Martha, Rachel Hauck said “butt.” Okay now that we got that out of the way. . . Writing is very hard work. Fun. Exciting. There’s nothing like holding your hard work, in hand, printed and bound. But, the labor is much like giving birth. Being creative is fun. Dreaming up ideas and imagining scenarios, talking with our potential characters. Then comes the hard work. Writing. As I talked about last week, it’s a lot like dating on e-Harmony. The person on the other end of the phone or computer is not the person sitting across from you at dinner. Same with characters. Your heroine was so lively and fun in your head, but on the page she’s snippy, snide and unlikable. Here’s the biggest writing tip you’ll ever get. Ready? […]
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Writing is like dating on e-Harmony
I spend a lot of time “dating” my characters. I ask questions, delve into their back story. I write bios, dream up their greatest fears and secret dreams. I consider the lies they believe about themselves, life and God. I figure out eye and hair color, height and fashion sense. What car do they drive and why? Where do they live? Alone? With a friend? With family? Whose died? How many broken hearts? Any major disasters that still drills holes in their hearts? With Susie May, I figure out the characters’ basic story journey. We answer story questions. I send them to college, give them a career. Sighing with satisfaction, I begin writing. “This story rocks” Half way into page one, I’m bogged down in story sludge.”This story stinks!” I’ve […]
Read the RestWriting goals
If I had a dime for every person who said to me, “I want to write a book,” I’d have ten dollars! I smile and encourage those with big dreams! I love big dreams. But the moment I start to speak the realities of writing a novel, smiles fade, light dims from behind the eyes, and I can see I’ve killed hopes. Why do we love dreams without substance? Why is it we think dreams just come to us? Most dreams are the result of very hard work. American Idol winners aside, most singers, artist, musicians, writers spend hours and hours on their craft. On a recent drive to visit family in Tennessee, I listened to a book, Outliers. The author, Malcom Gladwell, looked at societies and individuals to see […]
Read the RestDropping the bomb – A MyBookTherapy Moment
Well, we’re back to blogging! It was great seeing so many of you at the ACFW conference in Denver. Please make plans to attend the conference in Indianapolis next year. For those of you who attended our continuing education class, thank you. It was great to have such a large, lively group. I wanted to bring some clarification on “dropping the bomb.” In the class on Saturday, I talked about not hording a plot point, but going ahead, getting the “big news” out there and see where the story ran from the “explosion.” Here’s what I mean. If you’re telling the reader your heroine is pregnant outside of marriage, but the hero doesn’t know, GO AHEAD, tell him, see what the fall out would be! Don’t “horde” the point. Or […]
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