Elly

@emily I’m here! I’ve got some outlining to do 😀 (though I may have to pop away and help my mom bake in a few moments)

@his-instrument Another option is to add in an extra prologue or chapter in the beginning that has a very different tone just to give the reader something positive to latch onto.

@dekreel One thing I noticed is that most of your sentences are very similar in length. It would help to vary that up a bit. Have some run-on sentences and some normal and some very short.

@dekreel I know XD

Don’t rush it! And you could always have a sequel. Or turn it into a serial story…sorry, I’m just spilling more ideas 😛

I’m going to call it a night for writing. Instead of my character giving pushback, I’m running out of energy XD I hope your writing goes well! And if I’m not back on before Christmas, Merry Christmas!

@dekreel for me, it’s writer’s speak for being unable to come up with an answer to any of the questions. For instance, if the question is “What are his (or her) fears?” and I can’t find any, I take that as the character giving “pushback.” Really, it’s because I haven’t delved that deep into the character yet because part of me likes them being all…[Read more]

@dekreel How many chapters do you think you’ll have?

I’m doing a character interview. It’s for my protagonist for my current dystopian novel. So far, I haven’t gotten any pushback from her 😉

@dekreel yeah, I’ll definitely have to try it! 😀

@dekreel nice! Congrats!

That’s really cool! I’m not much of a poet myself (I do a little free verse), but I enjoy reading it.

@dekreel HI 😀

Hm… I’ve actually never thought of that 😛 I should add it to my character questionnaire XD

How’s the KeePer Adventure going?

@dekreel *is drawn in by the smell of chocolate* oh my…those look good. Maybe I could use some to bribe my character to get through this intensive interview? 😉

Identical thoughts to @daeus Good premise, and if the entire story isn’t going to be as dark in the first chapters, you just want to include enough glimpses of light to indicate that. I don’t personally have a problem with dark, depressing stories when there’s a point to them, but you don’t want to unintentionally indicate that’s the type of story…[Read more]

@his-instrument I love the plot line.

I don’t know if I’ll be able to read the first chapters, but just some thoughts. I think you can set a tone in these first chapters that lets your reader know you’re not out to scare them. If you don’t get too graphic with the murder and torture scene and you give the reader one or two, morally good, hopeful…[Read more]

@lifeofkatie Okay, thanks. That helps. I think I’m going to give it a try. 😀

@introvert_girl That makes sense, though I think I’ll create all my own pins.

@gabbyj I did–it was a great experience! It worked quite differently then than I believe it does now, but I learned a lot of Scripture passages through that and grew a lot because of it over these three years.

That’s great that you’ve been able to discover new authors through our interviews. 😀 I’m thrilled that we’re able to interview so many…[Read more]

@dekreel Btw, if you want to learn more about this, K.M.Wieland has a whole book on it. 😉

@jenwriter17 Sad endings are tricky to write, but also a ton of fun. Your character DOESN’T have to succeed in the story goal (if they do, there’s less sadness, in a way), but they SHOULD grow themeatically. If they fail in the goal, but grow and learn and have a great character arc, that will satisfy readers just as much.

@dekreel

You could have them vanish into a portal, and have the person who created the portal kindly tell the remaining characters that the other ones “are perfectly happy” (it’s pretty cliche, but could work 😉 )

You could just have a quick scene where the characters are leaving to fight for other noble causes.

You could have them…[Read more]

@jenwriter17 It’s actually done already. 🙂 http://www.thescratchingquill.com/the-golden-ziggurat/

@introvert_girl @kate-flournoy @seekjustice

Thanks for your replies!

So, I’ve read and listened to some stuff about Pinterest and I think if there is a social media site that would fit me, this would probably be it. I think I’ll probably give it a try, but before I commit to anything I like to have a strategy for how I’m going to use it.

I have…[Read more]

@introvert_girl Good question. I think in a short story, it isn’t necessary to fulfill your characters yearnings, though if you can, that would be great. I think you do need to show that the characters have made a significant step toward fulfilling their yearnings though.

Also, with villains and tragic characters, sometimes their yearnings should…[Read more]