tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76275431413104683192024-03-20T03:36:41.364-06:00The Quiet Writers' DeskHelping quiet writers succeed in a noisy worldK.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-39502639755209498162017-05-08T00:00:00.000-06:002017-05-08T00:00:17.995-06:00The Useful List of Things Nobody Tells You About Being Writer<div style="text-align: left;">
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<br />
I've been writing since I was 12 years old.</div>
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But I really don't know what to tell you in regards to the title of this post. So I'll rephrase to a question.</div>
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<b>What Would I Put on My List of Things Nobody Tells You About Being a Writer?</b></div>
<br />
Even after rephrasing I still had to ask my writer friends for ideas. Because the stuff on this list probably isn't going to be on any body else's list.<br />
<br />
Everything on everyone else's lists are more than likely true, but stuff like this is always subjective because no one writer ever has the exact same writing experience.<br />
<br />
There won't be anything about publishing, agents, editors or deadlines. This is just me(with help from friends), talking about writing.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">1. You will be a different kind of writer than I am</span></b><br />
There will never be a writer on this earth with your thoughts, your style, your concepts, or the way your story worlds exist. You will have a different personality, and just because your personality is different, three things will inherently separate us:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Your writing habits will not be the same as mine</b></li>
<li><b>Your style and voice will never sound like anybody else's but yours(not to say you cannot hone and perfect your own writing voice by the examples of the masters)</b></li>
<li><b>And the way ideas come to you will not be the same way in which they come to me or any other writer</b></li>
</ul>
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So if you are new to writing, you need to know things WILL be different for you. And therefore, you should never, ever feel pressured to be just like that writer. Your favorite writer will probably write their habits, their processes, and the way stories portal themselves out of that writer, and you will probably think you should be the exact same way because hey, they're awesome! You want to be awesome, too. And you are. But you don't have to be awesome in the same way they are. And quite frankly, you won't. You will just have to be you.<br />
<b><br /></b><b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">2. You will go through times when creativity will just not be there</span></b><br />
I never found this out. All the time I thought it was Writer's Block. Through all my writing experience I blamed Writer's Block, which can just be a nice general name. But I found Writer's Block to be something just a little bit different a little bit deeper through the years.<br />
<br />
It wasn't a Block. It was a complete and utter dryness of any sense of what creativity even was. And you know what? That was ok. It took me awhile to understand that, too. <u><a href="https://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-truth-about-creativity-stuff-we-all.html">You cannot bottle creativity. You cannot keep her. </a></u>She is a free spirit and she will always be her own complete person. And that's ok, too. Just know that sometimes she will be there and sometimes she will not.<br />
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I wish she would stay forever, but she can't. So treat her well and don't rage against her dying light when she's not there. She'll come back. Soon. I promise. She will only ever desert you completely when you fail to believe she will ever come back at all.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">3. There is no room for perfection in writing</span></b><br />
There is however room for hard work, sleepless nights, early mornings, back-talking, incorrigible characters, too many pots of tea to count, too many blathering thoughts about not being good enough, <u><a href="https://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/05/the-truth-about-creativity-stuff-we-all.html">and where the heck is creativity in all this</a></u>? There is room for bettering yourself and your writing. And there is room for excellence.<br />
<b><br /></b><b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">4. Inspiration is only part of the writing process</span></b><br />
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There came a time for me when I physically had to go looking for answers to my story problems. Inspiration was no help and I had no luck with waiting for it. And seriously, after years of waiting, I got tired of it. I wanted more than what inspiration could give me, and I had to go looking for it.<br />
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You have to stop waiting and you have to go looking for answers to the questions pounding in your head, answers to the characters who just won't leave you alone. Don't wait for inspiration to strike. Read books. Find answers. You are a writer.<br />
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Love, Kayla</div>
K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-18969501147246758672017-03-19T12:38:00.001-06:002017-03-19T12:38:38.633-06:005 Things I Learned About Writing From Maggie Stiefvater<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">1. Your hook is NEVER a landscape description</span></b><br />
<br />
Your hook, which is 99.9% of the time your opening line, is ALWAYS about the people.<br />
Declarations are far more interesting and engaging than a landscape description. For example, don't these three opening lines draw you in instead of making you yawn:<br />
<br />
<i>"It is the first of November and so, today, someone will die." --Prologue, The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"People say my brothers would be lost without me, but really, I'd be lost without them." --Chapter 1, The Scorpio Races, Maggie Stiefvater</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"Blue Sargent had forgotten how many times she'd been told that she would kill her true love." --Prologue, The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>"It was freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrived." Chapter 1, The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>2. Multiple Points of View are for exploring major characters from different perspectives</b></span><br />
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I used to hate multiple points of view with a passion. I would usually drop a book back into the pile if it switched between two or more people. But then I read <i>The Raven Boys </i>and when I reached Adam's POV where he dug further into Gansey's personality and character and gave us a deeper understanding of him, I finally found a powerful use for multiple POVs and a reason to love them.<br />
<br />
Take a look at this quote from <i>The Raven Boys</i>.<br />
<br />
<i>"This is why Adam could forgive that shallow, glossy version of Gansey he'd first met. Because of his money and his good family name, because of his handsome smile and his easy laugh, because he liked people and (despite his fears of the contrary) they liked him back, Gansey could've had any and all of the friends that he wanted. Instead he had chosen the three of them, three guys who should've, for three different reasons, been friendless." --The Raven Boys, Maggie Stiefvater</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Boom. Suddenly, you know more about Gansey and Adam both than you did before, and boom, you love them just a little bit more.<br />
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Multiple POV has many uses, but I think this kind should be utilized much more often.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>3. There is always a bigger story underneath</b></span><br />
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Just on the surface, I fell in love with Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah, and their search for a dead Welsh king. Puck and Sean, from <i>The Scorpio Races, </i>will always be my favorite characters. But Maggie Stiefvater took everything you loved and blew it up to something way more complicated and intertwined than I ever thought possible, taking roads and dimensions so completely unexpected and making them work, especially the dreamworld dimension. Never expected any of that. She's pretty much a master at this.<br />
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Always, always look for the bigger story underneath. Always say to yourself, "Ok. So I know this is happening. But what's REALLY going on here?"<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>4. Never write down to a teenager, especially in YA books</b></span><br />
<br />
Maggie is not afraid to write anything that today's teenagers might "not get." And this goes all the way from characters who are much more grown up than their years, to plot and grammatical form. She doesn't write simply just for the age genre.<br />
<br />
She writes characters, namely in <i>The Scorpio Races</i> and <i>The Raven Boys</i>, who think like adults, who know more than their age requires because they are smart and intuitive, and it is a part of who they are.<br />
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I believe this is one of the most important things you can do as a YA writer today. Never not write something because you don't think your audience won't understand it. Because youth today need something to sympathize with AND aspire to. They need to be looking forward to being a better person, not assurance that they can stay in their comfort zone all their lives.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>5. Never be afraid to break rules</b></span><br />
<br />
This wasn't so much something I learned as it is something I always seek affirmation for. And Maggie affirmed it for me a million times over.<br />
<br />
Maggie breaks all the rules. From structure, to character arc, to grammatical formatting, to chapters that are only a few paragraphs long. And she does it published.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Always strive to be original.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Always be creative.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Rules are rules. Except when you're a creative.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Then you get to get really creative and discover all the ways you can break the rules.</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Maggie Stiefvater is a master of breaking rules.</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><i>Love, Kayla</i></span>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-14234151006934951322017-02-03T00:00:00.000-07:002017-02-03T00:00:00.269-07:00Why a Pantser Started Outlining & Structuring Her Novels<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The truth is,</b></span><b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> when what you write isn't good enough for you any more, you must become better. You must always strive to be better because that is what living (and writing) is all about.</span></b><br />
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I am a Pantser in the true sense of the word.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Disclaimer:</span></b> I will NEVER tell you that you HAVE to Outline & Structure to be a better writer. Never.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I spurned outlining and structuring for much of my writing life.</span></b> I am a free-loving, disorganized being. I can't tell you how many times an idea has been lost in the papers lying around my room. I can't tell you how many times I'd lose a story because I did not know how to commit myself to it. Later, when I came across those forgotten story ideas, all I saw was failure.<br />
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I thought being a Pantser was the only way to write. <span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>But</b></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b> </b></span><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">wanted to write good novels, I was hungry for deeper meaning to edge the pages of my stories, and I went searching for a way to do that.</span></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvDLzo6GRFNa_hm1WnxCz1fElfKxjqVDriOLFPSh8Q3eldIFXp8jlP4C16CcgfQqJirmP16Mlra2381-xsMkMe294P2mJAjInisYbUN4TnSfr9DcdHi0HWrmux15SUMQtfnXRCBL_yPgx/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvDLzo6GRFNa_hm1WnxCz1fElfKxjqVDriOLFPSh8Q3eldIFXp8jlP4C16CcgfQqJirmP16Mlra2381-xsMkMe294P2mJAjInisYbUN4TnSfr9DcdHi0HWrmux15SUMQtfnXRCBL_yPgx/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So much home wrapped up in one picture.</td></tr>
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I didn't want to touch outlining and structuring. I wasn't ready to go there. I believed that it would kill my creativity instead of advance it, that was the biggest thing. That was what I was afraid of. Not being creative.<br />
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And then, NaNoWriMo found me. I smile really wide when I say this because November is my dearest and most wonderful friend.<b><span style="color: #45818e;"> The moment I decided to take November's writing challenge I knew without a doubt: I was going to have to outline my novel.</span></b><br />
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That was my first taste of outlining, and it didn't taste too bad. But still it wasn't enough. So I went deeper. I read books and raked through writing websites to find what I needed to make better stories. And I tried lots of things. Tried schedules. Tried emulating writers I loved. And I wrote. A lot. These things did help. Strangely, <b><span style="color: #45818e;">I kept being pushed back to Outlining and Structuring.</span></b> It held something, the path to creating the essence I wanted to write into my stories, because stories are always deeper on the inside than they seem, or they are not good stories.<br />
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<b>There were three things that always drove my desire to write:</b><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit;"><b>I was not satisfied with my work as writer</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit;"><b>I wanted to be a better writer</b></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit;"><b>I knew there must be more to learn</b></span></li>
</ol>
