Kate Flournoy

Well actually @Sarah-h, in my current novel the MC’s arc spans… eh… one two three four… four? Yes, four years, and it’s not been either annoying or unrealistic. In fact, it’s more realistic to have the character take a long time to make up their mind, because no one really makes snap decisions on that level of importance… specially when…[Read more]

Whew! Glad to hear it, @Daeus, glad to hear it…

And believe it or not, I actually knew both of those facts. I just wish all the submarine crews hadn’t drowned trying it out. 🙁
In fact, if you read the story of that first submarine, there’s something about it that appeals to the novelist bit of me (which is like 99.10 % of me) very strongly. I…[Read more]

Wait wait wait wait— Lew Wallace was American?

I take it all back. Every word of it.

Ohio here as well… 🙂

Random fact of the day— we are currently suffering through the primaries of our presidential election, which happens every four years. And as @Daeus mentioned, today is Super Tuesday, which is special only because a great many of the states vote at one time.
And this election has been by far the craziest one I’ve ever…[Read more]

Perfect. 😉

Well, the busiest part of the forum is the General Writing Discussions page— and it’s just that, a page for the discussion of writing in general. Villains, character arcs, good words, description, dialogue— you name it. We can also have more genre-based discussions in the Fiction forum.
Critiquing questions (and excerpts) can be posted for…[Read more]

*cringe* Research. Yep, I’m afraid so. If you can get a good idea of what historical figures were really like, you can weave ’em in much better and actually hit pretty near the mark.

Good points, @Daeus. Very good points.

Also, @sarah-h, it’s not so much about showing your character’s response to the arc as it is about showing the arc itself. Let me explain. Say you’re character has a problem with lying. As you progress through the arc, don’t show us the character lying less and less. Show us the changing perspective in the…[Read more]

Sorry to debunk your theory @Daeus, but I read the Count of Monte Cristo in a week, total, and I could spend five hours right now going over it with you point by point, twist by twist, arc by arc, concept by concept. 😀
I’ve always been this way— well, ever since I learned how to read, which was pretty late due to some vision complications. I…[Read more]

Welcome to the forum, Cahndida Serkhaman Stardust Galadriel! 😉 I love singing too, and archery, though I don’t do that as much as I would like. 🙂

Important forum abbreviations to know are as follows:
WIP: work in progress
POV: point of view
MC: main character

Also, if you want a particular person to answer you or see your post, you can tag…[Read more]

Yes, definitely @Daeus. 🙂

No problem @sarah-h! 😀 The list I gave you is just to help ‘humanize’ your characters in your mind— if you can think about them as living, breathing, complex… er… problems, that’s half the battle. 😉

Does a character have to have a major flaw to be relatable and realistic? No. In fact if you think about it, there’s not a majority or…[Read more]

That’s a very good question, @sarah-h! And unfortunately, I don’t think I have a concrete answer to lay out in so many rules and statistics.
You can tell you’re missing something— that’s very good, that’s an enormous start. Now to figure out what that something is. 😉 😛

I think one of the things that makes this conversation so difficult to…[Read more]

EXACTLY. Both of you. 😀 Both very astute observations.

Normally I wouldn’t use that word… (astute)… but I think I can on a forum of writers who will actually know what it means. 😉

Soggy pancakes.

I think… I just lost my appetite.

And indeed, @Daeus, that is the logical progression of the argument I’m making— with him, (you and I apparently both know who him is 😉 😛 ) because I couldn’t see him as anything other than noble, I couldn’t sense him feeling anything other than noble. I mean, it was there a little bit, but…[Read more]

The first one made me shudder. The last one was pure inspiration.

@Daeus

Welcome, Faith! I like sketching too, only I don’t think my ambitions have ever been quite up to the level of the second Mona Lisa! 😛

Deal.

Yeah, I was going to say, last time I checked dead people couldn’t type. 😉

Wellllllll… I’ll cut you a deal @Daeus. I don’t like eating them, but I do like making them. Fair?