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Showing posts from October, 2015

Adding Flesh to Bones: Character Creation in Fiction

Here you have your great story idea. You have it in your head how it is supposed to go and where its happening. You are set for that million-seller, award winning novel. Now you just have to get it down on paper, or word processor. Boom! You get to writing and the first character comes up. Your face gets that blank look to it and your enthusiasm fades. Who is this person? Where is he from? Do you have any background on him? How did he get to here? EEEEEEK! I will tell you this, sometimes, most of the time, you are not writing about a story. You are writing about a character, or several. Sometimes the character is so obvious that creation is easy. Joe Shmo is a mechanic who wins the lottery, or Jane Whatsherface moves to the beach into an old lighthouse. But is it this easy every time? Not on your life!  If you go into your story without some sort of idea about your characters, it is like going cross-country driving without ever opening a map. The journey is slow and arduous. There w

Into Strange Frontiers

I have a tendency to jump the hurdle before looking how high it might be. In such, I stumble all over myself trying to get my balance again while looking like "I meant to do that". I think I may have jumped before looking again but I am so excited about it that I don't care if I fall or not. Sound wierd? Nah, I am just joining the Nanowrimo challenge. What is Nanowrimo, you ask? It means National November Writing Month. It is a challenge to any and all writers-to-be and old vets at the profession to dive in and write 50,000 words in one month. 50,000? Lottie, have you been smokin' the funny stuff? Nah, again. It can be done. I am going to try to be one of those who kick out the 50K for the win. I have been promising my readers a sequel to my book "Balance on the Terra" for a long time. Trust me, 50,000 words will give me a good kick start. I hope I have all of your support in this. I will keep accountable by posting my daily word count on here and on my Twit