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“PUT CHARACTERS IN OPPOSITE SITUATIONS.”

Continuing from my post last week on fast notes on characterization during a Donald Maass session. These are an eclectic gathering designed to make you think differently. Have fun! “These are the moments the characters become larger than his or her own life. Break out of box, out of character, do the unexpected. The are the moments we remember.” “A “wink” can be the most unexpected thing a character can do.” But it must be out of character. “Take your characters to places they would never go.” Eventually they have to become who they really are – reverse or repent of what they’ve done. Stop thinking about redeeming our characters. Can’t always be thinking of redeeming them. Redeem them from what? Take your characters to the bad/dark/confused place, wrong place, […]

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Followers . . . Friends . . . What’s all the Fuss About?

Twitter and Facebook are just part of the new digital paradigm—and they’re here to stay. But deciding how to integrate them into your writing life can be tough. Today I’m going to give you a few pointers that should help. I’ve been watching the threads on several email groups I follow and there seems to be quite a bit of confusion about how to get friends and followers and whether or not there’s any value to them. Does anybody really care how many friends and followers you have? Absolutely. One of the first thing a publisher wants to know when consider a book proposal (fiction or non-fiction) is what kind of platform the author has. And simply put, a platform is the number of people who are interested enough in […]

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Conversations: Common Writing Mistakes I’m seeing

I miss Sally and our morning coffee.  But I’m on the road this week, teaching at conferences, and judging contests and I thought it might help to see a quick summary of the common mistakes I’m seeing as I look at entries and talk to aspiring authors. So here they are, in no particular order.   Not starting the story with a compelling situation.  So many entries and rough drafts are starting in a place where the author is either explaining the character’s backstory or creating the storyworld instead of getting to the character and creating a situation where we see him interacting with his world, setting up for the inciting incident (or even in the middle or after it). Remember, the first three chapters of your novel are the […]

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Don’t Be Fooled, Part Two: I Only Thought I Could…

Last week we talked about fool’s gold and not being attracted to bright, shiny objects. Today we’re going to journey in the opposite direction because I coach individuals all the time who fall into this trap. It goes something like this: You spend nights and weekends at the keyboard pouring your best efforts into creating the manuscript you just know will be a New York Times Best Seller. You save your pennies to register for a writer’s conference and practice your elevator speech until you recite it in your sleep. An agent and editor both want to see the manuscript so you run back to your hotel room you couldn’t afford and press the “send” button. Then you wait. You don’t want to leave your room to attend the workshop […]

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