The more I think about it, the more a term like “character-oriented” seems superfluous. Characters are but one element of a story. Like setting and plot, they are essential ingredients of a story. But are they any more important than the rest?
Today, I endeavor to do the opposite of 2012’s exercise. Rather than harp on the struggle, I will embrace the spirit of Thanksgiving by acknowledging the advantageous and affirming aspects of being a fiction writer in 2014 (and beyond).
Once you establish the worth of a product—whether it’s a frozen pizza or national news—it’s awfully difficult to convince people they should have been paying along.
Back when I worked in a newsroom, a colleague of mine was wont to say, “Everyone loves old photos.” I believe the Throwback Thursday (#TBT) trend serves as further proof of mankind’s fondness for looking back.
I’ve read 3,009 articles about how fiction writers need to become savvy marketers and self-promoters if they want their books to succeed commercially, and I fear I’m becoming a convert.
Since no two minds work precisely the same way, no two writers are going to approach planning, plot structure, character development, research, writing, and editing exactly the same way. A method that works for one author might result in utter failure for another.
I must have killed hundreds of people over the years. Since I’m a writer of sword-and-sorcery fantasy, death come with the territory.
A writer’s mind can be a dangerous thing. Perhaps the most notorious forms of self-sabotage are writer’s block and a related syndrome: the sophomore slump.
An unfortunate truth about experiments: they often end in failure.
As much as we all would like to believe that something magical happens when the calendar resets, our behavior—and personalities—seldom change with the flip of a switch.