An effective story is more than just an engaging plot. You have to create characters that your readers can connect with and that come alive on the page. Without compelling characters, you will struggle to craft a compelling story. This is one of a series of posts discussing ways to build multidimensional characters that are realistic and engaging. Today, I’ll talk about how to start creating those characters.
Month: January 2017
Status Sunday #10
Good evening! I have to apologize for taking this post somewhat off the rails, but with all the things that have been going on since I wrote my last post, I think it needs to be discussed.
I am furious about Trump’s Muslim ban. I’ve known quite a few Muslims in my life, and they have, universally, been a loving, kind, and passionate group of people. I don’t understand how there is so much hatred for a group of people, especially when the people who seem to hate them the most have had little to no contact or understanding of the group. I’m saddened at the direction that Trump is trying to take our nation, but I am given hope by the protests that have erupted across the nation. The ACLU has 150,000 new members and has raised over $19 million dollars since Saturday. America is a nation of immigrants, and we will not stand for this discriminatory legislation. #NoBanNoWall #resist
And now that that is out of the way*, onto our regularly scheduled Status Sunday.
Things I’ve accomplished this week:
- I have gotten some writing done on Reader, but not nearly as much as I’d like to. That being said, I’ve got a good start, I know where I’m going, and my writing group is now reading Reader (that is going to get tedious), so I should have plenty of motivation to keep going.
- I did get some reading done this week, which was great.
- I got feedback from my editor, which was mostly positive, so good news on that front!
Things I want to accomplish this week:
- Write a new chapter in Reader
- Seriously get that Kickstarter plan put together. I keep putting it off, and it needs to happen.
- Donate to the ACLU.
So, again, a pretty straightforward week. I’ll see you all tomorrow for a regular post.
*Seriously, if I can’t complain about politics on my own blog, where I have maybe two people reading it regularly, and those two people are me and my husband, where else can I?
Writing Resources
Evening, everyone. Tonight’s post is going to be a collection of resources that I use for writing. Hopefully you’ll find something that will help you with your writing. Click the read more to see the full list.
Anxiety and Authorship
Self-publication is a fairly scary road. You don’t have the protection of a publishing house and all of the benefits that it brings. No marketing department, no art direction, no budget for making appearances and tables at conventions. Your book will likely never be on store shelves. There’s also the stigma associated with self-publishing. Lonely housewives, writing smut and trying to sell it or give it away. Poorly written, poorly edited, poorly plotted. There’s a sea of terrible fiction out there, and you’re throwing your story onto the top of the pile and hoping it doesn’t sink.
In this post, I’m going to talk about the stress and burdens that come with self-publishing and what I do to combat them.
Building Worlds One Word at a Time
Good evening, everyone! Today, I’m going to write about one of my favorite things about writing: world building. I love well-built worlds in other’s work, and I love spending time building worlds in my own work. My favorite stories tend to be the ones that have fully realized worlds and settings. Dune, West World, the Harry Potter series. All of these stories have well-constructed worlds that are the foundations for the novel. Without them, the stories fall apart. World building is about as important, at least in my mind, as the plot of your novel. I’ll discuss how I work on building worlds and offer tips and tricks that I’ve found useful in my own writing.
Now, with my usually terrible transition skills, let’s get started with the meat of the post.