Tag: Writing Tips
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Vision Boards
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…
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Inception
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.…
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Fictional Relationships
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…
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Writing Conflict
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…
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A Past Beyond the Page
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…
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Writing Three Dimensional Characters
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…
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Writing Sympathetic 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…
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Villainy and Proximity
The second Forbidden Knights book is half-finished, and I have this nagging feeling that it needs a different villain. That’s not a revelation you want to have halfway through a novel (though it’s better than having it when you’re at the end, I suppose 😉 ). I thought at first that I was just feeling…
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The Nonfiction Book is Out!
Hey, everybody! I’m so happy to be able to share with you that Crafting a Writer’s Life: Building a Foundation is now available! This book is me sharing some of what I’ve learned along my path to becoming a published writer.
Cassandra Chandler 