This week has been hectic. The 11th grade research paper was due and I have been in the middle of grading them. Such is my life. However, in the midst of this, I have been thinking about what makes excellent characterization as I construct my newest character driven novel series. In Orson Scott Card’s book CharacterContinue reading “Creating Characters and Grading Research Papers”
Tag Archives: darth vader
The Moore Tornado Benefit – Helping Children Heal
Thursday from 2pm to 8pm JediOKC, the Oklahoma City based collectors/costuming club got together at Journey Church in Norman Oklahoma to throw a benefit with many other organizations to provide a family night for the workers and all the children effected by the Moore Oklahoma tornado that ripped through Moore back in May. Ryan McKinleyContinue reading “The Moore Tornado Benefit – Helping Children Heal”
New Podcast Up: Villains and Characterization
In this week’s podcast Ryan McKinley and I discuss our favorite villains in fiction and in pop culture and also what makes a great villain. What must a writer do to create interesting, powerful villains? Find out in this episode!
W is for So What?
As a teacher of analytical writing, I often have to ask my students to think about an argument by first stating their opinion about the argument and then asking themselves the question: “So what?” This applies to writing pros as well. So you’ve written that awesome fantasy novel crammed with all the lovely creatures, charactersContinue reading “W is for So What?”
Writing the Twist
As per a suggestion by Eric J. Baker, I decided to write today about twists that we can place in our novels which can be used in pretty much any genre. Good writers are good readers, avid readers, and I really love a good story that leads the reader down a path only to forceContinue reading “Writing the Twist”
Character Development: A Step by Step Method
Some of the best characters have spent much time inside the brain of a writer, incubating, developing, becoming more realistic with each thought. However, one might wonder what the process of creating great characters might entail. I decided to record my process for creating characters (at least main characters) to help writers who have troubleContinue reading “Character Development: A Step by Step Method”
Writing Is Hard Work 