character development | character development
May.17.2013
Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carré is a novel about a Russian money-launderer (Dima) who seeks the help of a friendly British couple (Perry and Gail) when they meet on the island of Antigua. Dima's need: to reach British intelligence and defect, not from the USSR, but from the...
|
Feb.05.2013
I've just finished the fourth book by the fabulous Irish writer Tana French. This woman is good, really good, which is why I've been devouring each of her novels as it appears. I did reflect, however, as I reluctantly closed the cover on the most recent one, that there is a limit to how...
|
Dec.13.2012
This epiphany was about writing. It concerned two short stories I'd written.
The first was about a rejected short story that I'd just revised and rewritten. In the revision, the character has an epiphany about thinking more and acting less. This is related to his father....
|
Aug.03.2012
If I’m to define “independence” in the same way that I think many teens view the term—as a word interchangeable with “adulthood”—I’d have to say that I actually thrust independence on the main characters of both my published YAs.
Take Aura, the MC from my debut, A BLUE SO DARK. Her mother,...
|
Jul.27.2012
My daughter made a fuss earlier while eating her snacks. She said she was thirsty. I offered her water, but she insisted on juice. Juice and nothing but juice, which we didn't have right then. She was on the verge of a tantrum as we told her either to drink water or wait patiently until we could go...
|
Apr.17.2012
Back when I started writing short stories (in grade school), I felt my biggest problem was producing credible dialogue - and that problem never really ends, does it?
I am very fortunate in having been raised among the works of classical English and French writers, so I went on a hunt. How did my...
|
Apr.06.2012
Long time, no post. Hope all is well with everyone here. I've been working on an MFA in creative writing at Fairfield University, and am finally regaining my footing. So let's restart the editing engine with this post on revision.
A method copyeditors use to edit nonfiction is to read from end to...
|
Dec.31.2011
I am not now, nor will ever be, one of those people who would watch the Academy Awards just to see what the stars are wearing. Nor would I flip to an article written by the "fashion police" entitled Best and Worst Dressed. So it shouldn’t be too surprising that when...
|
|
Nov.30.2011
Sometimes it seems you read and read and there is always more to read, always an author whose work you haven't gotten to. This is the case for me with Irene Nemirovsky. I first read about her when Suite Francaise was published, posthumously, to great acclaim, but only this week did I...
|
Nov.05.2011
I need some inspiration. My novel is floundering. I'm not sure if I even have a plot. It feels more like an exploration of characters whom I don't know. Last night I resorted to writing a scene in which my main character is being reprimanded by her English teacher for having a convoluted story, no...
|