There are lots of things I don’t know. I’m okay with that because I am not (a) an advanced artificial intelligence with all the world’s knowledge stored in my memory banks, (b) an idiot savant who remembers every single fact ever, or (c) the Library of Congress with books about every conceivable (and a few inconceivable – yes I do know what that word means) topics. That’s what makes life fun is the learning of new things. Unfortunately, there are a number of topics I think I have knowledge about that, it turns out, I am either misguided or completely wrong about. The problem with those topics is, I don’t actually know what they are until I am corrected. Being […]
Read moreCategory: Irreverent Muse
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 moreDoors and Windows
I’m sure you have all heard the saying, “When one door closes, another one opens somewhere.” I have also heard that saying expanded to include windows (so make sure you have your burglar skills honed). I will admit, when I first heard people using the phrase (usually in an attempt to cheer me up) I was skeptical. I mean, where is it written in the cosmic rule book that things need to be fair? Where is it written that for every minus there should be a plus (okay, Lavoisier’s Law of Conservation of Mass DOES say that, but I hope you catch my drift). My skepticism decreased somewhat when I saw examples of door close/door open but I credited that […]
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 […]
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