In a previous post, I discussed how monsters are different than other kinds of antagonists or villains. Today, I want to talk about the most common of villains: the antagonist. Simply put, the antagonist it the character or characters who’s motives act in opposition to the main character (protagonist). To create actual plot and tension, these … More Writing Villains: Antagonists
Goals are powerful things. And I believe they are equally powerfully misunderstood. Most of us when we think about a goal associate it with failure, with meeting with supervisors and guidance counselors, of failed weight loss attempts, massive dreams turned gripping defeats. The mere word GOAL is enough to turn the stomach of many people. … More Goals are Powerful Things
The following is an excerpt from a post I wrote back in May, 2013: Developing Characters Part One: Getting to know you Our characters are people – people we’re giving free rent to in our heads, sometimes for years. And they ought to be worth that time to create, to find the right one for the … More NaNoWriMo Prep: Creating Characters Worth Writing
Time – the great enemy and friend of the creative trying to sneak a large or small project into everyday life. When contemplating doing National Novel Writing Month, the most common snag people run into is the question of time: Do I have time to do NaNoWriMo? It’s an understandable concern. Even to a seasoned veteran … More Finding Time for NaNoWriMo: Do you need time or energy?
We are only fourteen days away from National Novel Writing Month, and the internet is becoming abuzz with the yearly questions: Will I or Won’t I? I don’t Know What to Write! I Never Get Past 30 Thousand Words! So much worry. And as an old martial arts teacher once liked to say: Worry is … More Dealing With Pre-NaNoWriMo Anxiety: 5 things to do instead of freaking out
I remember the first time one of my characters came out of the closet. I was 17, working hard on one of my first non-academic works of fiction, what was supposed to be a coming-of-age love story between two college students. I had been working for months, but it seemed like no matter what I … More National Coming Out Day Special: When Your Character Comes Out of the Closet
My name is Michelle, and I am a hoarder. Not of stuff, not so much anyway (though I do own a prodigious amount of brickabrack from my life which holds value only to myself, and probably is only clutter to anyone looking from the outside-in) but an idea hoarder. I hoard ideas. It’s a terrible … More Writing Mistakes: Hoarding Ideas
“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader, not the fact that it’s raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.” ~ E. L. Doctorow Share and enjoy!
Sometimes shit happens. Generally, it happens right after a commitment, or a recommitment. Shit likes to hide off to the side, waiting until the right time to strike and derail us. Sometimes, very often, the derailment works. The trick isn’t to power through it, or to stick it out, or to beat ourselves up for … More Sometimes Shit Happens
On the 8th of August, 2015, I said goodbye to my 13 year career as a barista. I left my job to be a writer. I wasn’t ready. I had no real plan; but I quit my job anyway. I always thought i would eventually — that was the appeal of working in coffee; the … More I Quit My Job to Be A Writer
Concerning History in the Atlantic World, 1680-1740
The long haul of the spectrum
one woman's thoughts about life on the spectrum
Japanese pop culture through a feminist lens
The official blog of Michelle Tuckett, word ninja. 