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Category Archives: Story structure
Why Not AI?
I write under a curse that requires me to experiment and revise as I create. Despite considering ideas, creating outlines to guide me and re-reading my initial work to improve it, the quality of my writing is not consistent. Unfortunately, … Continue reading
Pushover Protagonist?
How often have you heard warnings against creating a protagonist who is the opposite of a mover and shaker, one who simply lets things happen to them? Or one who watches the other characters struggle without taking charge? A main … Continue reading
What are Looks in a Story?
If I describe one of my protagonists as chubby with a large pyramid-shaped nose, fat eyelids and thin hair, I believe I’ve indicated she is not attractive. So, she is not deluding herself when she says she is ugly. However, … Continue reading
Posted in Characters, Story structure
Tagged appearance, beauty, book-review, books, complex-characters, Fiction, looks, Writing, writing-tips
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A Stuck Character
The character that I’ve imagined is stuck. Literally. He’s in solitary confinement, or in a dungeon, or abandoned on an island, and I know how he’s going to escape. But, for now he’s stuck. Should I just jump ahead to … Continue reading
Do You Know What Polyandry Means?
If you are familiar with Clint Eastwood’s first movie, a musical called Paint Your Wagon you’d realize that a woman having more than one husband is not a recent idea. If you recognize “polyandry” as an ancient Greek term for … Continue reading
Posted in Drama and movies, Novels, romance, Story structure
Tagged book-review, book-reviews, books, Dr. Zhivago, genre, harem, Madame Bovary, Paint your wagon, polyandry, polygamy, romance, The Awakening, Writing
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Journeying away from the Hero’s Journey
Want a plot that’s been used successfully thousands of times? Research Campbell’s monomyth or simply read Christopher Vogler’s book on the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is an idea manufactured as a result of popular literature from Greco-Roman times. However, … Continue reading
A Matter of Ego
No one really writes a novel without considering the plot beforehand. Nor do they outline the events so tightly that they know each step the protagonist will take and never vary from this initial plan. So why do we argue … Continue reading
Posted in Creativity, Novels, Story structure, Writing trends
Tagged architects, author, books, Creative writing, gardeners, outlines, pantser, planners, winging it, Writing, writing-tips
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Climbing over the Block
What is writer’s block? For me it is not a dearth of ideas, but a multitude of mediocre ones. If I push through this initial uninspired feeling and write, eventually a creative thought or two should appear. Sometimes I stretch … Continue reading
From Music to Words
My first experience with music as an inspiration for writing occurred in the summer between high school and college. I lay in bed at night listening to the radio and trying to go to sleep when a pop song with … Continue reading
Grasping at Ideas
Books exist that relate the basics of writing stories: how to create plots that follow specific beats and pacing, how to develop characters and throw continual problems at them, how to use settings to enhance your story. But, all this … Continue reading
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