This week we are taking a look at motivation and the dreaded middle section of a story. I find it ironic that this title is, relatively, the middle of this series. What’s up with the middle being a bad thing? … Continue reading →
Last post I discussed beginning a new story, how to begin, and what tools we use. I mentioned a often-used acronym, BICHOK. Butt in chair, hands on keys. Here’s where that little mantra really becomes important. Learn it, know it, … Continue reading →
So, we’ve got all these wonderful characters talking in our heads, a fabulous plot, a gorgeous setting. We may or may not have an outline, depending on whether we like that sort of thing or prefer to wing it. Now … Continue reading →
This week we will take a look at researching stories. First up, what exactly does research encompass? Quite a lot actually. Of course, there are historical facts. Names, dates, places, major events. It also covers social and political ideas of … Continue reading →
This week’s topic is likely the most nebulous for me. It can be one of the hardest to reduce to specifics, but it is also one of the most important. The over-reaching ideas for your characters, plot and setting are … Continue reading →
Not long ago, I participated in a group experiment: several of us wrote a series on our creative processes, each from our own point of view. I have since taken that blog down, but wanted to present them here for … Continue reading →
Description can be both bane and boon to our writing. It can make the setting and action seem real, pull in the readers and put them front and center, make them a real part of your story. Even so, too … Continue reading →
We’ve all seen it in the movies and read it in books: the time-worn image of a writer sitting down to his typewriter (or computer these days) to write a book. The author is always alone, in a nifty little … Continue reading →
A couple of songs popped up in my Rhapsody play list the last few days, and I noticed a trend. What played was Madonna’s Get Into The Groove, and Earth, Wind & Fire’s Let’s Grove Tonight. It got me thinking … Continue reading →
Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way. — E.L. Doctorow It was the fall of my freshman year of high … Continue reading →