Imagine me throwing a handful of the confetti I keep in the drawer of my writing desk and shouting, “Happy September!” Can you picture it? All the lovely tissue paper confetti raining down and covering the floor in a splendid pastel rainbow. Some of the shiny gold pieces may blind you in the sun. Don’t worry about the mess. I’ll vacuum it up later. For writers getting ready for NaNoWriMo, September is the starting point. It’s time dedicated to coming…
When I sit down to write, I like to have music playing to block out background noises. The kids’ deep discussion on the pros and cons of horse racing, the husband’s work meeting with people from around the world, or the neighbor’s toddler gurgling with delight as he chases his ride on car around the court. It’s easy to be distracted by these things. Especially the adorable toddler who takes great glee in walking up the steep driveway behind his…
I was asked a question recently that made me smile. It hit all those little things that I work on when creating characters and writing stories, and made me want to gush about the hidden details, the tiny aspects I don’t know if anyone will notice because it might be based on something real that I witnessed. The question asked was: What inspired your supporting characters? How did you come up with their names and personalities? I’m pretty sure I…
When I begin to write a story, sometimes I have an idea of what my characters will look like, and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes, the vision that I have is only partial. Perhaps a key feature of the person I’ll be writing about, because it will matter a great deal to the plot. Other times, characters pop up. Sometimes they help move the plot along, the clerk at the shop, the barista in the cafe. Other times they appear on…