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
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
In May of this year, I went to Japan for three weeks. I left home alone, my passport mere weeks old, to meet a group of strangers from Australia. And I never would have had what it took to do it if it wasn’t for my journey through twelve novels. It began on twitter, and … More Japan: Saying Yes.
The only thing harder than beginning is re-beginning. I’ve been gone a long while, I know. I’ve wanted to write many times, wanted to share some thoughts that never materialized into words. I’ve also wanted to skip over the bit about me taking such a prolonged leave of absence and pretend no one has noticed … More I’m back, and then I am gone
I know, I've been away. For months. There is a saying out in the world, often attributed to either the Irish or Woody Allen interchangeably, but the origin makes it no less profound. If you want to make god laugh, make a plan. I started out this year with a plan. I was fresh … More I’ve been gone, making the gods laugh
I think sometimes we all feel like this. The day started out promising with an early start and something to do. As I mentioned in the previous post, I ventured into the unknown by going to a brunch where a group of lovely and amazing people all discussed a chapter of The Happiness Project by … More The Weary Soul and Artistic Angst
I went to a book group for the first time today, and after a few hours of talking about creativity and making dreams come true, I reached into a big clear bowl of colored paper slips on the table, and this is what I found. “Whenever you read this, and wherever you are, you are … More Inspiration #29: Whenever you read this, and wherever you are…
For Part One of Developing Characters, go here. I'm sorry for the delay on part two, I've been learning a new Day Job and that's been a bit of a time suck. But anyway, now we have our characters, we need to have our characters do something–there is a story they're involved in, a story … More Developing Characters Part Two: Conflict and Plot
Firstly, I do have the second installment on characters in a rough draft on my iPad, I promise. If life treats me well, that should go live this weekend. I wanted it to be up last week, but it's a lot of information to wrangle, and my life has taken a turn for the interesting. … More Priorities
There are important things in this world. Massivel,y massively important, and what is happening in Istanbul is one of them. Please read this, and please share it. This is what the Internet can do for us, it’s what writers can do, we write what matters, we share what others write. Please read, please share.
one woman's thoughts about life on the spectrum
Japanese pop culture through a feminist lens
Enjoy the Journey
The World's leading success industry
An anthropologist eyes the entertainment industry
