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7 Tips for Introducing Your Characters
7 Tips for Introducing Your Characters Anybody Can Write a Novel Chapter 5 “Choosing and Designing Characters” – Section 3 “Introductions” With Links to Supplementary Material When a reader first picks up a book, they create an instant connection with the author of the story—formed through a required level of trust just so that the two of you can immerse yourselves in the world you have created. The writer and the reader are, at that point, friends or pleasant acquaintances; and at that moment of relationship and immersion into the realm of story, the characters become just as real as the reader/writer relationship. The writer, in this ...LiteratureAnybody Can Write a Novel - Outline
Anybody Can Write A Novel - Outline A Step-by-step Guide for Anyone to Learn How to Write a Novel This is an Outline of all my current articles, and a look at what is to come. I will try to update it, at least once every two weeks. Also note that just because something is absent from the Outline does not mean I don't plan to write it. This is a compilation of only chapters that have already been written. (You'll notice that I have neglected some points and chapters within this Outline. This this is simply a result of realizing that there is so much to learn, when it comes to writing. Don't worry, I'll be sure to come back and fill in the...Literature8 Tips for Writing Dialogue for your Characters
8 Tips for Writing Dialogue for your Characters Anybody Can Write a Novel Chapter 5 “Choosing and Designing Characters” – Section 4 “Dialogue” With Links to Supplementary Material Dialogue is a tricky topic, and for two key reasons. The first is that creating realistic dialogue is a difficult skill to master—even in day-to-day life—without speech coming out plastic, pointless, or otherwise unconvincing. The second problem is that the proper dialogue for your story is deeply rooted within the other elements—the characters, the setting, the genre, etc... Because of this, writing dialogue that is custom fitted to your story, requires adjus...Literature6 Tips for Mapping a Fictional World
6 Tips for Mapping a Fictional World Anybody Can Write a Novel 2.0 Chapter 3 “World Building” – Section 2 “Maps” ( Previous Tutorial ) ( Next Tutorial ) “I wisely started with a map, and made the story fit (generally with meticulous care for distances). The other way about lands one in confusions and impossibilities, and in any case it is weary work to compose a map from a story.” - J.R.R. Tolkien If you've ever read or written a story that seemed unintentionally ethereal—where the descriptions did not paint a vivid picture of the setting but instead a more vague dreamscape that the characters meandered along aimlessly—th...LiteratureHow to Create an Outline for Your Novel
How to Create an Outline for Your Novel Anybody Can Write a Novel 2.0 Chapter 4 “Preparing Your Plot” – Section 1 “The Outline” ( Previous Tutorial ) ( Next Tutorial ) “Plot is what happens in your story. Every story needs structure, just as every body needs a skeleton. It is how you 'flesh out and clothe' your structure that makes each story unique.” -Caroline Lawrence Of all of the topics to discuss in writing a novel, none of them inspire quite so much ire as that of outlining your story. As artists, we sometimes want to believe in the concept of absolute freedom from form and convention, and that our achievements co...Literature7 Tips For Writing Action Scenes
7 Tips For Writing Action Scenes Anybody Can Write a Novel Chapter 7 “From Story to Art” – Section 7 “Action Scenes” With Links to Supplementary Material Action scenes in a novel are a difficult tool to master, but well worth the time and effort to create dramatic an memorable scenes that will engage and entertain your readers. To pull them off effectively, you must be able to keep a quick yet varied pace, keep a tight focus, reflect your story, and make it all quick and crisp. Today, I'm going to give you a starting-point for honing your skills in this method of storytelling. Tip 1: Create a visible plane of space to work within. Blak...Literature9 Tips for Creating Your Antagonist
9 Tips for Creating Your Antagonist Anybody Can Write a Novel 2.0 Chapter 5 “Characters” – Section 3 “Antagonists” ( Previous Tutorial ) ( Next Tutorial ) “You don't really understand an antagonist until you understand why he's a protagonist in his own version of the world.” -John Rogers Whether the obstacle that stands in the way of your protagonist is an evil person, a person of just another philosophical belief, a person with a contradicting goal, a force of nature, a force of the supernatural, a monster, an emotion, an experience, or just a challenge in and of i...Literature10 Tips for Creating a Protagonist