And that is exactly why I started Outinling & Structuring. Because I wanted to be better and it gave me a way to help myself be better. <b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This doesn't mean, however, that I have stopped being a Pantser. </span></b>I pants regularly, especially during the parts of the year that aren't NaNoWriMo. I still have dozens of half-written stories, baskets and drawers full of unwritten ideas. <span style="color: #45818e;"><b>I am still a Pantser in the purest definition of the word, and you should only Structure & Outline if you think it is also for you.</b></span><br />
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I promise you, taking a little more time to really care about the stories that entered my life is really what made all the difference.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Below is a condensed version of, and how I personally use, Outlining and Structuring. Read on if you would like to know more about this fabulous world.</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Structuring Is a Map, Not a Rule</b></span></div>
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I was on the very verge of giving up. Probably for the millionth time (do writers ever really give up?). I kept thinking there had to be something missing, something I was not taking full advantage of.<br />
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When I found out about Plot Points and that specific events happened at specific places in a story, and that all stories followed this very similar pattern, all of the sudden I had a map. I didn't have rules, I didn't have margins, I had a map.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>And the thing about maps is that you can follow any path you choose to get where you want to go. </b></span><br />
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Plot Points are moments, single moments when something changes within your story. To sum up, they are:<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The Inciting Event</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The Key Event</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The 1st Plot Point - Moment of No Return</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The 1st Pinch Point - Reminder of Antagonist's Power</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The Midpoint - The Moment of Truth</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The 2nd Pinch Point - Reminder of Antagonist's Power</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The 3rd Plot Point - The Dark Moment</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The Climactic Moment - Defeat of Antaongist or Protagonist</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The Resolution </b></span><br />
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These special moments gave me a map by which to follow my story, yet still gave me the freedom I needed to be able to write how I pleased. Just knowing these were there to guide me kind of rocked my writing world. Just a little bit.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Outlining Is a Travel Guide, Not a Inspiration Killer</b></span></div>
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If Structuring is a map, then Outlining in your travel guide. The travel guide that tells you all about the chasm up ahead on this mountainous trail, explains what it's for and why it's there.<br />
<br />
Outlining guides you between your Plot Points.<br />
<br />
Outlining shows you how to get from one Plot Point to another and what it's going to take to get there.<br />
<br />
Your Outlining Travel Guide helps navigate you through each point, but will also help weave in the sub-plots, minor characters, themes, and your main character's arc. It will help you see what you're going to need now to make the other Plot Points further ahead make sense and brought to their full advantage.<br />
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I, as a Pantser, came to see Outlining and Structuring as a further freedom to be creative and not a hindrance. Thinking of them as maps and guides opened up so many more possibilities for themes and characters, dramatic moments and dialogue. I whip out my map as I'm writing and plan while I go. There is still so much freedom to be had here.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Outlining & Structuring is NOT the way for EVERY writer to become better.</span></b> <span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>The way you find to become a better writer is not going to be the same way I did. But there's no harm in reading a book. Just be careful. It could change your life.</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2N_FAi8hoNo0B5KlKfNZ3cvEiMi3dCqdoRmCw868d_7Z0febNGI8-kR9k3yrY2ZLFFMA-PvPbjP8DldyZmfoZA0pY95OFEgjGw-8W_QN3rB_W5CxlrNXqIi1cCf1O58WEgcmZJh12u1tu/s1600/4198QI9U2nL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2N_FAi8hoNo0B5KlKfNZ3cvEiMi3dCqdoRmCw868d_7Z0febNGI8-kR9k3yrY2ZLFFMA-PvPbjP8DldyZmfoZA0pY95OFEgjGw-8W_QN3rB_W5CxlrNXqIi1cCf1O58WEgcmZJh12u1tu/s320/4198QI9U2nL.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Structuring-Your-Novel-Essential-Outstanding/dp/0985780401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485976110&sr=8-1&keywords=structuring+your+novel" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b></u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__mWrnztVOuF7xAyI6P0T2wOwt_5K_LOiDn3p_uh7ZJNhCTUhpuXR9df3CD_4yBcD6g92oQFmoaGKptPGunBoSk1C43kodkFMX2FGi7c-j2Z2gGRazBWwVa0LBoHpiOUebi3xazO2ylvj/s1600/41bO5othBNL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh__mWrnztVOuF7xAyI6P0T2wOwt_5K_LOiDn3p_uh7ZJNhCTUhpuXR9df3CD_4yBcD6g92oQFmoaGKptPGunBoSk1C43kodkFMX2FGi7c-j2Z2gGRazBWwVa0LBoHpiOUebi3xazO2ylvj/s320/41bO5othBNL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Outlining-Your-Novel-Map-Success/dp/0978924622/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485976234&sr=8-1&keywords=outlining+your+novel" target="_blank">Amazon</a></b></u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><u><b><a href="http://eepurl.com/bwYIpD" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Free</span></a></b></u></td></tr>
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K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-45874816512581462912017-01-20T00:00:00.000-07:002017-01-24T12:16:05.989-07:00Where Do You START When Planning a New Novel?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZgrqhtVvFzCK2zbTbWcwpheCUGC4JE5rZJnLOl-UFop3ox09fDTAwk_agFRJ2aUemRSewWUbMtFogS1cg2rvUjn0vg60MPdxck4N78UrE0URs09QsXPz3OMDv30UUdA2Lv864PvGagn-/s1600/Why+a.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ZgrqhtVvFzCK2zbTbWcwpheCUGC4JE5rZJnLOl-UFop3ox09fDTAwk_agFRJ2aUemRSewWUbMtFogS1cg2rvUjn0vg60MPdxck4N78UrE0URs09QsXPz3OMDv30UUdA2Lv864PvGagn-/s640/Why+a.png" width="426" /></a></div>
<br />
You have a whopping good idea for a story, but where do you start planning?<br />
<br />
Well, that really depends on you as the writer, and is hugely based on your feelings about the story.<br />
<br />
Depending on how the story idea manifests itself to you, either in the form of plot, a setting, or a character, a dream, that's where I suggest you begin.<br />
<br />
The good news is there is no one path everyone should take. You are free to be as creative as you want. As<a href="https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/" target="_blank"> <u>K.M. Weiland</u></a> says in her book <i><u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Outlining-Your-Novel-Map-Success/dp/0978924622/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483811830&sr=1-1&keywords=outlining+your+novel" target="_blank">Outlining Your Novel</a></u></i>,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: x-large;">"Different stories will require slightly (or sometimes radically) different tactics. So don't box yourself into a rigid system. Never be afraid to experiment."</span></i></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But that's also the bad news if you're new to this writing thing. I remember I found it quite helpful when there <i>was</i> an actual path to follow. </span>So here are just a few ideas:</div>
</div>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Where Do You START?</span></b></div>
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Rarely does it start this way: "I want to write a story about a little girl in England."<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I betcha it's going to happen like this:</span></b> </span>You are minding your own business when suddenly you have this clear vision of a little girl sneaking through a hidden passage and emerging into a room full of dusty, cracked mirrors. There's another door, strung with spider webs, and the little girl tentatively reaches for the handle. You know that if she will just open that door, if you can just find out what's on the other side, somewhere beyond is what this story is all about.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So here are 4 Steps you can use to go about finding what's on the other side of that door:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. Write down everything you know about your story</span> </span></b><br />
<br />
If you see a character, write down every little thought you have about them. <span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Do the same with the plot, setting or theme.</b></span><br />
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Do you know your character has PTSD, but you never really saw any evidence of it or know how it came to be? Yeah, write it down, even if you don't know how they got it.<br />
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Do you know your setting has a strong resemblance to the Irish countryside or the planet Mars? Write that down, too. The same with the plot and theme. All the bits and pieces need to be written down about <i>everything</i>.<br />
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For my current work-in-progress, which is based on a dream I had, my bits and pieces looked something like this:<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Girl lives with her sister on the edge of a lake.</i><br />
<i>They live in a community of houses that are connected by bridges.</i><br />
<i>They go swimming in the lake every morning with others in the community.</i><br />
<i>Girl has a very handsome, well-known, well-loved father.</i><br />
<i>Girl does not like her father at all and they have a very tempestuous, angry relationship.</i><br />
<i>They live in Colonial America in the 1700s, but I want it to have an other-worldly element</i><br />
<i>Her mother is dead.</i><br />
<i>Father married mother for her money.</i><br />
<br />
That was the complete manifestation of the dream. But it's all in how you take the little pieces and make them bigger. And this takes a little THINK TIME.<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>2. Write down what your story is NOT </b></span><br />
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For instance, I knew I did not want this story to be about revenge, sexual abuse, or racism. Those were just a few elements I knew I did not want my story to involve. I wanted it to be about something different.<br />
<br />
So make a list of things on the side of what you don't want your story to be about and keep them in front of you as you create the rest of the story. You'll remember where you don't want this story to go.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>3. Write down your list of characters </b></span><br />
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Now's the time to complete your cast of characters as far as you know. <span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Write down everyone who's shown up so far in your story idea.</span> This can help you see what other characters you might need to fill in the gaps.<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><a href="https://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/10/1-thing-to-do-to-create-memorable.html" target="_blank"><br /></a></u></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/10/1-thing-to-do-to-create-memorable.html" style="text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">Now, write down everything you know about each character.</a> </span><br />
<br />
This doesn't have to be hard. Just jot down ideas about their names, age, height, weight, appearance, clothing etc. all that good stuff. This is actually one of my favorite parts because it's all just a cover a up for who they really are inside.<br />
<br />
Scratch out some ideas about their personalities, <u><a href="https://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/05/how-to-create-instantly-likable.html" target="_blank">why readers will like them or won't like them</a>,</u> maybe even take them through a personality test.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Key Thing To Know About Your Characters</b></span></div>
<br />
Take a piece of paper and dedicate it to each character. Write their name at the top, then underneath, answer this question:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
What do they want?</div>
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<br /></div>
I believe one of the best places to start planning any story is with the characters.<br />
<br />
If you begin with the characters and figure out what it is they are doing in this story, then you are on your way to making this story belong to them, to finding out what their goal is, what the theme, plot, and setting are.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">4. Write down why this is a story in the first place</span></b><br />
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True, this might have been better placed as number one, but here's where it all gets interesting. Trust me. This where you find out all the why's, thus the reason this story is a story in the first place.<br />
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Using the bits and pieces from my above story we're going to ask the all-hallowed question I love.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Why? Or What If? </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>(My personal favorite being Why?)</b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHY does girl live with her sister on the edge of a lake?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHY is this a community of houses connected by bridges?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHY do they go swimming every morning?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHY is her father so well-loved by community?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHY does girl have a tempestuous, angry relationship with father?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHY is her mother dead?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">WHY did her father marry her for money, i.e. what did he want the money for?</span><br />
