Haley Long

@shannon I remembered one more thing that’s helped me flesh out characters.

It’s the concept of yearning.

Yearning is different from a goal. A goal is generally viewed in an external light. For instance, the MC of my WIP has a goal of saving the world. His yearning, however, is to live a life that achieves greatness. This is much deeper and…[Read more]

@Dekreel ooh, that’s an unusually flattering representation of me waking up. It usually involves rolling over at least five times and eventually tumbling off the bed tangled in my fleecy blanket (with static hair flying all over the place) and then crawling my way still half asleep to my closet while splitting my ears with yawning and trying not…[Read more]

@Dragon-Snapper congratulations on branching out. 😉

They’ve covered a lot… the only thing new I have to add is pretty small. You mentioned that you’re tired of writing snarky characters and want to try something different, but had no idea how to go about it…

Why do you like snarky characters in the first place? Is it because they come easy…[Read more]

@Kina-Lamb well, that’s pretty sound as far as I can see. 🙂 The only step I might add between the two is figuring out the theme, but I’ve not done non-fiction before, so I can’t say for certain how majorly that would figure in.

In your place, I would just ask myself, What lesson does this story teach me? To have courage? To persevere? To be kind…[Read more]

@shannon Okay, I’m back.

First of all, I really like what everyone’s said so far.

I’ve never heard anyone else articulate the way I develop characters, but I think we all do it without noticing it. My big focus, at least for step one, is to hone in on the feel of a character.

You know how when a person comes to mind you get this certain…[Read more]

@dragon-snapper Well, it isn’t easy. I try to write down story ideas whenever I get them so that when I’m done with one novel I can have a basic idea of what the next one’s going to be about.

But, obviously, you want a plot now. Well, I do have one suggestion. One of the best sources of inspiration for me is to read other novels. I don’t just…[Read more]

@overcomer I think there are two reasons to know your target audience.

First, so you don’t write the wrong book. For instance, if I know I want to write for seminal-Christians aged 30-45 who are in the military, that will keep me from writing a children’s fairy tale. Knowing your target audience also helps you maintain a core unity between all…[Read more]

@Dekreel @That_Writer_Girl_99 @Dragon-snapper @Ethryndal @Daeus @Audrey-caylin @Jane-maree @Shannon @Sam-Kowal wow, thanks so much guys, all of you. Just getting the general feedback and feeling out opinion about the existing title helped me get so much more perspective.

@Jane-Maree, believe it or not, I had actually already considered Destroyer,…[Read more]

Raspberry breath… Haha. 😛

@shannon I’ll probably be back, but for now, KP does have a really good character questionnaire. A lot of questionnaires are dumb, but this one digs into the core of what matters. Check it out in our resource library. It may or may not work for you, but I suspect it will spark at least some inspiration.

@dekreel  Oooooo….ahhhhhh.  😉

@shannon  I don’t know about you, but when I first think of a character, I think of a face/name…and something about them that is weird.  That really helps to get the creative juices flowing a little bit.

When you are actually writing characters, don’t.  Make.  Them.  Perfect.  Make them real.  Make them relatable.  Give them a problem and/or…[Read more]

@kate-flournoy I agree that Victorious works. You can always use subtitles too if the title seems to plain to you.

However, it’s worth looking into new titles.

And now I’ve spent ten minutes trying to think of something and I’m coming up with nothing. 😛

@dekreel  That’s great news!  Congratulations!  *shakes your hand vigorously*

(And I must echo @dragon-snapper‘s question because I am just as curious…don’t feel obligated to put me into the story but…maybe?)

@dragon-snapper  You got mine.  That one was kinda easy.  😉

I’ve got one.

“We need a plan of attack!”

“I have a plan: attack!”

@dekreel  Thanks!

Jaclyn Fallows’ world has a history of turning upside down.

Like when she was suddenly able to create a small blue flame in the palm of her hand on her eighth birthday.  Or when she started having the same dream about the sister who vanished without a trace two years ago.

But now, at fifteen, Jaclyn is in for the biggest change of her life.  A m…[Read more]

@daeus  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Wow, that flows so much better…I’m gonna rewrite it, using your tips.  🙂