“Wanting to meet an author because you like his work is like wanting to meet a duck because you like paté.” -Margaret Atwood, novelist and poet “In the end, we all become stories.” “In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” “Water does not resist. Water flows. When you […]
Mystery Dinners at Restaurants
Have you gone to a mystery dinner at a restaurant? I’ve been to two in the last decade. My first experience was great. The dining room had booths on all sides with tables in the center. The actors walked around the diners, clearly advancing the plot with clues about “who done it” and a bit […]
Is Your Character Addicted to Being Right?
If any of your characters are addicted to being right, they would rather be right than happy. They have to have the last word in an argument and proving their point of view takes precedent over listening to others. Even after being shown they are wrong, they still search for ways to prove their point […]
What Kind of Apple Does Your Character Like?
What kind of apple does your character like? The preference might not seem important but it adds the sense of taste and personalizes your character. It’s a detail that can add some depth. Another point to consider is the popularity of different apple varieties over the last few decades. Red Delicious was the top choice […]
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone
Happy Thanksgiving to you all. Thank you for reading my blog. May you feel gratitude every day.
Catherine Brady’s Story Logic and the Craft of Fiction
A couple years ago, Catherine Brady spoke at the California Writers Club, Tri-Valley Branch meeting. She impressed me and I bought her book, Story Logic and the Craft of Fiction. I highly recommend it as an indepth study for the craft of writing. Brady is the author of three story collections. Her Curled in the […]
George Orwell Quotes
George Orwell (1903 – 1950) was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His birth name was Eric Arthur Blair. The Times, in 2008, ranked Orwell second on the list of “The 50 greatest British writers since 1945”. “Good prose should be transparent, like a window pane.” “Good novels are written by people who are […]