<br />
Isn't this immaculate? Doesn't this just open each one of these stopping points to some bigger possibility?<br />
<br />
Don't settle for just a bland, "Because that's where they've lived all their lives." Dig for something bigger because it is there.<br />
<br />
When you start answering these questions about WHY the story is this way, you build a bigger, better world. After I started asking the WHY ques<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is where my stories begin. I usually don't know anything but a few scraps. It's all in what you do with your scraps that's the game changer. Keep digging because the story is there, you just have to find it.</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman";">Your next step in the planning stages is entirely up to you. But I suggest you utilize these amazing books and the tips inside them. They completely changed my life. Oh, and they're Pantser and Planner friendly. Just so you know.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman";"><br /></span></span>
Outlining Your Novel<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4NY4uVAlXkLRajZZOtxAEB3p7o72KYg6yHCPfa8jgVfo9hiBDfzFICB3THmmWI-dNLQjjMnf8LJ8-aR9moYdveHEPAxbp9qKzteoFYTipD83XnIb77h1cP3nFCOT99C9HH5jM5HLJUXU/s1600/4198QI9U2nL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc4NY4uVAlXkLRajZZOtxAEB3p7o72KYg6yHCPfa8jgVfo9hiBDfzFICB3THmmWI-dNLQjjMnf8LJ8-aR9moYdveHEPAxbp9qKzteoFYTipD83XnIb77h1cP3nFCOT99C9HH5jM5HLJUXU/s320/4198QI9U2nL.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Structuring-Your-Novel-Essential-Outstanding/dp/0985780401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484775668&sr=8-1&keywords=structuring+your+novel" target="_blank">Structuring Your Novel, K.M. Weiland</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAegzs7vE1lyXx_5VxcKf4OQVdv0kHJygbOoQ31NxpOXHULY4Q_qvVg6zhgj4asvVYaZPzeRLmEXt-P0ygv-Tyu9R_2H69bQw4g7YkzWXe5E4K2SIC4ymJ_l4Voqjr3SCwQRfbl1TEq5ck/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAegzs7vE1lyXx_5VxcKf4OQVdv0kHJygbOoQ31NxpOXHULY4Q_qvVg6zhgj4asvVYaZPzeRLmEXt-P0ygv-Tyu9R_2H69bQw4g7YkzWXe5E4K2SIC4ymJ_l4Voqjr3SCwQRfbl1TEq5ck/s1600/download.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Write-Your-Novel-Middle-Approach/dp/0910355118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484775713&sr=8-1&keywords=write+your+novel+from+the+middle" target="_blank">Write Your Novel From the Middle, James Scott Bell</a></u></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tenpXsW_21frKif_Gay14P1SvYwgt5Q5mpXCW4VMD48chgy6boTNykjjliF2yfeiqC8ImfECADqt3rz7S8TdBHIeFvJbIrbbPaGem7DqK4Iblezl2RyXB_Z4O64jCUW-i0gnq3OKuBoC/s1600/41bO5othBNL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5tenpXsW_21frKif_Gay14P1SvYwgt5Q5mpXCW4VMD48chgy6boTNykjjliF2yfeiqC8ImfECADqt3rz7S8TdBHIeFvJbIrbbPaGem7DqK4Iblezl2RyXB_Z4O64jCUW-i0gnq3OKuBoC/s320/41bO5othBNL._SX322_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Outlining-Your-Novel-Map-Success/dp/0978924622/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484776275&sr=8-1&keywords=outlining+your+novel" target="_blank">Outlining Your Novel, K.M. Weiland</a></u></td></tr>
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K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-82462178229534718902017-01-02T14:06:00.001-07:002017-01-02T14:08:21.495-07:00Reawakening | A Happy New Year & Promise-Filled Post + Inspirational Freebies<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Dear Lovelies and Quiet Ones, and all the sweet people around here who have shared such lovely words with me,</span></b><br />
<br />
I know I've been gone a lot the past few months, and it was really <i>not</i> my intention to sound ungrateful for the kind words you've left here for me to find, but I wanted to tell you I've not abandoned you. I intend to keep on keeping on.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="color: #134f5c;"><b>Big Things Happened to Me This Year</b></span><br />
<ul>
<li>I got a full time job.</li>
<li>I made a new best friend.</li>
<li>I discovered a new part of the creative life.</li>
<li>I learned why it's so hard for a normal, working class person to keep up a good creative life. The struggle is real.</li>
<li>I also learned the immense value of being disciplined and courageous enough to keep on writing when you have a full time job. I had no idea.</li>
</ul>
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And I've just been quiet because sometimes I am just quiet. Internationally known as Introverting. Sometimes it's nice to take a moment to be quiet and think about things. Never misjudge how much good this does your soul, loves.<br />
<br />
But onward, I am:</div>
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Getting posts lined up, hopefully, for some January love, but I make no promise-promises.</div>
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Hoping this place will actually become a ".com" and look a little more official. But we'll see! </div>
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Also going to pay some loving attention to my mailing list this year, and spend some time getting to know you and let you know a little bit more about me. So if you'd like to get in on some of that, be sure to subscribe below. You get my free writing book on NaNoWriMo, too.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><b><span style="color: #45818e;"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bwYIpD" target="_blank">CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE</a></span></b></u></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><b><span style="color: #45818e;"><a href="http://eepurl.com/bwYIpD" target="_blank"> THE QUIET WRITERS' DESK MAILING LIST</a></span></b></u></div>
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But I want to thank all of you for all the love you shared with me this past year. I didn't imagine I'd meet so many lovely people when I started this blog, or that my ideas on writing would spread as far as they did. A Hug and Thank You for you, dear friend!</div>
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Wishing you a wonderful, wonderful New Year.</div>
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Love,</div>
<div>
Kayla<br />
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P.S.<br />
And just 'cause I love you, here's some Inspirational Freebies<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">To remind you that it's ok to take a break:</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">To remind you to <i>Resist the Urge To Explain</i> when you write. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">I thought it quite a delightful reminder:</span></b><br />
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K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-48012040022676565492016-10-05T00:00:00.000-06:002016-10-05T00:00:07.843-06:00#1 Thing To Do To Create Memorable Characters<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Characters are the lifeblood of any story. </b><b>Why?</b><br />
<b>Because people are our business. </b>No matter who you are or where you are in life, people are what you're here for. Not to mention humans are the most complex beings on earth.<br />
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<b>For your character to resonate with other readers, they need to be human, they need to be complex. </b>They need to not be <i>boring</i>. In fact your readers need to be able to connect with them on deep and very personal levels.<br />
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<b>So first and foremost, you, the writer, must know them to core.</b> You need to find out who they are.<br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Get to Know Them Personally</span></div>
Question them, prod them, hit them where it hurts. Interrogate them, like the bad cop on TV, until they break wide open for you. Find out everything you can about them.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>What are they most afraid of? </b></li>
<li><b>What was their worst nightmare ever?</b></li>
<li><b>What are their dreams and aspirations?</b></li>
<li><b>What do they want more than anything?</b></li>
<li><b>How do they interact with other story people or in situations new to them?</b></li>
<li><b>What's they're favorite song(contemporary or oldies)?</b></li>
</ul>
Learn to love your characters deeply, and learn to love every bit of them, good or bad.<br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Myers-Briggs Personality Test</span></div>
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If you know your characters from head to toe, inside out and up side down, you <i>will</i> be able to follow them through the rough patches of planning, or not planning, and writing.<br />
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<b>My favorite example of a complex or dichotomous character is Ronan, from <i>The Raven Boys. </i>He's rude, he doesn't like anyone, he doesn't keep up his grades, and yet he still rescues a baby raven and loves on it and names it Chainsaw. But I connected with Ronan on so many levels, not only because he was complex, but because he engaged my sympathies.</b><br />
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<b>And Tom Elder from<i> The Sons of Katie Elder</i>. He's this care-free, watch-me, I-don't-care, drifter, always making bets, always trying to act like he doesn't care. But when his little brother is wounded in a gun battle, who is constantly by his side? Who risks his life to stop the villain? Happy smile. Tom Elder.</b><br />
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<u><a href="https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test"><b>Myers-Briggs Personality Test</b></a></u><br />
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<span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Proust Questionnaire</span></div>
<b> To know your character is to love your character. </b>Or to respect or hate, adore, laugh at, have funky conversations with, to insist incessantly upon their reality, to want to shoot them in the head. To slump onto your writing desk and weep bitter tears over.<br />
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The more you know about your characters the more you'll be able to explore their souls in the pages of the story. The more you'll be able to bring them to light--<b>the more your readers will love or hate them, too.</b><br />
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<b><u><a href="http://thewritepractice.com/proust-questionnaire/">Proust Questionnaire</a></u></b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #76a5af; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Key Characters to Interview</span></b></div>
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These are the five most important to any story, give or take the mentor and love interest. However, giving each of your minor characters(i.e. antagonist's henchmen or sidekick's nemesis) a goal or desire is a key element to making even them resonate with your readers.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>The Protagonist (the main character, the hero, the point of view character, Puck<i>, The Scorpio Races</i>)</b></li>
<li><b>The Antagonist (the villain, the central force against your protagonist, Chief Elder, <i>The Giver</i>)</b></li>
<li><b>Loyal sidekick (completely loyal to protagonist, shares the same goals, Russell, <i>Up</i>)</b></li>
<li><b>The Mentor (supports protagonist, but also teaches him, Eddie Lowery, <i>The Greatest Game Ever Played</i>)</b></li>
<li><b>The Love Interest (the protagonist's love interest, a motivating force in the story goal, Arwen, <i>The Lord of the Rings Trilogy</i>)</b></li>
</ul>
<b><span style="color: #76a5af; font-size: x-large;"><i>Recap:</i></span></b><br />
<b>Shape and hone your characters, interrogate them, quiz them. What do they look like? Who are they really? </b>If you know who they are and what their deepest motivations are, the more real your characters will become on the page as you write them, and the more your readers will love them.K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-24297174905668782102016-09-20T20:21:00.000-06:002016-09-20T20:21:21.246-06:00Top 10 Things Every Writer Needs For a Richer Writing Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">We're always looking for ways to make our writing lives richer, more enjoyable. I have this horrible feeling that even though I think I'm a good writer I'm really not and often find myself on this rampage of devouring everything I can about learning to write and write well. Here's just a few things that helped calm these feelings, made writing just a tad bit easier, and just a little bit more enjoyable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>1. <i>Tea & Coffee</i></b></span> (but mostly tea)<br />
We need the essentials, right? Sitting down to write with a cup of tea is one of my most favorite parts of the day. Tea makes it special. Or any hot beverage, really. I really love <u><a href="http://www.republicoftea.com/organic-brain-boost-supergreen-tea-bags/p/v20368/">Republic of Tea's Brain Boost</a></u> or <u><a href="http://www.tazo.com/">TAZO</a></u> teas. Also, <a href="http://www.stashtea.com/">STASH</a>. They're brilliant, haven't tried a flavor I didn't like. As for coffee, the only kind I've ever almost fallen over for is the Swedish Coffee I got in my Try the World Box, <a href="https://www.trytheworld.com/collections/sweden/products/kharisma-coffee-ground">Kharisma by Lofbergs</a>. Absolutely lovely.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><u><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12543.Bird_by_Bird">2. <i>Bird by Bird</i>, Anne Lamott</a></u></b></span><br />
Pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about writing your first book and more. Funny stories, writerly encouragement and sympathy. I read it every day before writing during NaNoWriMo 2014 and it was just the pep I needed to start writing.<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">3.<i> <u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Write-Your-Novel-Middle-Approach-ebook/dp/B00IMIXI6U">Write Your Novel From the Middle, </a></u></i><u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Write-Your-Novel-Middle-Approach-ebook/dp/B00IMIXI6U">James Scott Bell</a></u></span></b><br />
After reading this book I can't even count how many things about writing popped into place inside my head. It's the best, shortest, wisest, simplest, little book I've read.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhpr7sMY53NTBxC43oc1Q2YcuhsI7SUZ3fts1JMpvpsUeNZqQ73Z3m1zw_GHQojc9zRUBVfGUK7tbzxeqyTMxLiiC0nb3sfp6fdUxB1YJyc8XPt87yVWQ5ByE_74V7IaozQI5OldzRsVW/s1600/4198QI9U2nL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlhpr7sMY53NTBxC43oc1Q2YcuhsI7SUZ3fts1JMpvpsUeNZqQ73Z3m1zw_GHQojc9zRUBVfGUK7tbzxeqyTMxLiiC0nb3sfp6fdUxB1YJyc8XPt87yVWQ5ByE_74V7IaozQI5OldzRsVW/s320/4198QI9U2nL.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">4.<i> <u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Structuring-Your-Novel-Essential-Outstanding-ebook/dp/B00EJX08QA">Structuring Your Novel</a></u></i><u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Structuring-Your-Novel-Essential-Outstanding-ebook/dp/B00EJX08QA">, K.M. Weiland</a></u></span></b><br />
