Writer, this here be a mutiny

What are you doing? Well, that wasn’t planned, but that kind of–Now what are doing?! No, that isn’t in the plan! You weren’t supposed to do that until Chapter Eight. Stop that, this isn’t your scen–Why do you have swords? Why are you pointing them at me? What-what are you doing?! No, no–I need toContinue reading “Writer, this here be a mutiny”

Character Series: Fears and Phobias

Everyone is afraid of something — heck, even Indiana Jones is. And you know what? That only makes us human. We all know what it is like to be afraid, whether it’s snakes, heights, confined spaces, fire, death, rodents, flying, aliens, dogs, drowning, etc. I personally have an almost debilitating fear of heights; I getContinue reading “Character Series: Fears and Phobias”

World and Character Series: Are your characters human?

Sometimes writers forget the basics while putting our vision to paper. And in this case I’m not talking about basics like grammar, plot or even character development. No, I’m talking about the basics of life: the need to eat. Often, times characters in books will go days without eating, making them more robot than human.Continue reading “World and Character Series: Are your characters human?”

You know what’s fun? Euphemisms

“Where’s Ol’Daisy, Joe Bob?” asked Bobby Ray upon entering the milking parlor. “She kicked her last bucket.” Joe Bob continued to squirt milk into the milk pan as he sat next to Ol’Trixie. “EH?” “You know, she exited the barn for the last time… is eating in a greener pasture on a farm upstate.”  Continue reading “You know what’s fun? Euphemisms”

Characters, touchy subjects and framing

While going through the revision portion of my novel, one of my readers expressed dislike for a statement made by one of my character. The character is a woman who mused aloud, something to the extent, that she could not imagine being a soldier. I personally have nothing against women as soldiers as long as theyContinue reading “Characters, touchy subjects and framing”

Writing Prompt #6: Write a character’s obit

Obituaries can say a lot about a person: who their parents were, who their relative are (plus if any have predeceased them), where they were born, who they married (if they did at all), where they worked, affiliations they had, hobbies they enjoyed, their religion, how they lived, and of course, where and how theyContinue reading “Writing Prompt #6: Write a character’s obit”