Lightningmouse

@kate-flournoy Yep. He’s pretty much the classic bully-villain type. Everyone has to do what he says NOW. Or else.
And he has wonderful respect for everyone around him. Fall under his slightest displeasure and you are deemed a “butthead”. XP

Exactly, @kate-flournoy. The arc of the story needs to have a slow rise to a lesson. Not just wandering along as a flat line and then a sudden lesson spike up right at the end.
Also, both those movies were pretty good, conceptually. But when you aren’t able to root for the characters, it’s a big hole in the storytelling.

Totally. Right down to the casino owner bit. 😛
Lookit this:

@kate-flournoy In retrospect, it’s sort of already been done. Have you ever seen Biff Tannen from Back to the Future? XP

A lot of the time, the actually authentically diverse books include diversity in part of the concept. Like, it’s a detriment to the story that these people don’t fully understand each other… or have certain prejudices against each other… stuff like that. But then there are the books that just sort of squeak them in there because they can.
I…[Read more]

Nice work, @bluejay. I would have probably gone with some alien story. 😛

Chattering noises fill the air, jolting me uncomfortably into wakefulness. I frown, but don’t open my eyes. It was a truly exhausting day yesterday. I toppled two whole kingdoms and killed about five heroes and it really took it out of me. My minions should know better than…[Read more]

If nothing else, Hope, I’m enjoying being able to follow your blog on wordpress. Blogger comments always drove me crazy trying to figure out and it’s so much easier now. 😛

@kate-flournoy and @sarah-h Loved that idea! XD We actually have a running joke in our family that I’m “Somebody” and my brother is “Everybody”. 😛

“I say… er… good sir?” I squinted against the bright sunlight to the guide loading the camels ahead. He looked up at me, his white teeth contrasting sharply against his nut brown face.

“Yes,…[Read more]

@hannah-c

I hope I’m replying to the right person… Here goes.

“As I sat there on that bench, looking at that house, tears came to my eyes. Generations. Centuries. My ancestors. That house had been in the family since World War II. As much as I knew I didn’t have enough money to take care of the house, I wanted desperately to keep it alive. I…[Read more]

@kate-flournoy: Wow, that’s so cool your last name is a Huguenot one! I recently learned about the Huguenots in my French class. They were tough bunch of people. 😀

Dialog is probably my easiest part to make sound interesting. But I’m trying to stop using it as a crutch.
I agree with what @kate-flournoy said about saying what you want your reader to see. Just ascribe the most vital and interesting parts of the movie in your head. Also interesting comparisons and descriptions, original ones especially, really…[Read more]

@kate-flournoy: Now THAT would be something. 😛

@Daeus: Thanks so much for sharing this! I’ve never really thought about it before, but the example you gave makes a lot of sense. The second example really sucks you into the story because you feel like you’re a part of the story. Like I said, I’ve never really thought about that before. I’ll have to look out for “textbook writing” in my…[Read more]

@kate-flournoy That top one actually sounds like the plot of Eight Cousins to an extent. XD

A super cheerful, perky character who swooshes around in a long, evil-looking, black hooded cape.

@kate-flournoy Maybe both together… XD