Recently, I went to go see the movie The Help. I haven't yet read the book but I had been intrigued about the author's story and wrote a blog post about her path to publication. Of course seeing this movie brought back memories of my own. My grandmother worked as a domestic most of her life. Growing up working-class, I often went with her to help clean houses as well the town's post office and the Methodist church. One of the things I precisely remember about these times were that we were … [Read more...]
Emotion = Good Book
April 5, 2011 Read Comments
You know that feeling you get when you start reading a book and you just connect to it so well? It's that same connection and empathy that compels us to revisit our favorites --- the book that's dogeared and has paragraphs that you know by heart. As I reader, I didn't think about the reason why I loved a book so much. I just knew that is was a favorite. Now that I'm a writer, I always try to find the strings attached behind the words. The craft behind the connection. And one thing that … [Read more...]
Character Q&A
November 18, 2010 Read Comments
Most of you already know that I'm a plot chick. I usually can't even begin to really focus on character until I get the novel structure down. That's my process. Last night during my writing session, I concentrated on character development --- specifically my secondary characters. There are three characters in particular that I need to flesh out. One of the things that I do to get to know my characters better is ask a question and then let each character answer. The answers always surprise … [Read more...]
Emotional Structure
September 15, 2010 Read Comments
During this revision phase, I'm working in the emotional elements of my characters. I'm a plot chick first so I tend to focus more on the plot and then work my way into the characters. This is kind of ironic since I'm a very empathic person but figuring out how a character works and how they interact in relationships sounds easier than it really looks. Tricky business indeed. So I knew it was time to turn to one of my favorite craft books, Emotional Structure by Peter Dunne. This book is … [Read more...]
