We've been looking at Les Misérables to see what writings lessons we can glean from it. Last post, we looked at the Plotting and Sub-plotting, and this time, I want to look at the characters. Hugo has an enormous cast of characters in this book, and honestly, there are times when even the most attentive readers … Continue reading Writing Lessons from Les Mis: Characterization
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Having just finished a read-through of Les Misérables, I've been struck by the writing. It's a long book at well over 600,000 words, so I definitely wouldn't recommend writing a modern novel of that length, but it's a classic nevertheless. It's been made into dozens of movie versions, beginning in 1897 and continuing onward, with the most … Continue reading Writing Lessons from Les Mis: Plotting and Subplotting
I've been thinking about the romance genre lately, trying to explain what it is that "happens" in a romance story. Obviously, it's about a couple finding each other (or realizing that they already know each other) and reaching their happily-ever-after moment (whether it does or doesn't last is another matter entirely, but unless you write … Continue reading Romance: Two Best-Selling Plot Types
This is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog-hop, designed to help encourage authors and foster discussions about writing topics across the internet and the world. This month's question is "How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something?" Most of the time, life affects my writing by … Continue reading How Life Intersects with Writing
This is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog-hop, designed to help encourage authors and foster discussions about writing topics across the internet and the world. This month's question is "What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?" At first, I wasn't sure which pitfall to talk about—the challenge … Continue reading Writing Pitfalls: Doubt and Discouragement
This is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog-hop, designed to help encourage authors and foster discussions about writing topics across the internet and the world (I missed the memo about it needing to be posted yesterday, apparently). This month's question is "What's are your ultimate writing goals and how have they changed over … Continue reading Ultimate Writing Goals and How They Can Change
Title: Shadows of Tomorrow Author: Ryan Lanz Genre: Dystopia Short Stories Only One Mask: Nob only trusts two things: his knife and his breathing mask–the latter because he has to. Ever since the world went crazy, he feels like he’s always on the run. Running from those who want to kill you. Running from those … Continue reading Book Review – Shadows of Tomorrow
This is part of the Insecure Writer's Support Group blog-hop, designed to help encourage authors and foster discussions about writing topics across the internet and the world. This month's question is "What's harder for you to come up with, book titles or character names" For me, it's definitely coming up with a book title. Because … Continue reading How to Pick a Character’s Name
Characters do all kinds of things in fiction. Their actions make up the stories we write, and if they did nothing...it'd be pretty boring. But how much motivation should there be in what they do? Do you, as the author, need to always know why they're doing it, or can they just "do something for … Continue reading Character Actions: Should There Be a Reason Why?
Title: Road of a Warrior Author: R. K. Lander Genre: Fantasy Book Blurb from Goodreads: A light in the forest, a king returned, a past to claim … Fel’annár is an immortal half-blood warrior from the Deep Forest, an orphan whose questions were never answered. With a dream of becoming a Silvan captain in an army … Continue reading Book Review: Road of a Warrior
