by Jan Drexler Spring is here, and it’s time to start my next book! With this new beginning, I’ve already spent hours of preparation. I’ve cultivated the bed of ideas, throwing out stones and stray roots. I’ve poured over research materials as if they were seed catalogs, each with their own versions of the standard offerings. I’ve studied maps, terrain, …
Have You Ever Fallen in Love with One of Your Characters?
by Glynn Young Something strange happened to me as I was writing my third novel, Dancing King. I fell in love with one of the characters. Perhaps “fell in love” is too strong. “Became fascinated with” might be more apt. It was a character who came seemingly out of nowhere, a minor character, in fact, one whose presence wasn’t crucial …
Four Approaches to Character Names
by Christa Kinde Whenever I’m invited to talk about the Threshold Series, one question keeps cropping up. How do you pick names for your characters? While it might sound like I’m dodging the question, the honest answer is … it depends! I don’t have one set rule. But I do have four different approaches. I’ll even throw in some bonus …
Learning the Truth About Forgiveness
by Marianne Evans One of the most daunting questions I’m asked as an author is: ‘What prompted you to write this book/approach this topic/dive into these characters?’ When it comes to my release, Forgiveness, I don’t want to offer what might seem to be a quick and easy answer like: ‘I wrote it to help readers discover the mercy and …
What’s Your Name?
By Tamara D. Fickas William Shakespeare wrote the famous line, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet” in Romeo and Juliet. This seems to imply that names aren’t important. Truly though, would Pride and Prejudice be the same if it were Mr. Smith who swept Elizabeth off her of …
Characters or Story: What Drives Your Writing?
by Glynn Young I was having an email exchange with a writer and poet who had just published a novel. Specifically, we were discussing how each of us wrote fiction. She had trouble, she said, with multi-viewpoint novels. Her stories tended to be character-driven, and especially lead character-driven. She said she found multi-viewpoint novels confusing. Multi-viewpoint novels are what I …
Your Character’s Voice
by Sarah Sundin (@sarahsundin) I’m a California girl. I’m ashamed to admit I use the word like as filler on a regular basis. My young-adult children use vocabulary not even known in the rest of the country. If I were to write all my novels in my natural voice, I’d be very limited in geography and era. When we speak …
Writing Christmas Fiction
by Susan A.J. Lyttek It’s one thing to reminisce about Christmases gone by and to tell our own tales. But how do we go about creating traditions for a fictional character and make it seem both compelling and realistic? First of all, we can and should incorporate some of our own traditions. Maybe these go in with a minor character, …
Writing Christmas Fiction
by Susan A.J. Lyttek It’s one thing to reminisce about Christmases gone by and to tell our own tales. But how do we go about creating traditions for a fictional character and make it seem both compelling and realistic? First of all, we can and should incorporate some of our own traditions. Maybe these go in with a minor character, …
What Is Your Hero Pursuing?
By Henry McLaughlin We’ve all heard story is about conflict and tension. And that is definitely true. Stories about happy people living in Happy Valley don’t excite readers. Frankly, they can be boring. The story becomes a story when something disrupts the status quo. As John LeCarré once said, “The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The …