This book topped it all. Its the book that changed my writing life forever, although I didn't know it at the time. I still pants, a lot, but this book is definitely for pantsers as well as planners. Pantsers NEED to know the stuff that's in this book. It will help you pants a lot better, trust me, and makes pantsing a lot more richer in the process.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>5. <u><a href="http://helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/">HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a></u></i></b></span><br />
Seriously, all you need is K.M. Weiland's blog for writers. She is spot on about everything, and you can find everything you ever wanted to know about foreshadowing, creating dynamic characters, pacing, theme, setting, and so much more from just a few of her articles. Her website is amazing. I aspire to be as precise and helpful as she.<br />
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<b><u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Big-Magic-Creative-Living-Beyond-ebook/dp/B00S52M350"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">6.<i> Big Magic</i>, Elizabeth Gilbert</span></a></u></b><br />
Treasure, treasure, treasure. That's what this book is. It came just at the right moment for me because it has taught me, along with a wildly wonderful summer, that the world does not need to buy, review, or enjoy your work for you to be a writer, an artist, or whatever you are. You just simply need to be and by being you are.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><u><a href="http://www.canva.com/">7. <i>Canva</i></a></u></b></span><br />
Especially if you're a blogging writer. This is a special, special place you can go create some fabulous graphics. Love it so much. Its drag and drop feature is amazing and you'll be blown away by how simple it is to create something. Also, <a href="http://unsplash.com/">Unsplash.com</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i>8. Essential Quotes for the Writer's Life</i></b></span></span><br />
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"Finish your novel, because you learn more that way than any other." -James Scott Bell</blockquote>
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"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." -Cyril Connolly</blockquote>
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"Good writing is remembering detail. Most people want to forget. Don't forget things that were painful or embarrassing or silly. Turn them into a story that tells the truth." -Paula Danziger </blockquote>
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"I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that is how you grow." -Marissa Mayer</blockquote>
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"Let's start by taking a smallish nap or two." -Winnie the Pooh</blockquote>
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"The thing you are most afraid to write--write that." -advice to young writers </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>9. <u><a href="http://writershelpingwriters.com/">WritersHelpingWriters.com</a></u> + Thesauruses</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Buy all their thesauruses. Seriously. I'm in line with you. They have pulled me out of so many hard spots, and even made all the difference in fleshing out one of my characters and actually bring the story to life for me.<b> Their blog posts and thesauruses are chock full of so many options, so many possibilities and ideas and are the be all end all to inspire you to get writing again.</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">10. Get Out More</span> </i></b></span><br />
I'm forever reminding myself how good this is for me. It makes snuggling in and shoring up at home that much more meaningful after you've actually gotten out, exposed yourself, and interacted with other humans. You feel much more satisfied. And having earned a good two hour nap or a good three hour book read makes it so much nicer when you get up and do your writing.<br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Let's chat! What are some things you've found that have made your writing life the stuff of dreams?</b></span>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-3273557361252000022016-08-22T00:00:00.000-06:002019-03-04T11:20:34.798-07:00To the Writer Who Wants to Write But Life is a Little Too Much in the Way<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUckcs2CWai3MU-mKW8Yp-wAk2P2cz39aveWSGUzOX7gnXBY2vmE473affA2ous7cPYuzqylKAGj609AEoGCdoyesboVyX7Vbks7SXfLCpK2-BzM1L3iFxA9xeqFB0AvCzT52WdTcfgpb6/s1600/The+Struggling+Writer.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="735" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUckcs2CWai3MU-mKW8Yp-wAk2P2cz39aveWSGUzOX7gnXBY2vmE473affA2ous7cPYuzqylKAGj609AEoGCdoyesboVyX7Vbks7SXfLCpK2-BzM1L3iFxA9xeqFB0AvCzT52WdTcfgpb6/s400/The+Struggling+Writer.png" width="266" /></a><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">Dear Nina,</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">You're that writer. But you're the one person with the best excuse I've ever heard. But that just makes me want to cry, that excuse you have.</span><br />
<br />
You followed a dream that wasn't kind to you and writing stories just kind of got kicked out of existence. But you found a new dream and you never gave up on your little boy.<br />
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And it just makes tears blur all the words I want to say, and all I can do is just well up to bursting. I know that the aching desire to write is making your heart and hands tremble because you cannot. Because <b>what if you can't remember how, or what if the stories just don't want you any more?</b><br />
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What if you've lost it all? The way you sounded on the page, the way the people in the stories made themselves real to you, the way the light and the shadows, the sounds, the tastes all manifested themselves to you? What if you've forgotten how to feel them? What if you can't remember how to let them pour out of your soul? What if the world has knocked you so hard that all the closed up places of your heart you used to breathe word-music just won't open again?<br />
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<b>What if you can't write any more?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Yeah, I know. I am that person, too.</b> I would just curl up beneath my covers, trying to get away, to stop aching, to will away all those voices and stories, ideas and people rolling and tossing in my head. Things I had no words left in me to write, willing them to be silent, because I didn't know where to start writing them down, how to capture them, if they would stay long enough to let me be their portal to wordly shape and form. But the longer I didn't write them down the more they tortured me, and battered the insides of my soul till I bruised and ached with a hurt I didn't even understand.<br />
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<b>Everyday I have to start at the beginning.</b> I have to go back and be that new wanna-be-writer girl hidden away in her closet with the yellowish glow of a lamp, a pen, and a notebook that once had five hundred fresh, crisp, hopeful pages in it. But now it's a limp, starved thing with stretched out spirals and fragments of its short lived beauty falling in pieces around my chair, crumpled pages piling up at the edges of my feet--shards of my heart.<br />
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We wanted to be writers SO BADLY, didn't we? <b>And we never stopped writing because we wanted it SO much.</b><br />
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Everyday I have to sit down and I have to remember that girl who followed each and every geyser of inspiration, who dropped whatever she was doing to run and write something down. Everyday I have to be that girl who writes down just one single word that captured her fancy, even though the next day she hated it and why in the world did she write that down when there were so many others whirling around her head she couldn't remember now?<br />
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<b>It's a Start-New-Everyday process. But more like a Start-Everyday-Like-You-Want-To-Be-A-Real-Writer process. </b><br />
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Remember we said how it seemed like when we were younger we just lived on inspiration? It was our food day and night, there was just so much more of it lying around. We've got high school years of paper, broken pencils, and inkless pens, and baskets full of crinkling, scribbled in notebooks and drawers in our desks we don't like to open because we'll cringe if we read what we wrote when our lives were young and small but our hearts so full of this giddy, unfathomable world where just about anything we'd ever dreamed was possible with just a handful of words. Where did it all go? What happened to it? It's like it vanished. It's like we grew up and writing started to not like us any more. What happened to <i>us</i>?<br />
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<b>Surround yourself with inspiration.</b> Steep yourself in writing you love, in stories and communities, in people who encourage you and make you want to write. Be there, show up, go looking for it, follow it down rabbit holes, let that little piece of dialogue or that spark of an idea just take you away. Because inspiration is still in plenteous supply around here, we've just grown up, we changed, we're becoming the kind of humans we were meant to be.<b> Inspiration is still constantly throwing itself at us in new ways, just from different directions, we just need to get out there and look for it, to be ready for it. </b>To be open to every direction, to not disregard or shake our heads, to write something off because that wasn't the way it came to us before.<br />
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My favorite girlhood author says, "Ideas are everywhere."<br />
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<b>Can't you just FEEL the freedom in that sentence??</b> You've got to see that as possibility and not hindrance. The fact that ideas are everywhere makes this writing stuff sound so much easier. It means that our inspiration isn't gone, it's still there, just waiting for us to happen upon it. It's everywhere!<br />
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It doesn't mean our supply shortened because we grew up and dreams changed and you're a single mom now . . . It means that it will always, always be there.<b> It doesn't mean that you forgot or you somehow lost this precious gift of storytelling, it doesn't mean your soul is empty--it means that you have a bazillion more chances to write something new, to FILL your soul. </b>It means now you don't have to let inspiration do all the work, that you are capable and you are strong enough to let yourself do the work where inspiration has failed.<br />
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<b>It means, yes, you've grown up, and yes, you've changed, and this means that a bazillion more ways just opened up for you to be a writer. </b>That this stuff isn't limited, it means you'll always find new and better ways to put your words down every single day.<b> It means you are a writer, you're a writer when you write, you're a writer even when you don't write, you're a writer in your sleep when you dream because you see possibilities even from your pillow and even from the subconscious of your mind you're writing stories. </b>You are being who you are just by aching over the fact that you're missing who you are when you don't write. You are a writer because you want to write. You are a writer despite life being a little too much in the way.<br />
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I hope this helps. Thanks for dropping my neck of the woods and having coffee and healing my soul with skipping the majority of the small talk and diving right into deep questions, conversations, and heart-to-hearts. Thanks for all the hugs.<br />
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Love,<br />
meK.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-64227945105631046862016-07-27T00:00:00.000-06:002016-07-27T00:00:08.359-06:00Introverts 101: Beginners Guide to Being an Introvert <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Chances are you may have just discovered personality types. ENTJs and ISFPs and all that fun stuff. <b>And you may have just discovered you're an Introvert. </b>I didn't really discover I was an Introvert until I was 22. If I had known sooner I know my teenage years would have been a lot less painful. Knowing your own personality holds so much power and is so incredibly freeing.<br />
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So, you're thinking you're an Introvert? Well, you came to the right place.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Introverts 101</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">1. Decide which kind of introvert you are</span><br />
Tests <b><u><a href="https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test">here</a></u></b> and <b><u><a href="http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp">here</a></u></b>. I'd take the test twice and find the two main types you resemble. <b>I don't believe people can be categorized. You are completely unique, there is no one in the world exactly like you, </b>and no test can tell you precisely who you are or what you need to be like.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">2. Study your introvert type</span><br />
When studying Introversion and discovering things that resonated with me I found it helped me build confidence in who I was. The more I found out the less afraid of being who I was I became. It's ok to have your own personality.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Books</b></span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking-ebook/dp/B004J4WNL2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469222161&sr=1-1&keywords=quiet+susan+cain#navbar">Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, Susan Cain</a></u></div>
