Two days before Thanksgiving, I receive a lovely tweet from writer alerting me that I'm "hanging with [her] in [her] kitchen today." The fact that I am on the West Coast and she in the east makes her message all the more delightful! I visualize her watching my vlog in her kitchen as she prepares for Thanksgiving day.She follows up with another tweet saying "the supporting cast" seagulls REALLY captured the attention of [her] golden retriever. The gulls steal the show here.Thank you for visiting …
What Skills Necessary for Protagonist to Rediscover?
Writers struggle with where and how to begin their stories for the same reason many writers begin in present story time and immediately flip to a flashback. The moment the protagonist loses her innocence or footing often takes place years before the real story time begins. In order to prevail at the Climax, the protagonist must rediscover the beliefs, skills, knowledge, or experience lost in her back-story.I use The Kite Runner, Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden as examples on Step 16 of the Plot …
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Too Airy-Fairy???
The fear you greet at every major threshold of your life is simply based on a fantasy of a danger that has not happened. Rather than stay frozen on the future, get out of your head. Feel your body. Seize this moment and write something, anything. Keep moving. Write through the fear. Today, detach from the outcome and concentrate on putting one world after another on the page. Forget the duality of good versus bad. Marvel at the miracle of words appearing out of nowhere and you writing them on …
5 Reasons Writers Get Stuck with Tips How to Unstick
Whether a romance writer, historical novelist, screenwriter or memoirist, all writers bog down at one time or another or two or three or five hundred.. In my work with writers, I have spotted 5 classic reasons writers falter when it comes to the craft of writing: 1) Writers Balk at PlotAt the thought of plot and structure, writers’ palms turn sweaty and their hearts raceWhy the visceral reaction?The act of creation generally comes from the right side of the brain and the linear, concrete …
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A Personal Glimpse into Character Emotional Development
Steeped in nature and beauty, surrounded by writers willing to take a risk, for five days, I went through the process of creating and analyzing plot at both the scene and the overall story level.Several writers at last week's plot retreat were local. The rest flew in from Nevada, Colorado, Mississippi and handful from southern California. Some of the writers knew me from plot consultations and previous workshops and retreats. Others were familiar only through my book and/or other plot tools and …
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