Tag: writing tips
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5 Things to Do With Those Giant Plot Holes
I hate pot holes. You’re driving along, nice and smooth, jamming out to your tunes when out of nowhere BUMPASDFGHJHJL THE CAR JOLTS AND FEELS LIKE IT’S GOING TO FALL APART AND IT MIGHT ACTUALLY CAUSE IT’S REALLY OLD. And where there’s one pot hole, there’s more. So yes, pot holes are very… Wait, you […]
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Things I Didn’t Know About Writing Fantasy
I write mostly fantasy. *notices piles of sci-fi manuscripts* *notices piles of old horse stories from my younger days.*(let’s try this again). I write fantasy, among other things. There’s a lot to learn about the genre, world building and all that glam. My beginnings with writing it were a bit…rough? Cliche? To continue last week’s […]
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Things I Didn’t Know When I Started Writing
I have been a writing since….*grabs calculator* basically since forever, but I didn’t get “serious” till I was about eight. By “serious” I mean I wanted to be a writer, and I wrote nearly every day. And like most writers that age….I winged it. For the next like, 7 years. *Disclaimer: I wasn’t on on […]
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Writing Battles (besides stabbing)
There are a surplus of articles and blogs on how to write a great fight scene. I thought about doing one myself…(I believe writing fight scenes is one of my superpowers). But then I remembered another kind a fight. A fight that’s like, a lot bigger? Battle. That’s the word. A full blown battle between […]
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5 Things I Learned from Working with an Editor
( I am switching my blogs posts to Wednesdays. Tuesdays aren’t working. Too much dancing.) This winter I got myself an editor, long due for my Gothic sci-fi short story “When the Crows Murdered the Moor” (originally called “the Moor”…boring name.) My editor and I have only met twice so far, and right now I […]
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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, […]
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On Heroes and Villains
I recently read an article about writing villains. It said something interesting about them, about why they are so important. The article said that without the villain, the hero is nothing. The conflict that the villain creates makes the hero interesting. Heroes are predictable and boring when circumstances are regular. The hero’s chance to shine […]
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Intention and Obstacle
I’ve been taking a class by Aaron Sorkin on screenwriting recently, via masterclass.com. One of the lessons was entitled Intention and Obstacle. Even though it’s about screenwriting, it really applies to any kind of drama, especially of course, novels. For me, Sorkin explained how to create conflict in very clear terms. Thought I’d share what I learned! Intention Your […]
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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 […]
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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. So 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 […]
Bernadette Benda 