“You’re not a writer. You’re not even published.” My superior at my day job spoke these words many years ago. They were his response when my immediate lead told him I was writing. Talent has been described as something you either have or you don’t. You can’t learn it. I and many others disagree with…
Perfectionism is the bane of many a writer, even experienced ones. Each story must be perfect or it’s no good. There’s no middle ground. There’s no forgiveness for ourselves. We don’t allow for the fact we’re human, we’re frail, and, despite our pride, we don’t know it all. Perfectionism plagued my early years as a…
Once your character is born, she begins her journey into the story. To follow her on the trek we need use the pieces of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual knowledge she shows us to understand her motivation and to learn how she reacts to the story. Our story events should be realistic and unpredictable. She…
People have asked where my characters come from. My response frequently is, “I don’t know. He just showed up one day and said he had a story to tell.” That’s how Michael Archer, the protagonist of my Riverbend series, came to be. The first glimmer of book one, Journey to Riverbend, came, like most of…
As you’ve probably seen and noticed in the last few years, the classic Origin Story has been appearing even more so in books, tv shows, films, and in our culture as a whole. The origin of a character or reality is the foundation of any and all stories; even origins themselves can become a character….
This month, I’m continuing the series on finding the right word. Let me emphasize again this is part of the editing process more than it is part of the creative process, especially the first couple of drafts. Those early drafts are to get the story out so we have something to work with. Finding the…
