Karina Sanchez

@hope, I’m not sure if this is what you’re thinking, but here’s an idea: when the battle between the MC and the villain is over and the villain’s men find out that their leader is dead, they could just run. That’s usually what happens at the end of battles…the men are really fighting for their leader, and when the leader’s gone, they’ve got no…[Read more]

That’s quite impressive. I don’t imagine I would pass very well as Tinker Bell though I might be able to sleep long enough to pass for a koala.

Dirk Lobber was a man with a perpetual scowl. Perhaps he might have wanted to smile, but the scars on his face made it impossible. They tyrannically kept his lips in a sardonic twist. There was an eye patch over his left eye and he walked on a wooden leg. When he spoke in his surly tone, three gold teeth glimmered obnoxiously in the sun or (which…[Read more]

@bluejay Well that’s fair since I wouldn’t have put it down to you to look so strikingly like a koala. I’ll tell you, that’s some serious cosmetics. Do they do that type of stuff in the Australian salons? I’m pretty sure our’s don’t – not that I’ve ever been to one.

Here’s an idea. Maybe those of us that have this problem could log in and holler…[Read more]

@bluejay In my rather big and obnoxious opinion, the hardest thing about writing is not actually sitting down and doing it (once I start, I can pretty much keep going), but sitting down and doing that instead of something else. It’s always easier for me to start those distracting “elses”. So how do I we fix this? You might be thinking by now that…[Read more]

Conflict doesn’t even have to be open. Sometimes there is friendly conflict such as when a friend suggests to another friend that he may have made a bad decision. The other friend does not have to respond harshly, he may just gravely consider that suggestion. There can be conflicts that aren’t even spoken. For instance (and this is a rather…[Read more]

Well… dive in. 😉

What, that’s not helpful?!? Whazza mazza wis you @bluejay?!?

But really, my best trick is just to start going. Don’t think about how terrible your writing is— don’t think about how awfully your prose is flowing. Just write and write and write until you’re ‘in the zone’. You can always go back and fix the flow later if you…[Read more]

Um… well… stop the bad guys, stop the bad guys, and… stop the bad guys. 😛 They all pretty much boil down to the same thing.

And I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, @gretald.

Let me explain. Though the story goal can certainly be very cool and epic and all that, it’s not the goal that makes the story interesting. It’s the…[Read more]

The conflict is in reaching the goal, not the goal itself.

@kate-flournoy, yeah, that’s what I was trying to say, but you said it better. 😉 😛
Yes, character conflict is quite interesting. In the novel I’m working on with my sister (@ingridrd), we use some of that (MC and a snobby girl [aka Sheryn Slade] are always at each other’s throats).…[Read more]

“This is really weird, introducing myself to you. Okay,” he sucks in a deep breath. “I’m Gavin Frensky.”
Gavin Frensky. The name sounds familiar…like someone I dreamed about but whom I didn’t know personally. I stare at Gavin, unable to tear my gaze away. “How old are you, Gavin?”
“I’m 17.”
Seventeen. For some reason, seventeen doesn’t seem…[Read more]

Hello, @gretald! I found this volcano on here just waiting to happen… awesome topic! One of my favorite tactics for conflict is sparring between characters. Yeah, we have the overall conflict (which is the story-goal) but it really helps move things along if you have a lot of heated exchanges between the characters on a scene to scene basis. If…[Read more]

@overcomer I think the first “then” is good, but the one in the last stanza I would probably change to “on”. If you do that, you might also want to change “line by line” to “line on line” just to match.

I shall remain silent. *zips lips* 😉

Love the poem. Only thing I don’t get is the “then” in the last stanza.

Love “dust and ink”

Also might consider “Legacy of ink”, “Child of thought”, or “The typewriter’s memories”

Gosh, @spradlin, how devious!!! 😛 😉

I would love it if you’d post it here, @overcomer. 😀 Seriously.

Gosh, @spradlin, how devious!!! 😛 😉

Hm… ‘Dust and Ink’? ‘Endurance’? ‘An Inky Legacy’? ‘Forever’?

Love the quick, tight rhythm, by the way! I honestly can’t find anything I would change. Nice and simple, but pithy at the same time. Love it. 😀

@faithdk You can get software that will block you from using the internet at certain times. If that leaves you without inspiration, maybe you could try chewing over the plot while you take a walk outside or something.