What makes fictional characters seem real, like you could reach behind the wall of words and find a living, breathing person there? A related question is: As a writer, how can I pretend to inhabit the mind of someone who has a different world view, background, knowledge, obsessions, and longings than I do?
Is There an Emotional Barrier to Creating Convincing Characters? Read More »
A grocery store is a place full of strangers. There is very little I can know about them just by looking. Nevertheless, to create convincing fictional characters, a grocery store is not a bad place to start – in particular, a shopping cart. Imagine: someone in line with me is unpacking a bottle of generic
Humanizing Fictional Characters – with a Grocery Cart Read More »
The Power of Point of View. Those words, which were the title of my new book, excited me. But when I opened it, the material, although useful, was dry and technical. I was disappointed. When I had seen the title, I had something else in mind – a memory. It started long ago with my
How My English Teacher Saved My Dog; the Power of Point of View Read More »
I have written two fantasy novels, and I have just started another. However, I have a weakness: fight scenes. I have written a few, but tend to avoid them if I can. And yet, they are a huge part of the genre. In fantasy, the culmination of a story is almost always an epic war. Usually
Why Fight Scenes in Fantasy and Science Fiction? Read More »
