Thursday is the Pre-Converence Conference. Today we learned The Anatomy of Engaging Stories (Bill O’Hanlon) Elements of an Engaging Story: Characters – must engage the reader; the reader must […]
On Writing
Posts about the craft of writing
Western Fictioneers Convention: What I Learned
Here are some of the gems of wisdom from the convention. From the Living Legends panel: “Write every single day. It doesn’t matter how you feel or what’s […]
Photo Shoot: Stone
Here are some ideas for “Stone” Kirkham’s looks: Stone’s proudest feature is his fine mustache… Stone is a serious fellow … hard working and ambitious He wears the […]
Photo Shoot: Emily
Here are some ideas for what Emily might look like: She’s not traditionally beautiful, but the lads like her looks Smiling was frowned upon when having your picture taken… […]
Photo Shoot: Kye
Here are some of the photos that inspired Kye’s look. Yes, it’s all Wild Bill Hickok – Kye has never looked like anyone else!
What’s in a Name?
Finding Names for Characters and Places One of the questions I constantly hear from new writers is “Where do you get all those names?” Here are some of the […]
What’s Your Sign?
(Astrology as a method of character development) Thanks to Ken Farmer for reminding me of this trick. One of the things you need to know in order to develop your […]
Photo Shoot: Chance
Here are some of the character ideas I’ve checked out for Chance: His hair is this curly but the bangs hang down into his eyes most of the time More […]
How to Start Your Novel
All too often, a new writer will say “I’ve got this great idea for a book … but I just don’t know where to start.” Getting started isn’t the easiest […]
More from the Writing Workshop
Advanced Characterization (Michael Stackpole) All plot comes out of the characters – their needs, goals and interactions “Your job as a writer is to torture and confuse your readers by […]