Main characters are the prime movers of your story. Their goals and motivations fuel the plot. Secondary characters are there to provide support for the main action, to generate a subplot, and/or to help develop thematic material. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy are the main characters. The... read more
Halloween romances are a more vexed sub-genre than I would have thought. However, after reading a bunch this week, I now know they have two big problems to surmount. First, effective titles are restricted by a limited number of holiday-related words such as trick and treat – and if you... read more
Title image: Left: Karen Finley book cover of Shock Treatment (2015); Right: Image from the performance “Don’t Hang the Angel” (1985) Yesterday (Thursday, October 25) Karen Finley gave a heart-felt and eye-opening presentation at Duke University in the course “Performance Art: History and Theory” taught by Professor of Art and... read more
Lately I’ve been reading memoirs and have already written a post on them. Now I have more memoirs to share. More Memoirs: Trevor Noah Born a Crime (2016) Loved it. Absolutely loved it. Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, offers a gripping account of his childhood and young adulthood... read more
Just this past week I’ve been gobbling up memoirs. As opposed to autobiographies which chronicle an entire life, memoirs focus in particular on one aspect of a person’s life. Memoirs: Steve Martin Born Standing Up (2007) I love stand-up comedy and just happened on Steve Martin‘s account of his 18 years... read more
First I said a Plot Buddy was a writer’s best friend. Then I added Self-Knowledge. Finally I’m asserting it’s The Subconscious. I’ll now claim these three to be the Writer’s Trinity. Today is the next installment in my Recovering Creativity quest guided by Julia Cameron‘s Vein of Gold. Working with... read more
Oops! I already identified the Plot Buddy as a writer’s best friend. Now I need to enlarge my notion of ‘best friend’ to include self-knowledge. Consider this the second installment in my quest: Recovering Creativity. I reiterate my hope that the account of my quest will inspire you to go... read more
I’m always looking for new authors. I tend to try a new one every couple days. Even when I don’t know the book I’m reading is the author’s first, I can often tell a new writer by a few newbie characterization quirks. Characterization Tip #1: Avoid the First Chapter Mirror... read more
If you’re a writer or any other kind of artist you might like to take a look at Austin Kleon‘s Show Your Work! which addresses the pleasures and perils of creativity in the age of the Internet. One of his suggestions is for writers to share their influences. I regularly share... read more
I love adapting to my writing craft ideas from artists other than novelists. For instance, I’ve learned a lot from painters. Recently I ran across the work of Paula Vogel, a Pulitzer-prize-winning playwright and her student Sarah Ruhl, also an accomplished playwright and a MacArthur recipient. Vogel identifies six plot forms... read more
