Back to it, squiders! Also, a reminder that we’ll discuss Dream Thief by Stephen R. Lawhead next Thursday, if you’re planning on reading that along with me. (Have you been reading it? Once again we have a future where all the scientists
No Happily Ever After?
My husband and I finished up watching Wayward Pines last night (Yes, I realize we’re about four months behind, which is actually pretty good for us, television wise). And the series was working toward a conclusion, and working, and working–and
The “Logic” of Fairy Tales
The other night, my husband was reading the small, mobile one Rapunzel. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the story, a pregnant woman craves the lettuce in the witch’s garden next door, and the witch says she can have it
Previously Discovered Territory
So, I’ve been working on determining a project to work on for Nanowrimo. And, since I haven’t started a new rough draft in four years, I’ve got a huge list of story ideas that I’ve written down, to get to
Premise vs Plot vs Structure
Some time ago, Squiders, we discussed Premise and Plot. (That’s a fairly short post, but for those too lazy to click through, the basic gist is that a premise is the idea of the story, whereas the plot is the
The Importance of Antagonists
Someone on Twitter the other day was asking the Twitterverse at large whether or not their protagonists had antagonists. Well, I certainly hope so. What drives story? Conflict. And what causes conflict? Having obstacles that your main character/protagonist needs to
Dealing with Side Characters
You know, Squiders, main characters are bad enough. They don’t do what you want them to do, or they forget the plot in a moment of passion, or you turn your back for a moment and they’ve decided being a
What is a Subplot?
We all know what a plot is, don’t we, Squiders? The plot is what happens. It’s the series of events that takes us from the beginning to the end. So, what’s a subplot? A subplot is a series events that
Doing a Story Justice
On a somewhat related note to Monday, here’s another author fear that I sometimes worry about myself – doing a story justice. You know how it goes: somehow, a story worms its way into your head, as stories are wont
Write Your Query First
So, generally people look at novel writing as a linear process: Step 1, write the novel. Step 2, edit the novel. Step 3, submit the novel. So you write the book, make it pretty, and then worry about how you’re
