The Redemptive Arc, by David Corbett
From: http://writerunboxed.com/2015/12/08/the-redemptive-arc December 8, 2015 It’s the holiday season, which means it’s time to talk about my three favorite elves: Shame, Guilt, and Ho-Ho-Hope. Those of you who follow this blog daily probably have gathered already that I’m going to follow up on two recent thought-provoking posts, one by Tom Bentley (“Shatter Your Characters”) on using shame and guilt to deepen characterization, the other by Donald Maass (“The Current”) on the implicit… Read More
Killing Your Character(s)
We’ve all heard the advice as authors to “kill your darlings” but in her article, “How to Successfully Kill a Character: The Checklist,” K.M. Weiland shares her thoughts on when it’s a good idea to kill them, and when not. Check it out!
The Internal Conflict Formula That Generates Plot Points and Strengthens Theme, by Lynn Johnston
From: http://savvyauthors.com/blog/index.php/the-internal-conflict-formula-that-generates-plot-points-and-strengthens-theme-by-lynn-johnston; March 10, 2015. Internal conflict is what happens when a character wants two things that are mutually exclusive. Sometimes the conflict will be something big: perhaps your heroine is in love with George but also lusts after Fred, and she’s unable to choose which man she wants to be with. Or maybe she’s a homicide detective, and she wants to build a case on the evidence, but she also wants to… Read More
12 Fundamentals Of Writing “The Other” (And The Self), by D. J. Older
This is an excellent article to review when writing characters outside of ourselves. “12 Fundamentals Of Writing ‘The Other’ (And The Self)” by D. J. Older, author of the YA novel, Shadowshaper, among others.
How Outlining Can Bring Out Voice, by Gabriela Lessa
From: https://janefriedman.com/2015/08/24/how-outlining-can-bring-out-voice “I got some rejections where the agents said they liked the premise but it lacked voice. How do I fix voice?” As a freelance editor, I hear this question a lot from my clients. It’s something that seems to baffle authors. What exactly is voice? How do you see if your character has a voice? How do you fix it? The whole “it’s a subjective business” thing can be frustrating… Read More
Story Glue, by Anna Elliott via WriterUnboxed
I found this article interesting, and thought the rest of the Wordherders might too. In Story Glue, Anna Elliott discusses what makes her pick up a book in her limited reading time.
5 Questions You Must Immediately Ask Yourself Upon Finishing Your First Draft, by Voyage Media
From: http://voyagemedia.com/so-you-finished-your-scriptnow-what You’ve finished your script! Now what? Well, give yourself a pat on the back and take a moment to appreciate your labor of love… Now roll up your sleeves and make a fresh pot of coffee because it’s time to get back to work! The first thing you should do immediately upon finishing your first draft is think about your next draft, and that means asking yourself some tough yet necessary… Read More
A Guide to Black Hair #2 – Natural Styles, by Justina Ireland
Here is the second article in the series by Justina Ireland, A Guide to Black Hair #2 – Natural Styles — Justina Ireland. Note especially the “Red Flag Words” at the bottom of the article. Thank you, Justina, for helping avoid personal blind spots.
A Guide to Black Hair #1 – Relaxers, by Justina Ireland
Justina Ireland is a YA author, and as she says, Purveyor of Awesomeness. She is writing a series of articles, a Guide to Black Hair. Here is the first in the series, A Guide to Black Hair #1 – Relaxers. Hair is such an important part of a person’s identity. Most of us have dealt our entire life with one type of hair – whatever ours is – and it would be easy to… Read More
How to Create Instantly (& Instinctively) Recognizable Characters; by Helga-Schier
From: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-to-create-instantly-instinctively-recognizable-characters Meeting characters in a novel is very much like meeting people in real life. When we start reading a book, it’s as if we moved to a new town and were meeting a whole bunch of new people at the same time. Your job as a writer is to create that town and populate it with characters that live their lives before our eyes.