It’s always a challenge to keep your characters from knowing too much. After all, your characters come out of your head and you are the one with all the answers. How can they not know too much? I realized that I had the problem after one of my protagonists acted too understanding towards another character. That compassion, while praiseworthy was not natural. The character was rude, obnoxious and mean to my protagonist. I didn’t even notice it until it was pointed out to me. I had to step back and really evaluate what was going on. I came to the conclusion that the reaction was normal only if the protagonist knew the demons that haunted the mean character. Since the […]
Read moreAuthor: Michell
Keeping Your Character’s Voice Consistent
You have a character in your head who is clamoring to get out. You already know his or her entire backstory: where he/she was born, who were the parents, first loves, first broken bone, etc. etc. You also know how the character should grow during the story. So far so good. Then you start to write and the character ‘magically’ goes from being a hard-headed bitch (substitute bastard for a guy if you like) to someone who gets all emotional over the smallest thing. And it all happens in a few short chapters. Maybe even in a few paragraphs. Sound familiar? It happened to me in my book “The Goddess Renewed”. One of my protagonists, Paena (female, in case you’re […]
Read moreGet Published, Episode 2 – Barriers to Publication
Episode 2 is finally here. I wanted to get an episode out every month for the first few until I get into the groove. I almost made it. I’m using a new microphone which worked pretty well although I did run into an annoying hum partway through the recording. I’ve still got some work to do. I encourage you to send me your thoughts and feedback on this episode so I can make it better. Get Published, Episode 2 – Barriers to Publication Show Notes 00:00 — Opening – Get Published, Episode 2 Everything has to start somewhere and this is the start of “Get Published” 0:14 — Introduction – Show #2: Barriers to Publication Who is Michell Plested? […]
Read moreThe Writing Life: Trying New Things
For those of you who know me (or have read the “About Me” section of this site) you will know I typically write Fantasy, Science Fiction and YA Adventure. You would also probably know that I prefer to write novels over short stories. But is that the limit to my creativity? Am I a one (or in this case three) trick pony? I certainly hope not. I like to try new things. For example, I’ve always wanted to write humor. Specific to humor, I’ve always loved “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. Not the movie or old BBC episodes, but the books themselves. I used to read the Guide at least once per year, usually when I was in a […]
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