Masyn

Excellent! Go for it!

And I generally try to avoid giving the kind of dares you referenced, since I myself would never take one. 🙂

Amidst all these formulas and rules and technical stuff, I just wanted to say something really simple but really important for writing any character, minor or not. You have to know them. You have to not just be acquainted with them, but actually know them— what drives them, what their motives are, why they are like they are, why they are where…[Read more]

Yes, absolutely— wonderful point about the innkeeper needing to serve the plot instead of just filling up a place in society that will have to be filled anyway for the sake of reality. Every character should be in some way essential to the plot of a story, even if it’s just to bring out some facet of a major character’s personality. Even if the…[Read more]

Yes I certainly do! I also have been a great listener to Audiomachine, and one of my favorite albums of theirs is ‘Tree of Life’. You’re right— good war music. I’ve been struggling to find more peaceful or dramatic music for the more peaceful or dramatic scenes, though. I listened to so much classical music a few years ago that now it has to be…[Read more]

Er… yes, I think so. I’ll let you know if I still can’t figure it out. Thanks!

Wow, that might indeed be too complicated to set down rules for… but I’ll give it a try.
If I’m understanding your question correctly, you would be referring to the odd character the main character meets in the street, or some other place, and who is not really consequential to the playing out of the plot except to get it started or completely…[Read more]

Okay, apparently I have no idea how this works. I’ve never been on Facebook a day in my life. Would someone please explain how this works, basically? I got the posting on a topic thing right off— that was easy, but how on earth do I request a friend or accept a request from someone else? And what does ‘updating my status’ mean? Any information…[Read more]

All the characters I referenced in my last post are from Bleak House (don’t let the dreary name deter you) 🙂 and yes I would definitely recommend that you read that one. It is the only Dickens I’ve read narrated by the main character, and thus it is a little different than most Dickens, but it’s a really great story. I haven’t read as much…[Read more]

Yes, you got it fixed— it works now. Thanks!

Hello, Hope! Good luck on the trilogy— I started a trilogy once, but it turns out instead of having three books in it it has eleven, so… that didn’t really work out quite like I was expecting it to. I’m still trying to figure out how that happened… 😉
So glad you joined us!

Yes, excellent thoughts. Having your explorer carry on a protracted and entirely ridiculous conversation with a giant frog, hm? Peterkin, anyone?
A good example of an author who exaggerates well is Dickens. I know I sound like a broken record— Dickens this, Dickens that, but it’s true. Who would have remembered the preacher from Bleak House if…[Read more]

Three very good points, Daeus.
What are some ways to give a character their own unique individuality, so that the reader will love (or abhor) 🙂 them for their own sake whether or not they like the book? A few of my favorites are as follows. 1: give them their own distinctive voice. No two people talk the same— some are very terse and to the…[Read more]

Wow, thanks, I’ll look into it.
Thank you for clarifying about the assonance thing. I probably could have looked it up in a dictionary, but a human is always preferable to a dictionary. For one thing, a dictionary can’t talk.

I just remembered another all time favorite of mine that I cannot believe I forgot to mention. I’ve read so many books and loved so many of them that I can’t keep them all straight!
Anyway, anyone here a fan of ‘A Christmas Carol’? That has got to be pretty near my favorite of the Dickens I have read (Aside from ‘A Tale of Two Cities’, of course).…[Read more]

Yes, that’s Sydney. The first ‘what’s his name’ you mentioned would be Charles Darnay (Evremonde), who was married to the doctor’s daughter, Lucie Manette… if I spelled that correctly.
Thanks for the word of advice on the Three Musketeers. I’ll remember that, you may be sure.
Yes, I tend to set lofty goals for myself, whether from a surplus of…[Read more]

Yes, please! Don’t stand on the sidelines and keep quiet just because you didn’t start this topic. We need everybody in here— the more opinions and voices and different suggestions, the better!
I’ve actually never read ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’, but I definitely want to. It should last me longer than most books, which in itself is a plus,…[Read more]

*Sniff Sniff* Kleenex, please.

Really? You know, I never would have guessed…
By the way, to whom exactly were you referring when you said ‘tacos’? I have been called many things in my few years, but never (repeat, never) a taco.
🙂