Category: character

  • One Way to Get Ideas for Writing Stories

    One Way to Get Ideas for Writing Stories

    Potential spoilers: If you haven’t watched Love and Monsters and plan to, you should know the following post has some potential spoilers. Are you looking for an idea for writing your next short story or novel? Are you coming up with nada? Well, look out. The following is just one way to generate an idea…

  • Friday’s Findings

    Friday’s Findings

    One thing I’m realizing as I work on my WIP is that even as I am writing the third draft, it’s going to need rewriting. Major rewriting. But that’s okay because at least I have something to work with. But the lesson I’m learning is to just finish the draft. Don’t stop and start over.…

  • No Character Is Perfect

    No Character Is Perfect

    Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

  • Friday’s Findings

    Friday’s Findings

    Today I wrote an email to someone who worked in another department at my company. The subject being a sensitive one, I sent a preview of my text to my supervisor to get her opinion. “You’re too nice!” she joked. “I would just tell the person to do it, not ‘suggest’ it.” True, I admit.…

  • Friday’s Findings

    Friday’s Findings

    Every situation is an opportunity for a writer to collect sensory details. Tomorrow, one of my closest friends for many years (decades, really), is getting married. I’m so happy for her and her groom. As a writer, I’m going to take the opportunity to mentally record sensory details for possible use in future stories. Weddings…

  • Friday’s Findings

    Friday’s Findings

    Six to eight past midday. That is when I am writing. I don’t have the luxury of writing full time, so I need a schedule to motivate me to apply body to chair, fingers to keyboard.  A person can get a lot done in two hours. Some writing advice: Story Structure: How The Act Three…

  • Start The Scene With Action And Dialogue

    Start The Scene With Action And Dialogue

    Okay, this is a long post. Just warning you. This good news is you can just read the highlights in bold to get the gist for each section. This post is for reference as you may want to experiment with the writing exercise I’ve fleshed out in the following paragraphs. In the previous post, I…

  • Writing Advice Page Updated

    Writing Advice Page Updated

    Have you ever wished you knew more about writing short stories and novels? How to write realistic dialogue? How to create smooth prose? I’ve updated my writing advice page by collecting links to articles on fiction elements. Feel free to explore them to hone your writing craft through learning or reference. Topics include: Backstory Beats…

  • How I Write My Scenes

    How I Write My Scenes

    “How do I write this story?” Take a deep breath. Writing a novel or short story starts with writing one word. Then one sentence. Then one paragraph. Then one scene. Stop right there. Let’s focus on the scene in fiction writing. Scenes are the basic building blocks of the fiction process, but how do I…