I don't recall the exact moment it began. I want to think it's at the zoo, and in a flash of brilliance I knew the whole plot.
Blogs have fallen by the wayside this year, there has been a lot going on.
For many years, I was haunted by the image of a man who returns home after a long exile to find himself standing in the midst of an apple orchard while winter bears down — he is destitute, his clothes and hopes falling to shreds, searching for what he cannot remember, much less name.
New releases being published by Threekookaburras in 2017 include Outposts by Sean Akerman.
It can be difficult to know when to end a story. You may begin with a clear idea of where you’re heading. This is true for left-brained plotters, the kind of authors who can write the last sentence first. Other times the narrative grows organically, without much of a plan.
All new writers know what it feels like to have a character but have no idea what they should say or do. The writer gives them things to say, actions to perform, but it’s unsatisfying. A puzzle surrounds the secondary character, a puzzle that is solved when you give them a problem to solve in pursuit of a goal. Suddenly, the character has direction and meaning in the story.
I help my students with problems like procrastination, writer’s block, the inner critic, any issues that freeze them at the writing desk or limit their productivity.
Character arc is the journey a character takes through the course of a story.
A fellow writer told me recently there is a hard and fast rule that prohibits writers from using flashbacks. That was news to me! I thought of all the books that use that literary technique.
When submitting to a publishing house or agent, every writer has to present a synopsis. These are hell hounds to write. But they are useful, and that is true even before you send one off together with your sample chapters.