I’m doing some writing workshops this year just like I did last year and I wanted to explore something that can be as simple or as complex as the audience is ready for. I wanted something that would be relevant to Grade 1 students all the way to adults. So, I decided that this year, I would tackle some of the questions regarding character motivation. As you might imagine, what motivates characters (as with living, breathing people) is as varied as the population of our imaginations. I also didn’t think a workshop titled Character Motivations was all that interesting. What I settled for was Good Villains and Bad Heroes. I thought it might be fun to blog about my thought […]
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Torturing Your Characters
I have long heard authors talk about torturing characters to make stories stronger. I have done a little of that with different characters in my stories. The thing is, I find it easier to torturer one-time characters. Going one step further, torturing those characters that only appear in a short story. I guess it’s like people. The better you get to know someone, the more protective of that person (assuming you like them) you get. Such is the way of it with my characters. In fact, I have had to mentally prepare myself to do the necessary torturing with some of my recurring characters just so I can write the scenes effectively. Even then I sometimes find myself easing off […]
Read moreStepping Away from your Work
I have heard many authors say that prior to editing something, you should put it aside for a period of time first. That way you are coming back to it with fresh eyes. I’ve used that technique myself successfully many times but only ever on a finished project. Today, I had the opportunity to pick up something I had worked on a couple months ago but not completed. I decided to reread what I had already written so I could more easily pick up where I left off. The first thing that hit me was, the writing was better than I remembered (don’t you love when that happens?). The second thing was I discovered a way to enrich the story […]
Read moreNearing the End (of the year)
The end of the year always feels like a deadline of sorts. I had a lot of plans and goals (both work and personal) set at the beginning of the year and now, I’m trying my very best to ensure that I’ve achieved them all. There are always a few things left hanging out there to be finished but this year I feel like I’ve had a good year. I didn’t get everything I’d planned finished, but I did get a lot of them. I also noticed that my writing seems to be gaining some momentum, which is also a very good thing. In fact, I am moving my own schedule ahead a bit to try and get even more […]
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