10 Tips for Creating a Protagonist Anybody Can Write a Novel 2.0 Chapter 5 “Characters” – Section 2 “Protagonists” ( Previous Tutorial ) ( Next Tutorial ) “Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.”—Leigh Brackett Apart from Primary and Secondary Protagonists, there are many other different protagonist characters-types that can drive a story—ranging from heroes, to villains, to antiheroes, to just normal people. Today, I'm going to discuss what universal... - Literature
Crystal Dragonfly
One evening I met an artist in a meadow who had created a Crystal Dragonfly filled with hope under the silvery gleam of the full moonShe planned to set it free and send her creation to flutter high into the cosmos like a messenger to prove just how far her work could travelI asked if the artist feared her Crystal Dragonfly might fall apart before it reached that distant destination at which she smiled at me and her eyes twinkled“This Crystal Dragonfly might fall apart in flight high above the earth” the artist admitted “but I will continue ...LiteratureIf I Could
If I could rearrange the stars in the heavens into fanciful new constellations just to make you smile I wouldIf I could brush away the shadows which hang about your mind like cobwebs so dense they can obscure the world I wouldIf I could create an enchanted mirror able to reflect the strength I see in you or at least how much that means to me I wouldIf I could hand you the best possible tools to build a future of your own ...LiteratureAutumn Delights
Spices waft through the crisp air like promises of change— cinnamon pumpkin ginger while tree leaves shift their fashions to maple syrup hues right before they drop down and perform rustling melodies in bunches across the ground To further the transformation corn mazes grow tall pumpkins show off carved grimaces and people assume disguises for spooky magical occasionsLiteratureFairy Tale Route
Someday I would love to venture along that mystical pathway known as “Fairy Tale Route”— which weaves among foothills and forests deep in Germany to trace the lives of the Brothers Grimm from their birthplace in Hanau off to locations where they preserved fairytales like literary butterflies given havens within the pages of books such as Alsfeld …where “Red Riding Hood” first risked the woods for her grandmother or Bad Wildungen …that saw “Snow White” grace their streets with her lordly father who controlled the minesLiteratureA Stroll Beneath the Heavens
To help a worn mind and depressed spirit perhaps tonight I will stroll beneath the heavens with the Milky Way trail as my path Among meadows of dry grass cleansed by moonlight I will wade as if through an oceanic tide and play melodies upon a harmonica learned from the Santa Ana Wind I will listen while coyotes perched on hilltops serenade all creation then gaze upwards to glimpse crystal butterflies shimmer on their flight to become distant stars A raven will land on my shoulder with a pen clasped in his mouth while an arctic fox will frolic around a small green dragon and a robed gargoyle will ride a large wolf Every step I take will sound out a steady heartbeat rhythm as I try to make sense of the world again despite its sharp twists and dangers I willLiteratureA Gripping Kitty
Oh, my sweet black kitty you have become the Queen of Gripping From books tugged by their tops off my bookshelves to towels shoveled out of cupboards upon the hallway floor The sounds of you opening cabinet doors just wide enough for them to slam shut again echoes throughout the house and breaks into my deepest work sessions— sometimes accompanied by mewling calls But always there you will sit near the scene of the incident to gaze at me with bright yellow eyes as if to declare,LiteratureChloe Violin
It feels as if I’ve brought home a peculiar creature with a delicate light body that lays along one of my arms as I stroke its belly in attempts to stir melodies Most of those caresses so far have resulted in scratchy and uneasy notes— and the snapping of a string or two which needed replacement Each mistake (however) is a learning experience where I have begun to realize the subtle complexity of its aspects alongside the ways they flow into a unified whole On occasion I even find a sweet sonorous tone slips into my bow strokes like signs of acceptanceLiteratureTree Library: A Haiku
A small library made to fill a sturdy tree— literary bliss 
