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The Madness of Writing a Novel (in my own words)
✨HOW DOES IT FEEL WHEN YOU’RE IN THE ZONE?✨ I’ve hit my stride, finally. As we are approaching mid-July, I’ve made some pretty good progress with reading and writing. I’m about to hit 26,000 words on my work in progress, and my goal this week is to make it to at least 30,000 words. As well, I’ve finished one book about bookstores and I’m on to another. My pile of these books is pretty tall, so I have a lot to work toward. I’m also finishing the last week of the master’s course I’m teaching, so it’s been a little busy. What do I mean when I ask how it…
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Borrowing Character Inspiration and Traits From People You Know
The million dollar question writers are asked at book talks is this: How much of your characters are you or someone you know? It’s the question that has intrigued readers with every book or story they read. So, how does one answer this question? Very carefully. We can’t help it as writers if we borrow things from people we actually know or have heard of or have met along the way. There is typically some truth behind fiction, whether big or small, but as observers and keen admirers of the world and the people in it, we are apt to take a few notes here and there. So if you…
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The Real People Who Have Inspired Some of My Characters
I was reading a fellow writer’s blog today, and he wrote a post about people who have inspired him along the way: both those who have encouraged him to write and those who have inspired the characters he has written. It was enlightening to read his thoughts, so I decided to share what has inspired some of my own characters in my novels. We’ll start with three today, one from each book. VIVI IN BENEATH THE MIMOSA TREE Some of you may know that the character of Vivi in Beneath the Mimosa Tree was inspired by my own grandmother, Eleanor, who passed away when I was in my twenties. I…
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A Short Story From A Writing Prompt
I’m feeling a little creative today and am in the mood to tackle something new and different. I searched for a prompt on Pinterest, and this is the one that struck my fancy. So, the way I see it, I will start my story with these words and see where it takes me. 500 words is my goal. Let’s see what happens…(I love this part of creativity…wherever will the story go?) * “This is my life now. I have climbed this hill, and now I will die upon it.” “Shut up,” I said. “We’ve only been hiking for twenty minutes.” I can talk to my grandmother like this because we…
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How Pieces of You and People You Know End Up in Your Characters
*** Luckily, for some people I know, I don’t write a lot of villains into my novels. As I do in real life, I try to not let nasty, uncaring, judgmental, ridiculously competitive and fake people seep into my world too often. However, in the short stories I write, I let them in because I don’t have to deal with them for too long, as short stories are just that—short. However, writers have to allow what we learn about people to grace the pages of our stories and illuminate our characters; these sketches of folks should glide into our stories seamlessly. As well, the same is true with the goodness…
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Come And Woo Me, Woo Me. ~ Wednesday Wisdom
* * * Shakespeare was no fool, people. He knew exactly what he was doing when he created Rosalind, an important female character in “As You Like It.” Rosalind’s best qualities are that she is witty, intelligent, scheming and lively. She makes the above remark to Orlando, her suitor, when she says, “Come, woo me, woo me, for now I am in a holiday humor, and like enough to consent.” Wikipedia calls Rosalind “the main character of the play who extracts the clarity of important traits in other characters.” As a writer, I like to suppose I have the same qualities as fictional Rosalind: the ability to extract nuances and…
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Help. I think my characters are real.
____________________________________________________________ I just need a few more dedicated hours to finish the final edits of my novel. I’ve worked hard to make Michael’s voice sound like a man. My stellar editor Cheryl Klein’s final comments to me were that Michael’s voice needs to sound a little different from Annabelle’s voice, even though they are soulmates. I’ve been playing with his thoughts and dialogue to make him sound the way I want him to sound. And I do want him to sound different than Annabelle. The other day I was driving in Annapolis, one of the settings where my novel takes place, and I turned to my husband as we passed…
