In the spirit of [the USA’s] Thanksgiving, I have a question I think is worth pondering. Why don’t we really thank people anymore? The word ‘thanks’ is tossed around the same way we automatically reply ‘good, thanks’ when someone asks how we are. It’s not a word of meaning, but a social ritual. This isContinue reading “Giving Thanks—Why Don’t We?”
Tag Archives: characters
Who is your Character, and what does he do?
Taking a cue from Ahnold, this is only the first of many questions you need to ask of your characters. (Also, welcome back to the meaty article series for National Novel Preparation Month.) Some authors swear by the infinite detail system, in which you systemically and categorically (but perhaps arbitrarily) write down every possible detailContinue reading “Who is your Character, and what does he do?”
Ideas and Conceptualization
So far this month I’ve discussed fiction genres and narration with an eye toward helping those planning on writing during National Novel Writing Month. It can be handy to start big and work inward, so the tasks so far have only been general. This week we start getting serious. This is a big entry, so take it in stages! I’ve given suggestions for starting to brainstorm on characters, setting, and plot, but I’ll be getting into them in more detail in coming weeks, so if you don’t have everything you may need yet, that’s okay. We’ll get there. The goal this week is to start distilling ideas you have into a more focused concept.
Marie Efromson 