Darswords

I’m not sure what the source is for this image, but I do love the message.

I went to a baby shower yesterday.  The mother-to-be asked that we each bring our favorite book for her baby.  Mine is called Little Bird written by Germano Zullo.  It’s a story of a little bird who needs to be taught to fly. The funny part is you only know that by the illustrations. Without them, the story is a poem and I love the message.  I decided to write it out here for you.  The illustrations of the little bird and the man who helped it are also wonderful so you should buy the book if you like what you read.

Little Bird

Some days are different.
One could almost believe that one day is just like another.
But some have something a little more.
Nothing much.
Just a small thing.
Tiny.

Most of the time we don’t notice these things.
Because little things are not made to be…

As you saw last week, I’m plotting The Mountains Novel on cards. I know the big picture – how it begins, where the characters can go and what the final note is. I’m now shuffling the events to get the strongest order and viewing the results with a critical eye.

Here’s what I’m looking for.

1 Finding the logic gaps

Is a story beat missing? Should a character react to an event? Is there a consequence I should cover?

2 Characters fitting the plot

Am I forcing a character to do something to suit the plot instead of what comes naturally to them? Is anyone behaving for the plot’s convenience, instead of the truth of the story? For instance, is someone doing something dumb so that the plot can advance?

This isn’t always bad, by the way. Sometimes characters do things that aren’t in their best interests or that…

I’ve been considering the topic of content edits over the last few days, since I’m dealing with a first round of edits right now. Today I wanted to focus on something that is obvious for us writers: so obvious that we sometimes forget to do it.

When you realize that something in your plot doesn’t hold together, it’s important to ask why that is before trying to fix the story.

MASKING VERSUS CORRECTING

You see, masking a problem versus fixing it can be two different things.

When you–or your editor and beta readers–don’t focus on the reason that some aspect of your plot isn’t holding up, your chances of just masking the issue, rather than fixing it, go up.

If a character is acting inconsistently–propounding one point of view in one scene and then acting against it with no real consideration of it in a future scene, the real issue…

I sometimes write about blogging from the perspective of an author: how blogging can help us develop our skills, develop a community of readers, and get us thinking in creative and new ways about the craft of fiction.

Today’s post is about blogging, but from the perspective of a blog reader. Following a number of quality blogs—and there are LOTS of quality blogs out there—is time-consuming.

However, an author who follows and interacts with numerous bloggers reaps a lot of benefits. Some of these benefits are less obvious, and others more so, but the fact is, the benefits are definitely there.

I got to thinking today about the wealth of resources blogs represent. In my personal experience, I can say that blogs are a goldmine, and I sincerely wish I’d started reading blogs sooner than I did! Here’s why:

1. READING BLOGS REMINDS US THAT WE ARE A COMMUNITY.

I rely on writing in my head. It’s something I’ve always done. If you see me space out, there’s a 98% chance I’m planning Josh’s opening line or Nicole’s next move or what Lizzie’s going to say to Connor or exactly how Ariana’s going to discover Caleb’s dirty secret. That’s what my head looks like an incredible amount of the time.

And I love it that way. I love my characters and my dialogue and my situations and thinking about what comes after. I spend a lot of time thinking about what comes after. Many a night I’ve lain in bed mentally writing the non-existent epilogue of MY NAME IS EVERETT, or the undocumented history between Emily and Jake.

For me, it’s really important to write in my head; I don’t get a ton of time to write things down on paper, so when I sit down, I maximize my…