hot on the shelves is called Saving Rachel, written by John Locke. In this kind of comedic thriller, a man is forced, by a band of killers, to choose between his wife and his mistress. Whomever he does not choose will be killed at the hand of the killers. However, Locke writes a book that shows that appearances can certainly be deceiving and that nothing that appears to be really is as it appears to be. The book is funny and scary and is sure to take the reader on an unforgettable ride.

Patrick Rothfuss writes The Wise Man’s Fear, a book continues the story of Kvothe the Bloodless, a tale about an actor orphaned who becomes a fearsome hero before he sends himself to a tiny town. In the series, Kvothe tells his tale to the king’s scribe in three days, and this book marks day two, which slowly unravels the brutal events that caused him to become a warrior, his encounters with various characters, all done in a way as to keep the reader riveted.

Tick Tock by James Patterson is a suspenseful thriller that is sure to leave you breathless and horrified. It is the story of a detective whose three major killers have returned to town, causing an onslaught of hideous crimes throughout the city. The city calls on this detective and leaves the entire family open to attack. As he gets the help of an FBI agent, for whom he develops romantic feelings, things with his nanny take an unexpected turn, as well. Finally, in an astounding twist, the detective learns about the killer’s real plans and makes it an explosive book.

Finally, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, by Stieg Larsson, the third of the trilogy, it is the most action packed and charged of the entire group. It is the story of Lisbeth Salander who must now face her demons and destroy them, along with the help of the journalist. The book masters in the unexpected and leaves readers thrilled by the plots and the jaw dropping instances that occur throughout, so that it is sure to be a fast paced read that you will thoroughly enjoy.

Romantic Suspense Literature and Women’s Fiction

Romantic suspense, at the name suggests, is a particular genre of fiction where you find a perfect balance between romance and mystery. Romantic suspense books deal with a suspense or mystery that the main protagonists are faced with. Typically, the heroine of the novel is the innocent victim of an attempted crime. She takes the help of the hero to solve the mystery, and in the process, falls in love with him.

The romantic suspense novel is an offshoot of the romance genre. Therefore, it has many of the characteristics of a typical romance. At the centre of the plot is the relationship between the hero and the heroine which develops along with the suspense element. The romance between the protagonists affects the mystery that they are trying to solve. Similarly, the twists of events as the investigation proceeds, has a strong impact on the feelings of the hero and the heroine. Ultimately, the romantic suspense book ends with the mystery solved and the protagonists united in a steady relationship.

Romantic suspense novels are different in tone and style from the typical romance novels as the primary focus is not only on the romantic alliance between two people, but on the mystery surrounding them. These novels are therefore plot driven instead of being character driven. The romantic suspense author has to maintain a proper balance between the romance and the mystery elements. The tone of these novels is more brisk and racy; the language is more clean and not as sentimental or intimate as in a typical romantic novel. Romantic suspense is very popular with the reading masses and there are a number of successful romantic suspense authors catering to this demand.

The romance novel comes under the broader and more diverse literary genre known as women’s fiction. Women’s fiction deals with any kind of fiction written for female readers. It can deal with romance, suspense, contemporary issues, relationships and marriage. Novels dealing with the issues faced by modern women in contemporary society are often grouped under chick lit.

Chick lit is an American slang that started getting popularity towards the end of the 1980′s. It is definitely a particular type of women’s fiction as it deals with contemporary women and the diverse problems faced by them. Chick lit is very different from the typical romantic writing as the female character is shown as a strong and independent person who has the potential to face difficulties and who can learn from her own mistakes. She is no longer the passive suffering victim of circumstances. Chick lit covers a large variety of female experiences, all pertinent to the present times, like love, broken relationships, motherhood, career struggles and the search for self-identity.

Chick lit and romantic novels have another major difference. In a romance, the focus is on the relationship between the hero and the heroine. On the other hand, the primary focus of chick lit is on the heroine. There may or may not be a romance and a typical happy ending. What is important is the various situations that the protagonist has to face in life and how they shape her emotionally or professionally. Romance may be part of these experiences. Chick lit novels generally have an emotionally and psychologically satisfying endings.

Jane Rosenthal is an award winning poet, radio journalist, a romantic suspense author, and an educator. She received a degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State where she studied with Frances Mayes. She also loves to write on about romantic suspense. Anyone who loves, reading, writing, gardening and believes in changing the world one small step at a time should write her at http://www.allaboutjanesranch.com.

Scope and Extent of Fiction Writings – How to Write a Fiction Novel

This common question revolves in the minds of almost all the new writers. Before we converse on how to write a fiction novel, let’s have an overview of fiction. What does it sense to literature, what is its scope, extent and circle of doings. Fiction is a subdivision of literature which is engaged in the narration of events that have not been occurred in real up to the time they are being written.

So it is obvious that before you write something on fiction, you must have a strong and appealing imagination. Besides this, you should have a complete theory on the topic you are going to write about. This theory should be strong enough to be rejected.

It is not necessary that the novel totally based upon fiction is termed as fiction novel. One may add the element of fiction into a novel based upon true story. Such novel will also be called as a fiction novel. For example if you are writing a novel on the history of a soldier based upon true event. You may add fiction to his styles of fighting, his way to lead his group or his role in the quests. Hence, by mixing fiction into a story, you are writing a fiction novel.

What about a fiction novel which is fully based upon fiction and nothing else. Facts and figures prove that such novels got a great popularity among readers ever. The important fact linked with all such fiction novels was that the author touched the extremes of fiction and wrote at that pace which was far beyond the imagination of common person. A prominent example of this kind of fiction novel is “Pretty Horses” by “Cormac McCarthy”.