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<span style="color: #0000ee; text-decoration: underline;">The Highly Sensitive Person, Dr. Elain Aron</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7egT5W3-mzXqt9onXX8IqXATAqPzkB5Hef8RYcqOd7ltaQHvG7FussyXQZoFm4fD9BevfREg16gUlTInzVzv6GFI0es-KGs3ftaFMHe5dE-C3Xea2NJ-0GZoK4qHtDn-Zub5-lXCukQZ/s1600/Daring+Greatly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc7egT5W3-mzXqt9onXX8IqXATAqPzkB5Hef8RYcqOd7ltaQHvG7FussyXQZoFm4fD9BevfREg16gUlTInzVzv6GFI0es-KGs3ftaFMHe5dE-C3Xea2NJ-0GZoK4qHtDn-Zub5-lXCukQZ/s320/Daring+Greatly.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Greatly-Courage-Vulnerable-Transforms-ebook/dp/B007P7HRS4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469222229&sr=1-1&keywords=daring+greatly+brene+brown#navbar">Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable </a></u></div>
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<u><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Daring-Greatly-Courage-Vulnerable-Transforms-ebook/dp/B007P7HRS4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469222229&sr=1-1&keywords=daring+greatly+brene+brown#navbar">Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent and Lead, Brene Brown</a></u></div>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Websites</span></b></div>
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<u><a href="http://introvertdear.com/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Introvert, Dear.com</span></a></u></div>
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<u><a href="http://humanmetrics.com/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Humanmetrics.com</span></a></u></div>
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<u><a href="http://personalitygrowth.com/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">PersonalityGrowth.com</span></a></u></div>
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<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://quietrev.com/">QuietRev.com</a></span></u><br />
<u><a href="http://16personalities.com/"><span style="font-size: x-large;">16Personalities.com</span></a></u></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">3. Take the HSP Test</span><br />
If you were particularly shy as a child or easily overwhelmed in new or boisterous situations, you might be a Highly Sensitive Person. <u><a href="http://hsperson.com/test/highly-sensitive-test/">Take a test here.</a></u><br />
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Just learning a tiny bit more about this helped me on a huge level. Simply coming to an understanding of what's going on in your head and why you feel the way you feel in certain situations is incredibly freeing.<br />
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The HSP was seen as unusually shy or sensitive. Change really shakes up their lives. And when someone else is uncomfortable in a physical environment they tend to know what needs to be done to make it comfortable. Sound like you?<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">4. Take Action - But First Reconcile</span><br />
Don't just read about who you are. Once I found out who I was, that there was a reason I was the way I was, it changed me. I was still afraid a lot of the time, but I got tired of being afraid. I don't claim to be perfect, but it should change you, too. If you aren't building confidence, if you aren't pushing yourself to be better in situations that scare you, if you aren't plunging forward and trying to be a little more social at gatherings, then what was this all for?<br />
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But . . . <b>BUT</b> . . . you'll need some time. Trust me.<b> You won't become unafraid right away. I don't want you to make this Introvert thing your crutch. </b>I don't want to hear any of this: "Oh, I'm an Introvert I have privileges so I don't have to be nice and polite and social to that person if I don't want to." Don't hide behind your personality. You will never grow and become better if you're using it as an excuse.<br />
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Learn who you are and take the time to reconcile yourself to the fact. This does not mean you have leave to be rude or avoid people or do new things or be afraid because you're an <i>Introvert</i>.<br />
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Learn that you don't have to be afraid.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">5. Help Other Introverts</span><br />
Yeah, it involves a bit of talking. The biggest thing I had to recognize was that not even Introverts were created that same. Being an INFP I love freedom from conformity and being spontaneous, so I find INTJs/ISTJs just a little too on the methodical, plan-for-everything, organized side. But they are so entirely reliable and consistent I cannot complain too much.<br />
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So, that being said, one of the best ways you can help another Introvert is to find a way to connect with them. You can't always recognize an Introvert at first. Introverts can seem very Extroverted and lots of Extroverts may be shy and quiet around new people and places.<br />
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<li><b><span style="color: #45818e;">If someone in your office or school is struggling with the environment perhaps get to know them and share what you've learned about Introverts and Extroverts. It might help them, too. Like this. "Some people drive me crazy." "I'm an Introvert, so I totally understand where you're coming from. Have you heard of the Myers Briggs personality typing?" etc. etc.</span></b></li>
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<li><b><span style="color: #45818e;">Share the materials that have helped you, i.e. books, articles, websites</span></b></li>
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<li><b><span style="color: #45818e;">Have deep and meaningful conversations with them, Introverts thrive on deep conversations, and something other than the normal complaint or "Hi, how are you?" could make an Introverts day just a little less painful.</span></b></li>
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I don't consider myself an expert in the least on the subject of Introverts and Extroverts, but I do love reading and thinking about it. These are just some tips I've come across in my own life and I hope they are helpful to you.<br />
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Introversion and Extroversion can be viciously stereotyped. Beware. The partying Extrovert and the reclusive Introvert. American culture is steeped in the idea that to be successful you have to have a loud, aggressive personality. And sometimes Extroverts are put off by Introverts because Introverts can be hyped into some wise, intelligent Yoda type people who are better than Extroverts. <b>But I'm here to tell you, both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Neither one is better than the other.</b> I didn't even have to study personality types very much to see that Introverts NEED Extroverts just as much as Extroverts NEED Introverts. More on that later.</div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Let's chat! What's your personality type? Introvert or Extrovert?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> Favorite and least favorite thing about it?</span></div>
K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-87355086994304932682016-06-15T00:00:00.001-06:002016-06-15T00:00:07.004-06:00How Long Should My Novel Be?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This, I thought, was a strange question, and while I was learning to write I never encountered it or even thought about it. At least, I can't remember thinking about it.<br />
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<b>I always thought a story was as long or as short as it needed to be.</b> I never thought about limitations when it came to story telling, as long as you wrote what was necessary to tell the story, beginning to end.<br />
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But there are technicalities to take into consideration when considering word counts, I have found. I don't worry about them much. But if you're writing in a certain genre I guess you need to know the average word counts just to get an idea. I guess publishers and such want the book to be within a certain range in a certain genre.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Short story:</span></b> up to 7,500<br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Novelette:</span></b> up to 17,500<br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Novella:</span></b> 20,000 to 40,000<br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Novel:</span></b> 40,000 to 100,000 or more<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>YA:</b> </span>usually somewhere between 20,000 and 70,000<br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Adult:</span> </b>50,000 to 100,000<br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Childrens:</span></b> 10,000 to 12,000<br />
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But here's how I look at it.<br />
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<b>Don't waste words.</b><br />
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Don't waste pages and pages of meaningless garble.<br />
Instead, say what you need to say in as few words as possible.<br />
Get right down to the meaningful stuff and finish it.<br />
Don't wait around for that big scene.<br />
The lesson I've learned is that there is always a bigger scene, always a more touching moment, there is always something better to be thought of.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Let's chat! What genre do you write in? Are you going for a specific word count, and what is it?</span>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-63524584666258902572016-06-08T00:00:00.000-06:002016-06-10T11:28:35.322-06:00Epic Post Round-Up: Crafting Villains | 32 Articles on How to Write a Villain<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAcQAixTbIId6G79HZSUE2xpk5xA1teS-5IeG4K69IddDASTj5bRN9VFQ_I8jS7D1ZqVglzBlHBCxjcXhKOaCJbNhiywFWqrqsFhs5hhTzROn1C-pS2tH3w8GBPKLRjDv-f6xQKPuZSyl/s1600/Epic+Post+Round-Up-32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicAcQAixTbIId6G79HZSUE2xpk5xA1teS-5IeG4K69IddDASTj5bRN9VFQ_I8jS7D1ZqVglzBlHBCxjcXhKOaCJbNhiywFWqrqsFhs5hhTzROn1C-pS2tH3w8GBPKLRjDv-f6xQKPuZSyl/s640/Epic+Post+Round-Up-32.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">How Do You Craft a Villain?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It's simple: the same way you craft the hero.</span></span></div>
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The difference is that somewhere along the way the villain's morals become skewed. The villain could want the same thing as the hero, the villain could even want something GOOD. He could even be stronger than the protagonist's. His goal even better. So what makes a villain different from the hero? Most specifically, his actions. The way he goes about achieving his goals. I'm looking at you, Ra's Al Ghoul.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">My favorite villains:</span></b><br />
Elias, Jonathan Nolan's <i>Person of Interest</i><br />
President Snow, <i>The Hunger Games</i><br />
The Commandant, <i>An Ember in the Ashes</i><br />
Colin, <i>The Memory Lights</i><br />
Von Linden, <i>Code Name Verity</i><br />
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I love these villains because their sheer cleverness, intelligence, and their goals scare the life out of me. The pure evil villain holds no fear for me any more. If I could add one more to that list it would be the Apache Indians from Louis L'Amour books. Apaches were not only vicious and evil, but they were smart, clever antagonists. Nothing is more scary to me than a clever villain. But not a wacky clever villain, but an intelligent clever villain. A villain who doesn't do all the normal, cliche, tacky villain stuff. Tip of the day, friends.<br />
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And with that we lead into our first villain category. This list is by no means complete. I will keep on adding to it over time. Meanwhile, I hope you find the articles here helpful and don't forget to leave a comment on each author's post!<br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">How NOT to Write Your Villain</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhneF6_h6obia_4oePsPmVB6IZWRk-nwZL4Ps4jLkfmUAbN3x6iXUwm6VIKGOKAK52AV2wmPj1ScLqGBcMhLpssBz_ufxBd2kEmi19QwPFRpZDVgepQTqDtAuYOJ_C60Vg4MhGtRwp3RU0q/s1600/villain3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhneF6_h6obia_4oePsPmVB6IZWRk-nwZL4Ps4jLkfmUAbN3x6iXUwm6VIKGOKAK52AV2wmPj1ScLqGBcMhLpssBz_ufxBd2kEmi19QwPFRpZDVgepQTqDtAuYOJ_C60Vg4MhGtRwp3RU0q/s400/villain3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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1. <u><a href="http://inkandquills.com/2015/10/23/10-signs-your-villain-is-cheesy/">10 Signs Your Villain Might Be Cheesy - InkandQuills.co</a>m</u><br />
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2. <u><a href="http://thestorymonger.com/writing/christian-stories-lousy-villains/">Why Christian Stories Have Lousy Villains - TheStorymonger.com</a></u><br />
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3.<u><a href="http://www.betternovelproject.com/blog/novel-villain/"> 8 Warning Signs That Your Villain Isn't Believable - BetterNovelProject.com</a></u><br />
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4. <u><a href="http://writerandproud.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-difference-between-villain-and.html">The Difference Between Villains and Antagonists - WriterProud.blogspot.com</a></u><br />
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5.<u><a href="http://mythcreants.com/blog/five-disappointing-villains/"> Five Disappointing Villains - Mythcreants.com</a></u><br />
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6. <u><a href="http://www.writing-world.com/romance/villains.shtml">How Not to Create a Villain - WritingWorld.com</a></u><br />
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7. <u><a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Creating-a-Weak-Villain">How to Avoid Creating a Weak Villain - WikiHow.com</a></u><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Crafting Dynamic Villains</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrW5_Db0HqYTpDharzZw4aXhF-TVd-gf6rZfg6DY9UbZMYfSwr1fKJuluxd66iURqTVn8K22BgyILOJxYI7xQkvV7o_QUjH-ro68KDr-TKeUtzxeprtW_XEutODhdaw0SljPPZ8zNH-9-C/s1600/2a11bb36484913f87bcc3c81cdea5dbd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrW5_Db0HqYTpDharzZw4aXhF-TVd-gf6rZfg6DY9UbZMYfSwr1fKJuluxd66iURqTVn8K22BgyILOJxYI7xQkvV7o_QUjH-ro68KDr-TKeUtzxeprtW_XEutODhdaw0SljPPZ8zNH-9-C/s1600/2a11bb36484913f87bcc3c81cdea5dbd.jpg" /></a></div>
