Boiling the Story Down for a Synopsis #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
I’ve been trying to condense my college memoir story into two double-spaced pages for a synopsis. Not an easy thing to do, as many of you realize. How could …
Insecure Writers Want to Know: The Benefits of Being a Writer Who Reads vs. a Writer Who Doesn’t
I tried to simplify this month’s question a little in my blog post title. IWSG’s question is: It’s been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does …
Universal Themes in Memoir or Fiction #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
Universal themes in story can start out as statements. Love conquers all. Order leads to harmony. Heroes are always right. Loyalty to family is absolute. Universal themes are understood …
Characters Look for Acceptance #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
Just as real people want to be accepted by others, either into various communities or accepted by one special person, so too do our characters wish to be accepted …
Endowing Your Characters with Traits to Solve Story Tension #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
The characters you create need to be given certain knowledge or abilities in order to solve the story tension. Whether characters need to conquer …
Make Your Characters Vulnerable #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
I’m 100 pages into my memoir about attending college as a mother of five and at the point where I’ve won a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania and am …
Chicken Soup for the Soul Mom Knows Best #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
My mother has been my guiding light all my life. She believed in me when I didn’t. She told me that I could accomplish anything I put my mind to. …
Insecure Writers Want to Know: If you could use a wish to help write one chapter in your book, which would it be?
Now there’s a complicated question! I guess if I could only have one place in my college memoir where something magical could help me write it, it would be …
What’s the Cost to Your Protagonist to Accomplish a Goal? #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
Everyone makes choices. People are a sum of the choices they’ve made in life. But each choice usually costs them something. Think about your own personal choices. Are you married? …
What Are You Trying to Prove Through Your Writing Part 2 #AuthorToolboxBlogHop
Elle, in a comment to my July Author Toolbox post about intention in writing, had it right. She said, “purpose must infuse each scene, each chapter of our stories.” This …