Today we’ll focus on your character’s speech and mannerisms. In past lessons, we’ve discussed external and internal goals, core values and conflicts, physical details, and personality traits. Another layer in a character’s personality is speech. Each layer adds depth and makes your reader feel as if they know this person. Readers sometimes see themselves in […]
Archives for 2010
Writing Lesson 23 – Framing Your Story
February 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Story Structure Structure in your story is like the frame of a house. It both holds it together and gives it shape. Sometimes we creative types don’t appreciate the word structure. We may view it as something to stifle our imagination. However, structure doesn’t need to bind you, and it can be an essential tool […]
Writing Lesson 22 – The Color Editors Hate
February 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Purple Prose It may be a pretty popular color for your bedroom if you’re a teenager, or it may look awesome on an electric guitar, but for a writer, the color purple is to be shunned. I’m talking about a figurative color, something that we call “purple prose”. Purple prose is language that is over […]
Writing Lesson 21 – The Dreaded Edits
January 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Writing Your Story is Only the First Step Ponder this quote from the blog of author and freelance editor, Maryanne Miller (http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2010/01/things-that-drive-editor-crazy.html): “Developing the story and getting it down on paper – or stored on your hard drive – is only the first step in writing a book. The next couple of steps are crucial […]
Writing Lesson 20 – Get Inside Their Heads
January 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Point of View Makes All the Difference When you and your sibling have a disagreement and tell your stories to a parent, you learn firsthand the difference someone’s point-of-view can have on the way he or she sees the same basic set of events. Your brother’s version of how grandma’s prized antique vase got broken […]
