Jami Gold's Blog: Jami Gold, Paranormal Author, page 61

What’s Influenced Your Writing?

We often talk about how reading is subjective. Just because we likeX story doesn’t mean others will like it too or vice versa. We can probably all think of a bestseller that left us wondering why people liked it.

But we don’t usually talk about how writing is subjective as well. The genres I enjoy writing and the stories I like to tell aren’t the same that others enjoy or like to write.

I’m sure some would hear about how I write paranormal romance and think (to paraphrase The Princess Bride) “E...

How to Place Turning Points on a Beat Sheet

To learn story structure, we have to get comfortable with a lot of new terms: acts, turning points, beats, Midpoint, Black Moment, pinch points, etc. And just to add another level of difficulty to the task, story structure instructors tend to use different terms.

Is a “Save the Cat”-styleCatalyst the same thing as anInciting Incident? (Answer: Yes.) Is a Larry Brooks “Story Engineering”-styleFirst Plot Point the same thing as the Plot Whisperer’s End of the Beginning? (Answer: Yes again.)

How d...

What’s the Biggest Lie You Tell Yourself?

One way we develop our characters is by figuring out their false belief: What lie do they tell themselves? Following Michael Hauge’s advice, the answer to this question usually comes down to what a character believes due to their backstory wound.

For example, a character might be hurt so badly in an ugly breakup that they believe they’re unlovable. The wound—the bad breakup—colors their perception and worldview so they expect that no one will appreciate or love them.Instead of the stereotypica...

How to Get Our Thoughts onto the Page

Several comments on my last post about how to create compelling characters asked similar questions: How can we make sure the cool character in our head makes it onto the page?

Woo boy, I amnot an expert at this, and that’s a trickyquestion to answer. But to be honest, I’m not sure any of us can ever claim to be an expert at this aspect of writing.

Unless we can read minds, we can only know what we know and guess at how others—such as our readers—will interpret what we tell them. And I don’t kno...

How to Create Characters Worth Reading

There’s no shortage of blog posts about what makes characters likable to readers. I’ve written about the issue myself. Theories abound withdifferent approaches we can take as writers to create likable characters.

But with every one of those posts, some will rightlybring up the fact that not all protagonists are likable. Depending on the genre or story, the protagonist might be anywhere from prickly to a full-on antihero.

Yet readers still read and enjoy those stories. Why?

It’s becauselikability...

Balancing Conflict in Romance Stories

Last summer I attended a great presentation at the RWA National conference on the nature of conflict in romance stories. NYT bestselling author Sarah MacLean gave a workshop called “Mastering Conflict,” and I meant to do a post about the workshop but forgot in the chaos of post-conference time.

I was reminded of Sarah’s presentation when one of my commentersasked a great question related to a post last week. In the comments of my post about using characters’ needs and goals to appeal to reader...

What Milestones Do You Watch for?

As we go through life, we often struggle to recognize our progress. That’s especially the case when life feels like a giant treadmill that goes nowhere and accomplishes nothing. Milestones are oneway for us to mark our progress, and they’re also great for reminding us to stop and celebrate the little (or sometimes, not so little) things.

Writers might recognize their first finished draft, first query sent, first contest final, first offer of representation, etc. Published authors might recogni...