How do authors write their novels? I’ve included some examples. Who are plotters and who are pantsers? Katherine Anne Porter said, “If I didn’t know the ending of a story, I wouldn’t begin…I always write my last line, my last paragraphs, my last page first.” “I start at the beginning, go on to the […]
How Do Other Characters in your Story View the Progagonist?
If we imagine other characters in our story seeing the protagonist through a keyhole view, what would they say or write? If the story is written with a single point of view, the thoughts of the other characters can’t be used or we’d be head hopping. Their judgements can be revealed in dialog, directly in […]
Protagonist’s Positive and Negative Traits
Our characters have positive and negative traits like people do. As writers we give characters flaws to prevent the protagonist from being too perfect. Some writers are afraid to do anything that might make the hero or heroine less likable. But the character who exhibits flaws is more believable, more human. Their flaws often worsen […]
Introducing Jill Steele in Norman in the Painting: Character Blog hop 2014
It’s time for a character-centric blog hop. Here you will meet Jill Steele, the protagonist of my multidimensional novel, Norman in the Painting. First, I will introduce the writer who tagged me in this blog hop, Justine Manzano. I connected with her on LinkedIn and she patiently walked me through the steps. Bio: Justine Manzano […]
Writers Quote by Henry James
Henry James said, “What is character but the determination of incident? What is incident but the illustration of character?” James was born in New York City on April 15, 1834. He wrote short stories, plays, and novels. He focused on the consciousness of his characters and his stories were seen as psychological thought-experiments. He often […]
Character Paradoxes
In Karl Iglesias’ book, Writing Emotional Impact, he suggests using paradoxes to create complex and fascinating characters. Paradoxes in characters are conflicting traits, contradictions within themselves. For example a character wants to find true love, yet is suspicious of men. A mother might plan to retire in Hawaii, the goal of her life, but her […]
Scrivener for Pantsers and Plotters?
As we organized the stories in my anthology, Written Across the Genres, my great assistant, Linda Todd, used Scrivener. I bought a copy, took a tutorial, and realized there are several other tutorials available. How to use Scrivener looked manageable as I watched the video, but I’ve procrastinated because of the time involved with the […]