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1. <u><a href="http://www.shesnovel.com/blog/how-to-create-a-powerful-antagonist-the-epic-villain-breakdown?rq=villains">How to Create a Powerful Antagonist - ShesNovel.com</a></u><br />
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2. <u><a href="http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2011/08/how-to-build-villain-by-jim-butcher.html">Villains Are More Important To Build Well Than Heroes - KarenWoodward.org</a></u><br />
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3.<u> <a href="http://thewritepractice.com/how-to-create-better-villains/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+TheWritePractice+(The+Write+Practice)">9 Evil Examples of the Villain Archetype - TheWritePractice.com</a></u><br />
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4. <a href="http://goteenwriters.blogspot.com/2014/12/writing-great-villains.html" style="text-decoration: underline;">Writing Great Villains - GoTeenWriters.com</a><br />
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5. <a href="http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/10-ways-makes-readers-loathe-antagonist/" style="text-decoration: underline;">10 Ways to Make Readers Loathe Your Antagonist - HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a><br />
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6. <a href="http://hannahheath-writer.blogspot.com/2016/05/6-tips-for-writing-imposing-and-complex.html" style="text-decoration: underline;">6 Tips for Writing an Imposing and Complex Villain - HannahHeath-Writer.blogspot.com</a><br />
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7. <u><a href="http://briannadasilva.com/2015/12/10-traits-of-an-epic-villain/">10 Traits of An Epic Villain - Storyport.com</a></u><br />
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8. <u><a href="https://killzoneblog.com/2008/08/best-of-worst-villainy-week-continues.html">The Best of the Worst: Favorite Villains - TheKillZone.com</a></u><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Villain Backstory</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9fUx_mp9aBqYxDZbmX_Jv-RKLincrn5ixui1z-UaI9p05YMnrwHgM2tsrj2lExDV-GDF3hm0imSpL7CfO8qWIOkCYdLkl9O5dF8DxBhJjV7E29aTsJkQBpnRq9wdXUhN6w2Lorezsjwo/s1600/villain2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih9fUx_mp9aBqYxDZbmX_Jv-RKLincrn5ixui1z-UaI9p05YMnrwHgM2tsrj2lExDV-GDF3hm0imSpL7CfO8qWIOkCYdLkl9O5dF8DxBhJjV7E29aTsJkQBpnRq9wdXUhN6w2Lorezsjwo/s1600/villain2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">1. </span><u><a href="https://killzoneblog.com/2014/10/sympathy-for-devil-writing.html"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"</span>Choices, Not Just Backstory" - KillZoneBlog.com</a></u><br />
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2. <a href="http://alyssahollingsworth.com/2016/01/09/50-questions-for-your-antagonist/" style="text-decoration: underline;">50 Questions to Ask your Antagonist - AlyssaHollingsworth.com </a><br />
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3. <a href="http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/moral-villain-giveaway/" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Moral Villain - HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a><br />
<u><a href="http://mythcreants.com/blog/how-to-make-your-dastardly-villain-more-memorable/"><br /></a></u>
4. <a href="http://mythcreants.com/blog/how-to-make-your-dastardly-villain-more-memorable/" style="text-decoration: underline;">How to Make Your Dastardly Villain Memorable - Mythcreants.com</a><br />
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5. <u><a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/6-ways-to-write-better-bad-guys">6 Ways to Write Better Bad Guys - WritersDigest.com</a></u><br />
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6. <u><a href="http://thewritepractice.com/hate-antagonist/">How to Write an Antagonist You Hate - TheWritePractice.com</a></u><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Villain & Protagonist Relationship</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKDFZIUw72AratIJbA_40z-ygJ-EaSjsFu95MAJ5WKj1uBlM4q_3kcF0Vo_LpSQyaAKQ19kNm7x9Xzp3v-0p8qdMGc1G4lMJh6Kj3uwfHEsq0sc-HMlk0Bz636Cu_cuYBTOS6BbKDr5Yko/s1600/22306b3259b6ce0dacf2657f852f40df.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKDFZIUw72AratIJbA_40z-ygJ-EaSjsFu95MAJ5WKj1uBlM4q_3kcF0Vo_LpSQyaAKQ19kNm7x9Xzp3v-0p8qdMGc1G4lMJh6Kj3uwfHEsq0sc-HMlk0Bz636Cu_cuYBTOS6BbKDr5Yko/s320/22306b3259b6ce0dacf2657f852f40df.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. </span><u><a href="http://writershelpingwriters.net/2015/11/the-subtle-knife-writing-characters-readers-trust-but-shouldnt/?utm_content=buffer34cfa&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer">Writing Characters Readers Trust But Shouldn't - WritersHelpingWriters.net</a></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. <a href="https://writingishometome.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/how-the-villain-should-affect-you-hero/" style="text-decoration: underline;">How the Villain Should Affect Your Hero - WritingIsHomeToMe.wordpress.com</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><u><a href="http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/antagonist-affects-character-arc/"><br /></a></u></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">3.<u> <a href="http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/antagonist-affects-character-arc/">How the Villain Affects Character Arcs - HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">4. <a href="http://www.betternovelproject.com/blog/remarkable-villain/" style="text-decoration: underline;">How to Create a Remarkable Villain (Beyond the Cliches) - BetterNovelProject.com</a></span><br />
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5. <u><a href="https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-write-multiple-antagonists-what-i-learned-writing-storming/">How to Write Multiple Antagonists - HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a></u><br />
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6. <u><a href="https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/posts-12/">Why Your Protagonist and Antagonist Should Be Stuck Like Glue - HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a></u><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Empathetic Villain</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircskwyop_s92TImU5YO8XpoSdsl7yegTwe4Mds_wN0DINTnJOtaAJUSlYQ4FDnXYDZZOYJPpPQGTIEZ6LMxzm7APqWwFXaFJglldUZsezROHUUyxQjjgjdJKDA5BERaZwXkQen5A0VaXM/s1600/1e1d278d4e704faedf9a553c940aadce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEircskwyop_s92TImU5YO8XpoSdsl7yegTwe4Mds_wN0DINTnJOtaAJUSlYQ4FDnXYDZZOYJPpPQGTIEZ6LMxzm7APqWwFXaFJglldUZsezROHUUyxQjjgjdJKDA5BERaZwXkQen5A0VaXM/s320/1e1d278d4e704faedf9a553c940aadce.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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1. <a href="http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/antagonist-needs-mushy-moment/" style="text-decoration: underline;">Why Your Antagonist Needs a Mushy Moment - HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a><br />
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2. <a href="http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/why-your-characters-should-be-gray/" style="text-decoration: underline;">Why Your Characters Should Be Gray - HelpingWritersBecomeAuthors.com</a><br />
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3. <a href="http://mythcreants.com/blog/six-ways-to-make-your-villain-likable/" style="text-decoration: underline;">6 Ways to Make Your Villain Likeable - Mythcreants.com</a><br />
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4. <u><a href="http://thestorymonger.com/writing/villain-must-fear-something/">Is Your Villain Afraid? - TheStorymonger.com</a></u><br />
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5. <u><a href="https://killzoneblog.com/2015/06/blurring-the-lines-between-heroes-and-villains.html">Blurring the Lines Between Heroes and Villains - TheKillZone.com</a></u><br />
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K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-87397593248140058132016-06-01T00:00:00.000-06:002016-06-01T00:00:19.323-06:00Writing | For Introverts & The Highly Sensitive Person<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8JA4Ko5i7c5lbSfYw2uJ3ADPLcDwMkXfIYDs12knDUa_sx9lAi2LGHICDeykrvV5ME1ZnCbyxiNG8KbzNQs-CqTt5mYIsavDa5gclwKSOGrUlGRtTWPIxNiLIQVY4z1YGJnqd2ZXv7AX/s1600/writing1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii8JA4Ko5i7c5lbSfYw2uJ3ADPLcDwMkXfIYDs12knDUa_sx9lAi2LGHICDeykrvV5ME1ZnCbyxiNG8KbzNQs-CqTt5mYIsavDa5gclwKSOGrUlGRtTWPIxNiLIQVY4z1YGJnqd2ZXv7AX/s640/writing1.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So if you were anything like me as a child you were VERY shy.</span> Too shy to even order your own burger or check out at Wal-Mart. Too shy to speak up or offer your opinion to anyone. Sometimes I thought I didn't even have an opinion about . . . anything. And if you were like me, that really hurt because you were and still are, highly sensitive. It made me feel very . . . useless not to have an opinion about things. I had many tearful, discouraging moments growing up because I knew there must be something wrong with me because I wasn't like everybody else.</div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">What Is A Highly Sensitive Person?</span></div>
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I've only known, really known, that I was an Introvert, and what being an Introvert meant, and that it was ok to be an Introvert despite our loud culture, for three years. Yeah. Three years. And I've known for only about a month that I am what is called a Highly Sensitive Person.<br />
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I began planning for this post way before I knew there was such a thing as an HSP, but when I found out, I realized it applied to an HSP and not just an Introvert.<br />
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<i>To read more about the HSP and take the Test:</i><u style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://introvertdear.com/2015/09/23/signs-youre-a-highly-sensitive-person/"> 12 Signs You're a Highly Sensitive Person </a>- Introvert, Dear.com.</u> Or read the book <i>The Highly Sensitive Person</i>, Dr. Elaine Aron.<br />
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Being an HSP is not an excuse to get attention, it's not to be used as a crutch to get sympathy, an excuse to hate the world and cry in your corner and feel sorry for yourself. It's to be used to better help you understand yourself and what your brain does in certain situations, and with that understanding to help you cope, to become a stronger person, to know that it will be ok. If you do discover you are an HSP let it empower and enlighten you. Don't you use it as an excuse.<br />
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I found writing because I believe I was unconsciously searching for some way to be useful, but also for some way to understand who I was. For some way to cope with being me, some way to figure out what the heck an opinion even was. I wanted to have something worth saying out loud. To feel like I knew something, like I had something to contribute in my noisy world. I wanted to be normal.<br />
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So . . . I started writing. EVERYTHING.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">3 Ways For Introverted/Sensitive People to Start Writing</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Journaling - For the Total Writing Beginner</span></div>
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I found my first diary at Dollar General. Thus began my long and happy love affair with notebooks, journals, and pens. The Stationary and Office aisles at Wal-Mart still give me immense pleasure whenever I visit.<br />
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This is where I believe writing and the putting together of words really began for me. I tried to write every day. Because I wanted to write SO BADLY, I tried really hard. <b><span style="color: #45818e;">Most of the time I didn't know what to write, so I wrote about what I did that day. Lots about how I felt. Who I was mad at, what I loved to do.</span></b> This gave me a basic understanding of how words are put together to form something, to tell somebody something. Very important if you intend to do any writing whatsoever.</div>
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My second and third journals I named and wrote in as if I were writing to a specific someone. Rosamond Smith and Loveday were some of my journal people. I loved them dearly. They heard just about everything going on in my daydream life.<br />
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But if you're already a journaler, by all means, skip ahead! If you are just discovering writing as a way to voice thoughts, then journaling will help you find your writing voice, that is, how you write, and your particular way you put words together.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Action Step:</span> <b>Pick a notebook. Something you would LOVE to get your hands on and start writing in. And DO write in it. Start journaling. Write anything. You can start out with daily accounts until your imagination starts to soar and then let whatever comes to mind out through your pencil on the pages.</b></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Passionate Free Writing - For the Journalist</span><br />
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Free writing can be a lot like journaling. But with Passionate Free Writing, it's a little more focused. <b><span style="color: #45818e;">Choose a topic you are passionate about and write only about that. Social Issues. Writing Issues. Problems you have with a certain movie, book, article. </span></b>What you argued with your mother about, and why you were right, or she was right. Write however is most comfortable for you. Write in your voice.Write and write. No stopping. No editing. Write whatever comes to mind. <b><span style="color: #45818e;">This is an amazing exercise, and it will help you discover what you really have to say about something.</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>“You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Action Step: </span><b>Write for twenty minutes without stopping to correct yourself, fix mistakes, or reread. It's OK if it sounds ranty, because when you go back to edit you will easily find ideas and thoughts you can turn into real arguments.</b><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Stories - For the Creatives</span><br />