In the last, I would like to say some words on the importance of “character” for those who bear the question that how to write a fiction novel. Significance of character in a fiction novel is same as that of walls in a house. Remember that you can never build an influential fiction without putting up a strong character into your novel.

Fiction Writing Secret Number 8: Create a Tragic Hero

Epic and tragic heroes start out the same: the best of their society. Both have qualities and opportunities that could allow them to save their societies in a time of crisis. The difference is what they do with them. Like epic heroes, tragic heroes have a strong effect on your reader’s subconscious mind. They are very rare in modern literature, so if you want to stand out in the crowd, try your hand at a tragic hero.

There are two kinds of tragedy plots: real life and classic. Real life tragedies are events that cause great pain to individuals, families, and sometimes whole societies. A young mother dying of cancer, a fire that destroys a family’s home, an accident that takes a child’s life, Katrina, 911–these are all real life tragedies and potential for great storytelling. But this kind of story features not a tragic hero, but a hero who overcomes tragedy. A tragic hero causes tragedy. Real life tragedies begin stories, but classic tragedies end them.

So–what are the ingredients of classic tragedy? The same as the ingredients of an epic, up to the tipping point.

Compare tragic hero Hamlet and epic hero Odysseus: both drift far from their goals, but Odysseus tries constantly to get home, while Hamlet finds every excuse to avoid revenging his father’s murder.

Hamlet has the intelligence and education to lead Denmark from the Middle Ages into the Renaissance, but for all his brilliance, it never occurs to him that exposing Claudius as a murderer is enough. He doesn’t have to stab him in the back. Denmark’s system of justice would punish Claudius if Hamlet were to continue on track after the play that catches the conscience of the king. Instead, he indulges his anger at his mother, and ends up accidentally killing Polonius–the tipping point after which the shattered family and kingdom cannot be put right again.

The tragic hero acts with good intentions, but he makes one very bad decision that cannot be redeemed. That is the tipping point. The epic hero’s decision at that point is a good one that leads to a positive conclusion. The tragic hero makes a decision that leads to death and destruction.

The Odyssey and Hamlet provide excellent examples of tipping points. Odysseus breaks Calypso’s hold on him and returns home to save his family and country. Hamlet, once sure of Claudius’ guilt, goes on a killing spree that includes anyone but Claudius. When Claudius attempts to exile him, Hamlet casually arranges to have Rosencrantz and Guildenstern murdered, and returns to wreak havoc at home, resulting in the final scene that finds the stage littered with bodies and Fortinbras of Norway, Denmark’s enemy, simply walking in and taking over.

In some tragedies, though, the tipping point happened in the past. The most famous of all tragedies, Oedipus Rex, opens years too late for Oedipus to stop the doom that he himself has caused. His tipping point occurs when as an adolescent boy he receives the terrible prophecy from the Oracle that he will kill his father and marry his mother.

If Oedipus were to take that prophecy home and consult with the people who raised him, they would probably tell him he was adopted and so did not need to worry about harming them. Instead he runs away, straight into the trap the gods have set for him.

As in all tragedies, Oedipus’ greatest strength is also his greatest weakness: he is brilliant and he knows it. He thinks to outsmart the gods by leaving the people he thinks are his parents. But think about it–how clever is that plan? If you wanted to guarantee that you never killed your father or married your mother, wouldn’t a wiser plan be never to kill anybody and never to marry any woman older than yourself? Instead, Oedipus develops a case of road rage and kills a man who merely blocks his way into Thebes.

Once in the city, Oedipus becomes a hero by solving the riddle of the Sphinx. As their king has just mysteriously died, the people want to make the new young hero their king–and so they marry him to the widowed queen. What Oedipus doesn’t know is that it was the king who blocked his way into town. What nobody knows is that the king and queen of Thebes are Oedipus’ real parents. He has fulfilled the prophecy: he has killed his father and married his mother, but he doesn’t find it out until many years later.

Like Hamlet, Oedipus starts an investigation when his country is in trouble–in this case plague and famine thought to be punishment from the gods. Using his brilliant mind, he discovers clues that have never been put together–and proves that he is the reason for the punishment. He has fulfilled the prophecy and gone beyond to father four children who bear the curse of incest and will later also meet tragic ends.

Is it possible to write the classic hero today? Of course it is–people just don’t very often try since Arthur Miller failed with Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman (a great play, just not the modern classic tragedy Miller intended). Willie does indeed drive the plot, and the ending is a direct result of his actions, but Willie is simply not qualified to be a tragic hero: he is far from the best of his society, and his actions affect no one beyond his immediate family.

To create a tragic hero, make your protagonist someone in a position to affect a society (president or prime minister, general, captain of industry), give him a strength that will become his downfall at the tipping point, construct a plot that brings him to that tipping point, and have him make a decision that from there on leads inevitably to his own downfall and that of his society. He must think his decision at the tipping point is right–the tragic hero is never a villain.

If you can do that, your work will stand out from virtually everyone else’s, and the classic plot will work on your readers’ subconscious minds to make them say, “This is great literature.”

Copyright 2010 Jean Lorrah

Want daily tips on fiction writing from an established pro? See Jean’s @TipsOnWriting on Twitter. Find more essays on writing at Jean’s website, http://www.jeanlorrah.com.

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How To Write A Fiction Novel – Extent Of Fiction In Literature

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