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Title: Show Up Naked: Writing the Male POVInstructors: Chris Redding Date: August 2 – 27, 2010 Classroom: Mile High DESCRIPTION: This class is a fun, but informative trip through a man’s mind. Scary thought, I know, but when you finish this course you will know more about that man in your life and, more importantly, you’ll write believable male characters.The lessons will include: • Male Emotions, yes they have them • Stages men go through • Bad boys, why we love them and how they got to be that way. • Insight into why men can be so sweet one minute, and then the nextRead More →

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On Kathy Carmichael’s awesome site, she has a form to aid in creating a short synopsis and plotting your story.  You should go download that now.  I’ll wait. She suggests, on the first page, to list ten events that will help change a character’s core belief and to keep in mind the stages of change.  This opened up a whole new way of looking at structuring character arc for me so I wanted to share what I’d found on the stages of change. The earliest stage of change is known as precontemplation. During the precontemplation stage, people are not considering a change. People in thisRead More →

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An excellent article on how to create a set of rules for what’s selling and, more importantly, what you like reading in your romance novels.  It makes it a lot easier to know what to write when you know what you like. But I needed help—some guidelines when it came to spinning a story that was right for the market. And that’s when I realized I should turn to the bible. No, I wasn’t getting religious. This was all about research and the creation of my own bible—a set of rules to follow and requirements to incorporate. This was all about identifying the sort ofRead More →

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But online organization doesn’t have to be complicated. There are many tools for organizing all our stuff, of course, but one of the simplest is the wiki. We’re all familiar with wikis, of course — Wikipedia being the most famous example, but many other useful wikis abound on the Internet. But one of the most productive forms of wikis is the personal wiki, which you can create at any number of sites. via 15 Productive Uses for a Wiki – WebWorkerDaily (link no longer available). I love this idea so much I wanted to share it.  I can see myself creating a Story “Bible”, aRead More →

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I hate character charts.  I see them everywhere.  I’ve bought books on character development that had 10 page(!) character charts.  Sample questions:   Astrological sign? Who cares?  I don’t check my horoscope.  I mean, I guess, if I had a character who was all into that, it might matter to them.  I guess, I’m saying if it doesn’t matter to my character, why should it matter to me? Political leanings? Unless my character is a politician or an activist or a lobbyist, why do I need to know this?  Will her views on global warming affect her reaction when she’s forced into a marriage ofRead More →

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Everyone’s process is different.  I’m still figuring mine out.  Some people make collages or use whiteboards or a special type of pencil.  Here’s a list of the five things I could never write without: My notebook.  Right now, I’m using a hardbacked steno notebook.  It’s smaller and easier for me to deal with.  But I’ve used hardbound journals, 5 subject notebooks, even scraps of paper I stick in my pocket.  The point is, I get ideas all day long, but I have a window of real writing time.  If I didn’t write it down, I’d never remember a thing. My iPod shuffle.  First, I makeRead More →

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It’s like the opposite of Write Or Die, but I think it would work just as well.  I can’t tell you, because my fabulous Mac is down and out.  But I’d recommend.  OmmWriter.  Try it. A review from MakeUseOf.com. When I came across OmmWriter, I was intrigued. The concept took writing productivity, mixed in some solitude and added a dash of zen. The results? A beeeautiful and calming full-screen, distraction-free writing application with its own soundtrack.Read More →

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Today, I’m going to recommend a book that I don’t even own (yet).  So ordering it today.  Anyway, this book: was recommended by Jennifer Crusie in her essay “Emotionally Speaking: Romance Fiction in the Twenty-First Century”. The psychology of the characters will dictate how and why they fall in love, and their growth as human beings will dictate whether or not the reader believes they’ll stay in love. That’s why, along with researching the genre, it’s a good idea to research the psychology, anthropology, and biology of romantic love (a good place to start is Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving ). The product descriptionRead More →

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Want the awesomest “writing” program I have ever encountered?  Then you need Write or Die – Desktop Edition.  It’s rocks so hard, rock stars are jealous.  First, let me tell you, you can use or try it online, for free.  (I love free).  It took me one session, in which I wrote over a thousand words in half an hour to know I wanted to own this genius piece of software. It motivates in three ways: gentle mode-a box comes up reminding you to get back to writing, normal-annoying sounds start playing (it’s incredibly maddening), and kamikaze-your words start untyping themselves.  In all three, theRead More →

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This is the first year I’ve participated in NaNo.  I’ve thought about it a couple of times.  Once I started but dropped out early, citing the reasoning that it just didn’t work with my “process.”  But, I think I get it now. It’s sort of like when I actually became a writer instead of a person who wants to write.  At first, I wrote because it would be cool / financially gainful / fun (ha!) to write a book.  But then, it wasn’t all that fun–at least some of the time–and odds are not in anyone’s favor to actually sell a book or for itRead More →