At long last, I’m on the other wide of a rewrite deadline and I can conclude our fairytale code series. The ending is simple. Happy. A fairytale like story, a romance, a sisterhood, even a thriller has to end with some level of happiness and satisfaction. What do we really learn from fairytale endings? The boy gets the girl. The dragon is slayed. The castle is stormed. Evil is defeated. Good wins. Even in the most thrill driven stories, these elements must take place for a solid story ending and wrap up. Cinderella is the classic happy ending. In the Disney version, Cindy and Prince marry because “the shoe fit” and boy, let’s not go down that symbolic rabbit trail, but her dreams came true because she believed. In Snow […]
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Don’t Give Up Your Writing Dream
Hi all, You know, book therapy is every bit about staying with your writing as it is teaching the craft. I’ve asked MBT member and retreat faithful, Patricia Bradley, to share her writing journey and inspire us all! — Rachel **** Do you ever think about giving up on your writing dream? When I was 35 years old, I had these people who came and lived in my head. At first I didn’t know what to do with them, but since I’ve always had trouble sleeping, it was kind of nice to have someone to keep me entertained in the wee hours of the morning. Except, they weren’t content to entertain me. They wanted their story told. Problem? I didn’t know how to tell their story. So I bought a how-to […]
Read the RestThe Power of the Rewrite A #TBT Repost
Note: I’m swamped with my own rewrite! So here’s a throw-back-Thursday post from last year. The Power of A Rewrite Q: Dear Therapist, I hear that novels are not written they are rewritten. But I edit as I write. Is that considered rewriting?, all I feel I need is a final polish. Why should I spend time with a rewrite? What do I gain? A: I love this topic. To rewrite or not to rewrite… that is the question. Let’s just say up front, everyone has a different writing process. Fast, slow, edit-as-you-go, write and rewrite. Early risers, late nighters. A thousand words a day. Five thousand words a day. Writers come in all shapes and mind-sets. Some writers plot to the minute detail. Others have a loose idea of […]
Read the RestLearning from Fairytales: Creating An Enchanting Heroine
Fairytales heroines nab our attention because they are either princesses, become princesses or encounter the supernatural. Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, The Snow Queen. Even the heroine in Rumpelstiltskin marries the King who locked her in a room, demanding she turn straw into gold. (What’s up with that, by the way? Marrying the greedy guy put you in a tower?) But fairytale heroines are often tools in a morality story. A symbol. A two-dimensional character that shuffles the plot along to teach a valued lesson. For a novel, we need a heroine readers can relate to, who looks someone like them even if they are a princess, or meet a prince, or who’s superpower is strictly her beauty. From the web site Den of Geeks: “We don’t care who they are, […]
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