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Even after filling up a journal with daily entries I still didn't realize I did have something to say. It wasn't until I was writing stories and learning about theme and characters that I realized this was how I really wanted to get my thoughts across to people: by being creative, by offering opinions and thoughts to others in sweeping, romantic prose and dialogue. L.M. Montgomery did this so well, of which I will always be envious.<br />
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I will be honest, writing stories is amazing. But writing good stories is hard work.<span style="color: #45818e;"><b> My first suggestion to you, if you want to begin writing stories, is to write for yourself.</b> </span>I wrote for myself for years. I didn't show hardly any of my work to anyone and, after a few botched stories, I didn't even tell anybody I was writing anything.<br />
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Perhaps you know what you want to write and how you want to write it. That's good, you've got a huge head start. But I didn't know either of those things. If you don't, <b><span style="color: #45818e;">I suggest you write what you want and how you want to write it.</span></b> I wrote everything. Westerns. Romances. Fantasies. Historical fiction. All those years writing for myself helped me decide what I wanted to write, because I had absolutely no clue. I just wanted to write, to feel things, to be me.<br />
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But perhaps you don't have years. That's ok. Ask yourself these questions:<br />
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<b><i>What genre do you most like to read? </i></b><br />
<b><i>Historical Fiction, YA, Romance, Fantasy.</i></b><br />
<b><i>What is your favorite book in each genre?</i></b><br />
<b><i>Who is your favorite author? </i></b><br />
<b><i>The one who's writing you most connect with and understand.</i></b><br />
Now ask yourself:<br />
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<b><i>What book you would like to read and what story do you want to tell?</i></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” </span></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">― </span><a class="authorOrTitle" href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3534.Toni_Morrison" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; text-decoration: none;">Toni Morrison</a></span></b></blockquote>
If you just want to try your hand at writing stories, I think the best way to start is to not put yourself under the pressure of a category, a genre, or a writing style. The best way to figure out how to tell stories in your unique voice is write them the way you want to write them, to say things the way you would say them, to put into your own words what you see in the story world.</div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">3 Reasons Introverted/Sensitive People Should Start Writing</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. Builds Confidence</span><br />
Not to mention the brain dumps which are highly conducive to figuring out what the heck is going on inside. I'll have to say, writing is a retreat, a place to hide, to get away to, a paradise for me more than a confidence builder. That is not to say that it doesn't boost my confidence. It does, and it makes me feel so much better. But it is my paradise more. But writing can also be frustrating and a confidence deflater. But the fact that you keep coming back to writing again and again and again must tell you something. That your ardently love it, and that having written you have grown in some way. Namely, confidence. Having something you like to do and want to do, something you feel you're good at can boost and build confidence the more you do it.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. Helps You Find Your Purpose & Your Cause</span><br />
I guess I always dreamed about writing so people could read my stories, so I could become famous. But I always wanted to create emotion, to give something special to someone, to empathize with people. I wanted to help. I didn't always know how, but the desire was there. I wanted to help myself, but I wanted to help other people, too. And that's what your writing needs to do.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. Gives You a Way to Serve</span><br />
Sure, you can write simply for yourself, I highly recommend this. But if you want to share your writing with the world it needs to have a purpose other than being written for your fame and fortune alone. You need to Serve some particular need with your writing. Your writing needs to fill some gap in people's lives.</div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">3 Reasons Why Introverted/Sensitive People Are Better Writers</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1.They Listen More</span><br />
Because they are Introverted they tend to stand back and away from the action. Introverts are more quiet, not to mean shy or less engaging, but simply that they are more likely to listen than to put their two-cents in.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2.They Observe More</span><br />
Because they listen, they are also more likely to make observations others might miss. This doesn't mean Extroverts aren't observant, just that Introverts are more likely to be.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3.They Are Internal</span></div>
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If you're going to be a writer you're going to spend A LOT of time alone. This doesn't mean that because you're an Extrovert you can't be creative or attentive. But because Extroverts get their energy from being around other people it's going to be hard for them to be any kind of serious writer. Serious writing requires a lot of serious alone time. This doesn't mean it can't be done, it's entirely possible. You are just being warned.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Raise your hand if you're an HSP or an Introvert and leave comment below. How has writing helped you cope with all the troubles that come with your personality type?</span></div>
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K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-87877885053217992272016-05-25T00:00:00.000-06:002016-05-25T00:00:09.323-06:00HOW TO CREATE AN INSTANTLY LIKABLE CHARACTER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);">Sometimes you are not meant to like the protagonist right away, and there are many varying ways to produce a likable character. But most of the time it is a very good idea to make your main character admired, or at least respected, by the readers in the first 10-15% of the book.</span></div>
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There is an excellent example in<i> Jamaica Inn</i>, Daphne Du Maurier, that I personally appreciated on a huge level, and made the entire book more enjoyable because I knew almost immediately that Mary Yellen was someone I could root for and admire no matter what happened.</div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>CREATE A SINGLE, PHOTOGRAPHABLE MOMENT</b></span></div>
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After the death of her mother, Mary goes to stay with Aunt Patience and her husband, the land lord of the notorious Jamaica Inn. But upon arrival she is revolted by her uncle, the horrid inn and the altered character of the happy, silly aunt she remembered.</div>
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<b>Mary is resolved to leave that very night. But the moment she steps out of her room she hears the wretched, tormented sobbing of her miserable aunt.</b></div>
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<b>Mary does not hesitate. She realizes how terrible her aunt’s life has been and she immediately changes her mind. She resolves to stay and bear the torture of Jamaica Inn if only to rescue her aunt.</b></div>
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Daphne Du Maurier’s lyrical and expressive prose describes this moment beautifully and poignantly without stating the obvious or telling. Every moment is shown and you are completely drawn into the horrible world, experiencing first hand Mary Yellen's emotions.</div>
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One precise moment in the arc of your character can make or break the readers' relationship with the main character.</div>
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<b>A respected character not only makes the story more enjoyable, it strengthens the bond between character and reader and makes it all the more memorable.</b></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>SO. . . HOW DO YOU DO THIS?</b></span></div>
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This part also serves as Mary’s “point of no return”, the moment when there is no turning back, and the heroine takes on the plot in full force.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Step 1: </span></b>Create a moment in your story where your protagonist must make a defining decision, ideally between two negative alternatives.</div>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Step 2:</span></b> Make this decision an important deciding factor in whether or not the protagonist will go on. That moment should instantly define them and set them on a course about which the entire story is about.</div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>What is your protagonist's moment of no return? Will readers' love 'em, hate 'em or admire them from afar?</b></span></div>
K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-7031491261938853592016-05-04T00:00:00.001-06:002019-02-08T14:28:20.969-07:00The Truth About Creativity & Inspiration - The Things We Don't Say<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The truth about creativity?<br />
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The truth is that she's everywhere, and nowhere at all.<br />
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<b>You can't count on creativity. </b>She comes sometimes and saves you, but the next time you need her she's nowhere in sight.<br />
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You've got to stay wide open for her.<br />
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She is unpredictable, and she's a pain in the ever-loving.<br />
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She's the most fabulously beautiful thing you could ever encounter and you fall at her feet in sheer amazement every time you turn a corner.<br />
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You've got to study everything you see. The movies you watch, the books you read, the conversations you eavesdrop, the days you're just sitting there, listless, daydreaming. They are your clues, the footprints you follow to the lair of creativity.<br />
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<b>Creativity was your first true love. </b>The true love you find looking up at you from boxes of your old writings, in the photographs you had printed to hang on your wall, your magnum opus . . . once upon a time.<br />
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She's the lover that loves you with the most ferocious and giving love--but one day you find you're miles and miles apart and how did you ever get this way?<br />
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<b>The truth is that creativity is just a memory. </b>She's a ghost you once lived with and watched die and come back to you time and time again.<br />
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There are books and blog posts, poems and stories written about her, endless charms and tricks to harness and contain her, to make her yours, to never lose her.<br />
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You can write all you want about how to be creative, you can plan your schedules, your routines to make believe you can capture her, and <i>bonne chance </i>with that, but<b> no one thing in this world has ever caught the full and complete quintessence of her.</b><br />
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You can spend your life wooing and coaxing her heart from hiding. You can spend a lifetime watching for her to come home to you, only to have her whisper in your ear all the words you meant to say and then vanish into the secrets of the nameless, wordless place we fool ourselves into thinking we can retreat to in search of her. But she goes a path we cannot follow. We lose it constantly, and we sing in the moments when we find it.<br />
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But the truth about Creativity is that she belongs to no one.<b> She cannot be owned like the cat on your window sill.</b> She is the wind and she is the blue in the sky, she cannot be captured, nor bottled for use as desired.<br />
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She is a ship on the ocean and where she'll anchor you cannot tell.<br />
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<b>She is the one and only truly free being in the universe.</b><br />
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And after all that, after knowing all this and signing your life away to her, after shoveling through snowdrifts to reach her(because once you do you know you can truly breathe), after all the times she's left you hanging, after all the times she was never there for you when you needed her, after all the promises she made but never kept, after all that . . .<br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>She still expects you to wait up for her. </b>To leave the light on. Still, she expects you to stay wide open--for her.<br />
<br />
After all the tears she's caused, after all the heart break, after all the crumpled pieces of paper and scratched out words, <b>she still expects you to look for her in unexpected places,</b> to follow every trace of her in the forgotten magnum opuses and half-finished dreams and unwritten words of everything you ever encounter. <b>She still expects you to love her.</b><br />
<br />
<b>And you know what?</b><br />
<b>You still do. After all that.</b><br />
She's still your first true love. Even after you've gone and found some steady anchor in your life, you're, after all, still in love with her.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>The truth is you're gonna sit down and you're gonna toil maddeningly at your schedules and routines, you're going to write your stories with or without her.</b><br />
<br />
