Is your antagonist based on a real person? The one in my WIP is someone I know but I don’t see very often. It’s been years since we’ve had to be in the same place at the same time for a few days. The problem is that he’s changed. He’s older, nicer, and more responsible. […]
Add a Baby in Your Story As a Metaphor
Have you observed a baby lately? Tonight I spent the evening with relatives from New Jersey including a three-month-old and a newborn. The differences in their abilities made me appreciate the amazing growth process. I plan to write a YA novel with a baby in it. My observations of the two babies this evening gave […]
The Gender and Birth Order of Characters’ Siblings Can Deepen Viewpoints
Do any of the characters in your stories have siblings? You can deepen the reasons for the protagonist’s psychological needs by exploring their siblings birth order and gender. On New Year’s Eve at the Berkeley Yacht Club, I talked with a couple friends, one of which brought up a need she had to have a […]
Roles of Minor Characters in Fiction
Minor characters in fiction are supposed to complement the major characters and move the plot forward. A simple definition, but Orson Scott Card wrote an article for Writers Digest that explains other ways to use minor characters. Card describes the unimportant minor characters he calls “walk-ons” or placeholders. They are not important to the story […]
Story Prompts About Characters Meeting
The romance genre isn’t the only one to have two people miles apart who come closer and meet. If you aren’t a romance writer, think of a story line that brings two characters together. In a mystery or thriller, one could be a criminal and the other a law enforcer who knows about the criminal […]
Writing Scenes with Gifts
How does your protagonist respond to gifts? If your book is a romance, you probably have a scene where the female protagonist receives a gift. How do you show her surprise, her shyness, her faking that she likes it, or her joy because it’s perfect? In a mystery or a thriller, does the criminal give […]
Meet Your Happy Chemicals by Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD
I ordered this book, Meet Your Happy Chemicals by Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD. The following is a summary of what the back book cover states about four brain chemicals. I thought learning about the chemicals would be useful in showing how our POV character or the antagonist could be deficient in one or more of […]