C.B. Lee's Blog, page 132
July 2, 2015
obsidianmichi:
On “Good” Writing:This isn’t about popular writing. Popular writing is a matter of...
On “Good” Writing:
This isn’t about popular writing. Popular writing is a matter of some skill, but mostly luck and providing a niche that appeals. Lightning strikes, you get lucky. I’ll take a consistent audience over a massive audience any day of the week. If a lot of people overlook your work or they don’t get many likes or no one notices you, don’t worry. It’s not a sign that you’re a bad writer. Over a thousand things could be factoring into this decision that have nothing...
An Introduction to Character Flaws
Creating a perfect character usually isn’t a good idea, so you might want to consider giving your characters a few well thought out flaws. There needs to be something internally that prevents them from reaching their goals or something that stops them from being the most wonderful/impressive person in the room.
Here are a few tips on writing character flaws:
Balance Negative/Positive
No one’s perfect, so your characters shouldn’t be either. We all have both negative and posit...
"There are a lot of ways for a novelist to create suspense, but also really only two: one a trick,..."
There are a lot of ways for a novelist to create suspense, but also really only two: one a trick, one an art.
The trick is to keep a secret. Or many secrets, even. In Lee Child’s books, Jack Reacher always has a big mystery to crack, but there are a series of smaller mysteries in the meantime, too, a new one appearing as soon as the last is resolved. J.K. Rowling is another master of this technique — Who gave Harry that Firebolt? How is Rita Skeeter getting her info?
The art, meanwhile, the...
