Ever feel like your story needs an extra punch? There's just not enough kick to it? It's just not jumping off the page and attacking you in the face enough? Well, I got - not a solution but a possible idea. There's this thing called character folding *raise your hand if you've heard of it*. … Continue reading Character Folding: take your story from good to crazy
How Much Backstory is Too Much?
Backstory. The story before the story. Every character has it - but how much do you need of it? There are TONS of stuff on developing characters backgrounds....I am to divide character backstory into two schools of thought: What the readers needs What the writer needs We'll start with what the Reader needs. ONLY WHAT'S … Continue reading How Much Backstory is Too Much?
When you read the first draft
You write the infamous word THE END. Your first draft is done. Maybe it took a year. Maybe you knocked it out in a week. Either way, it's a great feeling to see your work finished TIME TO PARTY!!!!!Β Well - there's one, tiny, tiny thing. You still have to edit. *sighs heavily and crawls … Continue reading When you read the first draft
5 things to do when you don’t connect with your characters
Characters. Our novels would be nothing without them, just a bunch of trees and abandoned neighborhoods and castles. There would be no plot and hence no story and hence no novel. We need characters. But more importantly we need fleshed out, amazing, multi-dimensional characters who jump off the page with pzazz and splendor. Yeah. That's … Continue reading 5 things to do when you don’t connect with your characters
How I Wrote a Novel in Three Months
This post is kinda a lie and I'm totally cheating by using that title to drag you in here. But hear me out. I did write a novel in three months, my newly finished urban fantasy Silver. It's 63,000 words, but 27,000 of those I wrote during November for Nanowrimo when I was going at … Continue reading How I Wrote a Novel in Three Months
A Word on Villains
Lately my posts have been all about the laughs (well, mostly at least). But...I have this thought...it's been bugging me...and I am fresh out of this month's "ideas for blog posts" (If you have any, send them over). *takes deep breath* (prepare for a rant guys) I feel like writers have been getting villains wrong … Continue reading A Word on Villains
Character Backgrounds: Yes or No?
There are heaps of articles, lists of questions, charts and what not, all for the purpose of developing characters. Next to plot (or before plot. That's another discussion) the characters are the most important part of a novel. So, it seems they should be given special attention. But how much? Is the 100 facts questioner, … Continue reading Character Backgrounds: Yes or No?
Every Character Counts
A lot of books have a mile long list of characters (Lord of the Rings, Homer, and anything Dickens comes to mind). It can be a pain for both a reader and a writer. I feel it especially taxing as a writer. Sometime I forget entirely about characters I created or I forget important details … Continue reading Every Character Counts
Characters Mistakes: Don’t Make Them Idiots
My family is now hooked on the Once Upon a Time television series. The past week we have been staying up till 2:00 am. We're on season 2. SoΒ much bad acting (a lot of good acting too.), a lot of bad costumes, and a lot of bad CGI (and flying trash bags. Oh, you mean … Continue reading Characters Mistakes: Don’t Make Them Idiots