Posts Tagged ‘writing fiction’
You Can't Always Get What You Want
I’ve been thinking lately about something Alex Sokoloff says in her screenwriting tips for novelists workshops (and in her blog). She talks about how characters in both books and movies) often start out wanting something that they never get, but end up getting what they need instead. If you think about your favorite movies or…
Read MoreWhat are You So Afraid Of?
In the past twenty plus years of writing fiction, I’ve had plenty of time to ponder why I write about particular topics and revisit particular themes. I grew up a fearful person, something I’ll post about at greater length one of these days. I think I’ve conquered most of my fears (with the exception of…
Read MoreThe Backtrack List
Since my novels usually involve twists and turns, readers often ask me if I think all those plot points in advance. The answer is: I wish. What usually happens is that, despite my carefully plotted outlines, new ideas come to me once I really get into the writing. Sometimes it feels as though the characters are…
Read MoreRevising Fiction and the Challenge of Alternating Points of View
How would you like to face this mess every day? I’m in the revision process (on a page like this, the “rewriting process” is a more accurate term.) Every day, I go through a few chapters and scribble all over them, as you can see here. Then I start typing the changes into the document.…
Read More"No Thinking. That Comes Later"
I’m watching the old (2000) movie, Finding Forrester, as I work on this blog post. Have you seen it? It’s the story of an aging agoraphobic author played by Sean Connery (the only actor worthy of the name Bond, in my opinion) and his young protoge’, a brilliant inner city kid named Jamal. Forrester tells Jamal…
Read MoreSpeaking at Quail Ridge Books
I always love speaking at Quail Ridge, one of my two favorite Independent Bookstores (the second being Quarter Moon Books in Topsail Beach). Quail Ridge does a good job getting the word out and it has a wonderful setup for the audience. I had such a good time. My favorite part of a speaking…
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