There are certain steps in starting out a new project that I now realize are not optional. They provide fuel that keeps me going, even activating my subconscious. One of the most important of these steps is to make desktop wallpapers for my devices—my own take on a vision board. I learn so much about … Continue reading Vision Boards
No, not the movie 🙂 I'm talking about the beginnings of an idea. The seed of a story. That moment when you realize you may have some ephemeral thing that maybe—just maybe—you can transform into words on a page. Because once you have your characters, you need a grand adventure for them to go on. … Continue reading Inception
Happy New Moon day! At least, in my part of the world 🙂 February's full moon is called the Quickening Moon in some Celtic traditions, and it is one of my favorites. Things are happening. Energy is gathering. Momentum is building. Beneath the frozen earth, things are pushing, pushing, pushing toward the surface. We may … Continue reading Goals for the Quickening Moon
There's another type of conflict that I consider important enough to get it's own sub-category within internal and external conflict when I'm thinking through my writing, and that's relationship conflict. With any of the Romance genres, this is especially important to establish and work through. Honestly, I think it's just as important with any character-driven … Continue reading Fictional Relationships
We've talked about writing sympathetic characters, writing three-dimensional characters, and giving our characters pasts. All of these things are meant to create characters that readers can truly connect to in one way or another. Writing conflict is what activates the connection we've established. If a character sits around doing nothing, there is no story. If … Continue reading Writing Conflict
Looking back on my post for the new moon this month, I actually made a lot more progress than I realized! My planners for 2019 are set up (I actually have three of them), and though I haven't mapped out exactly when I'll be working on each writing project, I'm ready to roll with the … Continue reading Cold Moon Goals Progress
Last week, we talked about fleshing out characters by thinking of how they'd react in everyday situations that might not come up in the story. Another important factor in building characters that resonate with readers is working through their back story. Where did the character go to school? Did they have lots of friends? Or … Continue reading A Past Beyond the Page
The new moon this month has come and gone, and I've been busily working toward many goals. One of them, ironically, was to start blogging on each new moon about my focus for that month. Oops! Better late than never 🙂 Many cultures believe that each full moon carries with it an energy. As the … Continue reading Cold Moon Goals
We're delving deeper into characters this week with a look at...delving deeper into characters 🙂 No matter how many sympathetic choices you show a character making, readers can't really connect to a character if there's nothing of substance to connect with. As readers, we say that characters are sometimes flat or shallow. Usually, in those … Continue reading Writing Three Dimensional Characters
Part of my plan for 2019 is to write a series of blog posts that pull back the curtain on some of my thoughts and methods for writing. So many readers I talk to are curious about what goes on behind the scenes in the creation of their favorite books. I've also been approached by … Continue reading Writing Sympathetic Characters
