Characters – Page 3

My Achilles Heels

There’s a reason they say write drunk, edit sober. Your inhibitions should be down while you’re writing and doubled while you’re editing.

Psh.

That Book Ouch Moment

Diversity in race, sexuality, socioeconomic background and more in YA books plays a fundamental role in providing young people with a sense of identity, belonging and validity.

Most of the time.

So Where Do the Stories Come From, I Wonder

I do not have a half-naked Greek Goddess of muse and creativity lying across my bed. Inspiration doesn’t work like that.

External conflict on its own rarely stands up as being big enough, emotional enough or important enough. Yes, external factors are important in keeping a story moving, but internal factors are the driving force behind character arc and development, and our pathways to making two-dimensional, imaginary characters human. Real.

Don’t Start at the Beginning

As wonderful as my character’s tragic backstory or hushed conversation might be, none of that matters an iota if I don’t get the beginning right.

Writers Write (Forever and Ever and Ever)

The truth of the matter is that writing has become – or perhaps always been – an industry where working too hard, too much and too often is only the first step to success.