I finished reading Daniel Silva‘s latest Gabriel Allon thriller The Defector last night, and I wanted to talk about it. If you’re reading this blog, you probably know I don’t represent thrillers, but I do enjoy reading them, and Silva is one of those authors I like to keep up […]
characters
It’s another snow day here at kt lit, and though you’d think working from home would make that just about the same as any other work day, I’m also enjoying seeing Rexroth and wee Trixie about the house as well. Earlier this morning, I put on Disney’s Beauty and the […]
In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare wrote What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet. And what’s the reason for my quoting the Bard today? Well, as I wrote yesterday on Twitter, some authors seem to be trying so very very […]
Four shoes for Kathy, who emails, "I'm almost ready to begin sending out my first MG novel. I've got four more drafted using the same characters as they age over the years. I don't hear other characters talking to me, so these are the ones I've worked with. Is this going to be a problem with an agent or a career?"
In writing, as in life, sometimes things happen that you don't expect. You can draft and draft and draft, and prepare an outline of your novel that has every tiny little bit of plot mapped out to the nth degree, but if you're not willing to toss all that aside, to let things go where they want to go, and let scenes play out as you never imagined they might, then I think you're crippling yourself as a writer.