Darswords

The VE Day Times Square Kiss.  See that…and more….at   CWin Post.

Every time I see someone being complimented for “looking so great” after their recent weight loss, I cringe a little.  People who undertake weight loss attempts are often encouraged to motivate themselves by hating their current bodies.  When they are successful at short term weight loss, they are encouraged to look back at their “old body” with shame, scorn, and hatred.  And that’s a big problem.

Not just because at some point the person will probably start to think “if everyone is talking about how great I look now, how did they think I looked before?” but also because the vast majority of people gain back their weight in two to five years.  Then they are living in a body that they taught themselves to hate and be ashamed of, remembering all of those compliments. Yikes.

I’ve also had friends and blog readers who’ve lost weight because they were sick…

Every story, and therefore every novel, has a protagonist: at least one. I wrote yesterday about troubles I’m having with a character trying to fight her way up, becoming more and more my novel’s dominant presence, and that now has me asking: how do you balance multiple protagonists?

Do you HAVE to balance them? Who says that when you have two or more characters linked with your narrator, they have to have equally distributed time in the spotlight?

MANAGING PAGE TIME

I love the term “screen time” in reference to television and film, so I figure for books, it makes sense to talk about a character’s page time (or even page presence, if you go in for alliteration.)

I’ve read posts and comments by fellow author-bloggers who sometimes get frightened by the thought of not keeping to a pattern where narration is concerned.

They worry that breaking an established…

As a newly converted Whovian I’ve been binging on “Doctor Who” lately on Netflix, and the show has really got me thinking about effective storytelling. You don’t have to be interested in Time Lords, Tardises, or sonic screwdrivers  to find this post of value, and I promise I won’t deliver any spoilers.

Doctor Who–in addition to great acting and compelling characters–is an all-around solid show, though it isn’t perfect. For some reason, it’s inspired in me a reflection on the nature of storytelling that I hope will be applicable to writers in any genre.

More than most other shows that I love, Doctor Who demonstrates the magic that can happen when we focus on the art of storytelling, and not just on the raw, plain details of the story.

Here are some storytelling tips I’ve picked up from the last of the Time Lords:

• ALWAYS INVOLVE “SMALL” OR “NORMAL” PEOPLE…

This is, I think, the final piece in what has turned into a trifecta of posts dealing with the BS that fat people have to deal with.  The first two pieces are here and here 

I get a lot of e-mails from readers who want to know what I say to various fat hate that I have to deal with.  Here are some examples, some are serious, some are jokes.  As always your mileage may vary and feel free to use these as is, change them up, or don’t use them at all:

You have such a pretty face

• Sure, but wait until you see my fine, fine ass.
• Thanks, it matches my beautiful body

Do you need to eat that?

• I thought that you were an accountant, are you also a dietitian?
• Yes, because dealing with your rudeness is depleting my glycogen stores at an alarming rate
• If…

By Sharla Rae

One of the things we’ve discussed in our critique meetings is the tendency all writers have to repeat certain words and phrases. “Echoes” is a term I’ve heard applied to frequently repeated words.

Read your chapter out loud, and that’s exactly what they sound like.

Common Causes of Echoes:

• Using lame and boring “to be” verbs. When used, they often produce not only echoes but also wordy constructions.
• Many echoes are subject oriented. For example, let’s say that in one chapter a wagon plays a big part in the action. Echoing “wagon” may be your repeated offense. Subject oriented words are sneaky. At first, they seem absolutely necessary. A closer inspection proves otherwise.

Helpful Echo-Zapping Sites

Laura Drake found a website that counts repeated words: www.wordcounter.com/

The writer simply copies his/her chapter then pastes it into the provided box. The program allows a list of 25 to…