writing
Writing Character Flaws
Inspired by the Pendragon Variety Podcast relaunch episode—in which the Pendragon ladies vamp on the topic: “Character Flaws – Balancing Your Character’s Awesome”—I decided to expound on… uh… character flaws. First things first: We’re all told that our characters should have “flaws.” But what are these mythical creatures? What makes a flaw? any imperfection in [...]
Self-Publishing for Fun and Profit
In yesterday’s post, I distinguished between the “indie author” and the “self-published author.” A reader named Wendy commented, with a question. This is a distinction that I originally got from Bob Baker, author of 55 Ways to Promote & Sell Your Book on the Internet. Bob got his self-publishing start with a book about indie [...]
What the End of Borders Means for Authors
First of all, a clarification: when right-wingers talk about “closing the borders,” this isn’t what they mean. The big news over the past week is that Borders Books is officially going out of business. Book lovers have expressed grief and dismay. One Borders fan called it “a case of internet outsourcing.” He’s not too far [...]
A Sneak Peek at the Ardor Point #2 Outline
I’ve been working on-and-off on this outline for over a year and a half now. I could go down the list of excuses and reasons why it took so long. – And it’s still not “finished” yet, but I can’t stand it anymore, so I’ve started on the “zero-draft.” I’d like to share with you [...]
More about Book Covers
Related to last week’s extensive post on book-cover design for indie authors and publishers, Roger C. Parker posted over the weekend a few more tips for better book covers. He also linked to a page of interactive book-cover makeovers at Dunn+Associates Design’s web site. For a kick, check out a few, and think about how [...]
How to Design Your Book Cover
As an indie author, you probably need to understand book-cover design. Traditionally published authors have their publishers’ experts to design their covers (whether or not those experts are worthy of the designation). Self-published authors, just printing up a few copies for family and friends, will probably be satisfied with the très kewl cover design tools [...]
What Does Seduction Look Like?
Max, a young writer, asks: I am writing a story and need a visual description for a female “seductive” (if you know what I mean) antagonist. Or should I even describe her? I’ve seen that done well. This is actually one of my deeper characters. Hi, Max. The easiest answer I can think to give [...]
Monday Morning #CharacterStory Writing Prompts 2011/06/27
A photo: top of this post, which the artist has entitled, “Never a frown, with golden brown.” (Click for a larger view.) A personality type: ISFP. A need: the need for emotional intimacy. A quirk: Always writes in 1337-5p34k (leet-speak). Feel free to comment below with a link to your story if you use any [...]
Monday Morning #CharacterStory Writing Prompts 2011/06/20
Happy birthday to me! (Yup. Don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.) A photo: top of this post, which the artist has entitled, “.” (Click for a larger view.) A personality type: ENFP. A need: the need for attention. A quirk: Loves to dance, and does not have to be on [...]
Writing Tip: Research the Obvious
Let’s say you’re writing a scene in your story, a scene that takes place in a beauty salon. Now, if you yourself have spent 20 years working in beauty salons, maybe you can write that scene off the top your head. But if you’re like most of us, you have only passing exposure to life [...]