Snow graced our little hamlet, lacy upon the rocks of our town’s shoreline, evidence of the blizzard over the weekend. A perfect opportunity to huddle into my arm chair and get some writing done. Although wedged into rewrites of a story, I pryed myself out to plow my way into town to meet with Sally, the aspiring writer I promised to mentor. I hoped she’d taken my dare to dig deep into her life and interests to find a story spark. I probably should have told her to start an idea file – I’d recently discovered Evernote as a way to capture all my wandering thoughts and story ideas. She found me lost in the tangle of my rewrite thoughts, nursing a skinny vanilla latte. “Hey Sally,” I said as […]
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Quick Skills Class: Characterization and Core Identity
Are you creating a new character and trying to figure out how to make him/her different from every other character you’ve created? Try this – Instead of picking out a name from thin air and then attaching a bunch of characteristics to your paper doll, start from the inside-out. Start with finding their core identity. Identity is not about what career you have – skydiver, wilderness EMT, policeman, lawyer, photographer, chef, teacher – but rather the person on the inside that has driven you to this destiny. A core identity starts with an adjective and ends with a proper noun. “My character is a [insert proper noun here].” Here’s how: Let’s take a firefighter, for example. We might automatically assume he’s a protector, or courageous. But let’s take a look […]
Read the RestAre you ready for opportunity when it arrives?
Aspiring writers are always looking ahead to that book contract. They write, revise, network, rewrite, learn, plot…and dream. Pre-pubbed can be an intensely exciting time as well as an intensely frustrating one. We seem to stagnate in our dreams as week after week, chapter after chapter, conference after conference, time seems to pass us by. We watch others catapult to superstar status at writing conferences where the published authors gather to talk industry and the pre-pubbed gather to dream. The one thing all of them have in common is there are potential opportunities swirling around them at every moment. The thing that distinguishes many people is recognition of those opportunities. “But wait, Tiff!! I’m working hard!” I know you are. Don’t worry. I’m not criticizing. I’m coaching. I’m speaking from […]
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