Every gripping story features a villain. It could be a human bad guy, a hostile environment, an oppressive regime, or a life-threatening illness. I wouldn’t necessarily describe my life story as “gripping”, but I have identified an antagonist. My nemesis is me. This thought came as surprise-at least to me. Others may have already suspected …
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Vacation. What image does that word conjure in your mind? A sun-drenched beach, an exotic foreign city, or a wilderness retreat? Vacations are highly recommended to give us a break from our ordinary routine. Depending on your choice, they may refresh, recharge, or relax. We step out of our everyday life and examine our priorities, …
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Some days ideas pop up around me like speech bubbles in a cartoon. A news item or media post might trigger a cascade of possible plot complications, a list of future blog topics, or intriguing areas for additional research. Most often my problem isn’t a lack of ideas, (read this post) but an inability to …
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Read More...Are you ready to build an author website? I recommend you check out the link below and consider joining the September 2018 class. I’d been avoiding starting my own website for (hand-covering-mouth mumble). Let’s just say, too long. I had great excuses. It was too hard. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t want to make …
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Conflict between what a character wants (external goal) and what he/she needs (internal drives) provides the raw materials a writer can use to build a NY Times Bestseller. If so, my journey from writing a rough draft to completing my manuscript should result in a gripping tale. What I want (external goal) is to finish …
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Would you put on a space suit, strap yourself into a rocket ship, launch out of Earth’s orbit and head to the red planet? Why do I ask? Because that trip has moved out the realm of science fiction and into near reality. Don’t ask me how it will come to fruition. I’m a curious …
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Confession: I’ve been taking another online class. I know, I know. I’m supposed to be working on my novel. I HAVE been working on my novel. (I said so in a recent post.) I LOVE to take classes, especially online. They allow me to work at my own pace and still do my laundry. Plus, …
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I’ve been plugging away on my work-in-progress. It’s a contemporary romance novel that I’ve been revising for (hand-covering-mouth-mumble) much too long for a work intended as light entertainment. Let’s just say, it’s not War and Peace. I have two problems with this process. It takes forever. It never ends. Although those might appear to be …
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One of my favorite newsletters recently ended. For many years the inspirational missive appeared weekly in my inbox. The writer offered life and business coaching, but I never signed up to be client or attended his annual retreat. Yet, I looked forward to reading each newsletter. Even on a busy week, I would at least …
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The search to replace a coffee table inspired me to demonstrate my understanding of basic story structure. Why? What seemed like a simple task-go to the store, choose one, request delivery-morphed into an extended challenge. (I admit the story may be more soap opera than literary fiction, but anyway…) The Beginning: According to Aristotle, and …
The Coffee Table Quest Read More »
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