My friend @gooddirt shared an interesting article today discussing the age-old writer’s dilemma: which comes first when you’re writing, characters or plot? The post also shares five great tips on starting with either, and so I highly recommend giving it a read. But it got me wondering — do you […]
characters
15 posts
The other week, while on vacation, I reposted an old blog post about Mary Sues. Today, I read an interesting post by Zoe Marriott on the same subject, but taking it to a new level I hadn’t previously considered: namely, that many critics’ dislike of Mary Sue characters, as they […]
While I’m on vacation this week, I’m diving into my archives for a look at some of my favorite old posts. You voted on what you want to see, and this is the result. The following was originally published in June of 2010. Enjoy! I tweeted this the other day: […]
Some friends and I were playing an RPG tonight (role-playing game, for those of you that grab your geek creds from elsewhere), and when the GM left the room for a few minutes, the other players and I came up with a brilliant plan to tie up the approximately 5 […]
If it’s Friday, it must be time for Another About My Query post! And it is, so it is, so there. Going to take this query paragraph by paragraph, which is to say I’m stopping after each paragraph to make comments, and not reading the whole thing at once. You […]
I tweeted this the other day: “I think I’m completely over DESTINY as a plot device.” I expanded it a little more to say, “Destiny, Fate, Birthright… all are too often used as a crutch for legitimate character development.” But what do I mean? Well, in looking at another hundred […]
Vintage shoes today for Leslie, who asks: I have a new book idea, and before I outline, I’d like your thoughts. The MC is 16, but there is an older adult that factors heavily in the premise. If I have a couple chapters where it’s the older woman’s POV, is […]
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all! I’m a proud half-Irish American, and so of course I’m wearing green today. (I debated green shoes for this post, but the ones above go better with the real reason behind my writing, as you’ll see below.) We often talk a lot about […]
Every couple of years, like so many people, I become obsessed about sports I otherwise pay very little attention to. Mostly, it’s figure skating and gymnastics, but as Neil Patrick Harris tweeted this morning, “I never thought I could care so much for people or sports that I just learned […]