Yeah, sure, you'll hope she will show up.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>But the only sure and best way to live a fully Creative life is to never wait for her. It's to plunge ahead, to flirt with the edge of good and bad writing, to do away with the edge altogether, to pluck the strings no matter what horrible sound resounds. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>'</b><b>Cause only in the muck and mire of the most awful thing you've ever written is where you'll really and truly capture that elusive, selfish creature, Creativity. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>If only for a moment. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>And we all know a moment is better than a nothing. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>A word written is far better than a word not written.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><i><b> </b> Love, Kayla</i>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-54063187796666578152016-04-27T00:00:00.000-06:002016-04-27T00:00:04.676-06:00Creating A Realistic Rebel Resistance Group | Focusing Your Resistance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><br /></i>
<i>Check out these other posts in the <b>Creating a Realistic Rebel Resistance</b> series!</i><br />
<u><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-in.html"><i>Part 1 Authority & Leadership</i></a></u><br />
<u><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for.html"><i>Part 2 Networks & Cells</i></a></u><br />
<u><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for_24.html"><i>Part 3 Meaningful Defiance</i></a></u><br />
<i><u><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/04/how-to-create-perfect-tyrannical.html">Part 4 How to Create the Perfect Tyrannical Government for Your Resistance</a></u></i><br />
<span style="color: #45818e;">____________________________________________________________</span><br />
<br />
Overwhelmed yet? Are you wondering how to include everything about your fantastic Resistance Group into your story? How are you supposed to make this story shine without confusing your readers with too many characters, perspectives, and settings?<br />
<br />
Well, that's what we're going to look at today.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I would suggest that not every single last detail about your Resistance Group needs to be in your story.</span> There will simply be too much, and a lot of it will be backstory that can be shared through exposition. You, the author, needs to know every last facet of your resistance, but your readers do not.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>What Should You Include About Your Resistance?</b></span></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. Cut to the Chase</span><br />
What will readers absolutely have to know about your resistance for all its ins and outs to make sense? Cut any unnecessary details to avoid confusing readers with too many main characters, names and places.<br />
<br />
For instance, do they have to know the name of every obscure agent/messenger who spies on a certain sector of the enemy? Only you know your resistance, so it will be up to you to decide what to cut and what to keep.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. Choose Your Focus Point</span><br />
In our little infographic from <span style="color: #45818e;"><u><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for.html">Networks and Cells</a></u></span>, you can see how complicated a resistance group can be. If your Resistance Group covers any war, area, or country even close to the size of Europe during WWII, you'll need to select the best focus points and leave the rest. For instance, the focus point for the French Resistance and the SOE was Paris. But there were many different circuits working throughout the country in smaller villages and towns.<br />
<br />
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<br />
Choose one or two pertinent cells for your main characters to focus on. To decide this ask yourself, <span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Which one has the most to lose? Start there, and move on to main characters.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qcf9Ye0EqO0agq9ufuBbDwFfoEav97VwoomFyX-7JsSnp096rIBz1i7EjbwwldZIdpH8ps2Qp2xKsZhTpOe4hhcuVlIJNvfsvKRK1VFfbpyr155AQ1W0HHMMkOb7WPshyxAsUNwu-YsQ/s1600/Code_Name_Verity_-_Electric_Monkey_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2qcf9Ye0EqO0agq9ufuBbDwFfoEav97VwoomFyX-7JsSnp096rIBz1i7EjbwwldZIdpH8ps2Qp2xKsZhTpOe4hhcuVlIJNvfsvKRK1VFfbpyr155AQ1W0HHMMkOb7WPshyxAsUNwu-YsQ/s200/Code_Name_Verity_-_Electric_Monkey_cover.jpg" width="130" /></a><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. Choose Your Main Characters </span><br />
In <span style="color: #45818e;"><i><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Code-Name-Verity-Elizabeth-Wein/dp/1423152883/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1461185440&sr=8-1&keywords=code+name+verity">Code Name Verity</a>,</u></i> </span>Elizabeth Wein chose a field wireless operator and a female by-plane pilot. Together, these two points of view cover both sides of the story in Britain and France.<br />
<br />
Once you've chosen for the needs of your story really lay on the detail of each character and setting. Create a moving personal story for each one. Once you have a good view of your character and plot, your story can spread to any location.<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">4. Choose a Smaller Goal</span><br />
Obviously, the overall goal of a resistance would be to defeat the tyrannical government and regain their freedom. But this is not achievable all at once. The French Resistance had to plan and carry out series after series of smaller goals to achieve the ultimate goal of driving the Germans from France. Even that they did not achieve on their own, but they paved the way for the Allies to break through. Without the French Resistance the Normandy landings would have been much, much harder, if not impossible.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The French Resistance's smaller goals consisted of:</span><br />
<ul>
<li>Destroying German factories that manufactured weapons, ammunition, and wartime equipment</li>
<li>Spying on German battalion movements and reporting it</li>
<li>Blowing up railroads</li>
<li>Carrying much needed communication messages</li>
<li>Helping Allied men and women escape. Carrying passports that were not yours was extremely dangerous if you were caught. Providing them with shelter and food</li>
<li>Planning escapes</li>
<li>The list is endless</li>
</ul>
<div>
Choose a main function, such as in <i>Code Name Verity</i>, Maddie was a pilot and Queenie a wireless operator who transmitted messages back to the SOE. Her main goal was to make sure London knew everything the Germans were doing. Until she was captured . . . but that would be spoiling the story.<br />
<br />
After taking these 4 steps, it's all story here.<br />
<br />
Know your resistance, know their limits, know your characters and their goals, big and small, know the conflict, and you've got a good resistance shaping up.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">For now, this concludes our series on writing a Resistance Group. Questions are always welcome, if you have any. Feel free to leave them in the comments below!</span></div>
K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-35856642442654592422016-04-20T00:00:00.000-06:002016-04-20T11:15:12.678-06:00How to Create the Perfect Tyrannical Government for Your Resistance Group <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Antagonists are one of my favorite characters. Besides creating the protagonist and his motley crew, I love chasing the antagonist around and finding out who he is.<br />
<br />
Chances are the tyrannical government countering your resistance group is going to be a huge force. More than likely, your protagonist isn't going to be dealing with the head honcho. Your main source of conflict for your protagonist is going to come from characters like <i>Darth Vader</i> and <i>Kylo Ren</i>, the second in command, but the right-hand man.<br />
<br />
In that case, you need to<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> single out the best antagonist to conflict with your protagonist. </span>It will be much easier for your readers to connect with and hate a single person than a huge body of obscure people. Ask yourself these questions:<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Which antagonist will have the most potential conflict to throw in the way of your protagonist?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Which antagonist has the most to lose?</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Which antagonist has the most conflicting goal?</span><br />
<br />
The thing that made the Nazis and the Gestapo some of the scariest and most deadly foes during WWII? It wasn't just that they had overtaken France, Holland, and Belgium in a single blow each. Nor was it that they had the largest numbers, or an incredibly huge goal.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">An Admirably Intelligent Foe</span></b></b></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9nQAwdXc-d4Z7472GSWH2EfYP7ih73Np1DNpu1lfSaUwSHINbI8C5kUGpwXfaSKkQtjr3qarZe7A8R0-tY6vjEf_hxQsGKQIuaiI19XY60M01uhP7GxMufNlt9BzRCI2L1nW6T6YAo-7/s1600/Vera+Atkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9nQAwdXc-d4Z7472GSWH2EfYP7ih73Np1DNpu1lfSaUwSHINbI8C5kUGpwXfaSKkQtjr3qarZe7A8R0-tY6vjEf_hxQsGKQIuaiI19XY60M01uhP7GxMufNlt9BzRCI2L1nW6T6YAo-7/s200/Vera+Atkins.jpg" width="132" /></a>All the while the SOE thought they were playing a terrifically brilliant game with the Gestapo in France, the Germans were always one step ahead of them. They were playing the game right back with the SOE and they British didn't even know it.<br />
<br />
In her book<i><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Life-Secrets-Atkins-Missing-Agents/dp/1400031400/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460941455&sr=8-1&keywords=a+life+in+secrets"> A Life in Secrets,</a></u></i> Sarah Helm tells the story of an SOE circuit in Paris who's wireless operator had been captured by the Gestapo. Instead of simply throwing away this opportunity, they used it to get inside the SOE and find out what other circuits were operating in and around Paris. They pretended to be the operator and fooled the entire French Section of the SOE for quite a long time, with the help of a double agent they had planted in the SOE.<br />
<br />
That is how perfect your villain/tyrannical government must be.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">1. He is always one step ahead of your protagonist. </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">2. He knows everything before the protagonist does. </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">3. He's bigger, stronger, and wiser.</span><br />
<br />
And here's where the line should be drawn between your hero and your villain.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Antagonist's Actions vs. Protagonist's Actions</b></span></div>
<br />
Their goals could be one in the same, the antagonist's goal could even be an honorable one.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #45818e;">The way your protag and antag go about fulfilling their goals is what separates them.</span><b> </b></span>What they DO is what defines them.<br />
<br />
Your hero must be separate on the moral level. The Nazis were fighting for world domination, for control, for power. The Allies for freedom, for human rights. These are pretty black and white issues, but your protagonist's and antagonist's goals must fall under one category or the other. And the antagonist/tyrannical government must have the upper hand.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Humanize Your Villain</b></span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuTvbzoA9p3DY4rpcE_chyphenhyphenGv2KuKwQZqNbrx_Cea5UAF6J-cPZHH1b5gZ5O9iDhTxC7MixuHR-9r0BbRnAczSd2IYWie9Id9JVoP5uopJ2YoS1l3K2t-m1RgV6aL9xsPN1zAemN__V5QI/s1600/Code_Name_Verity_-_Electric_Monkey_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuTvbzoA9p3DY4rpcE_chyphenhyphenGv2KuKwQZqNbrx_Cea5UAF6J-cPZHH1b5gZ5O9iDhTxC7MixuHR-9r0BbRnAczSd2IYWie9Id9JVoP5uopJ2YoS1l3K2t-m1RgV6aL9xsPN1zAemN__V5QI/s200/Code_Name_Verity_-_Electric_Monkey_cover.jpg" width="130" /></a>In her book, <i><u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Code-Name-Verity-Elizabeth-Wein/dp/1423152883/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1460941601&sr=8-1&keywords=code+name+verity+by+elizabeth+wein">Code Name Verity</a></u></i>, Elizabeth Wein veers away from the common Nazi villain. Von Linden is not a cruel, evil, or even violence captor. Wein gives him several admirably human qualities.<br />
<br />
He loved Shakespeare and the classics, and discusses them frequently with the protagonist <i>(Has human interests in art and literature)</i><br />
He talks to the protagonist about his children and how much he loves them <i>(Possesses the same human desires and shows an ability to love deeply and truly)</i><br />
He is kind to the protagonist and treats her with respect <i>(Recognizes the protagonist as an equal)</i><br />
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">These are the scariest, most powerful villains with the most potential to control a hero. Why? Because he engages the hero's, and the readers', sympathies.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The 3 Most Important Traits in Your Antagonist</span></b></div>
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>1. His admirable intelligence</b></span><br />
<b style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">2. His advantage over the protagonist to dominate the story world</b><br />
<b style="color: #45818e; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">3. His humane qualities</b><br />
<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span></b><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;">The days of the cruel, evil villain are slipping away, despite Hollywood's efforts to bring him back. If you get these three things down your antagonist and your tyrannical government are going to rock your story.</span><br />
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">What's your favorite thing about your antagonist? Tell me about it!</span>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-35374935679492055322016-04-11T00:00:00.000-06:002016-04-13T11:24:29.133-06:00An Open Love-Letter to My Introverted Self<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<i><br /></i>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Dear Introverted-Self,</i><br />
<br />
Hi.<br />
<br />
Considering my 25 years of existence, you and I are still
relatively new at being friends, still newer at being in love. I
never knew you existed until I was about twenty or twenty-two. And it
was, sort of, love at first sight.<br />
<br />
I was so in love with you. I was very glad to find that you were in fact a real thing
and I wasn't so bad off after all. All this mess was just really
you, and I had nothing to worry about.<br />
<br />
<b>Then our road got bumpy. Really bumpy. And life with you
wasn't as grand as I thought it would be.</b><br />
<br />
I blame you for all my insecurities, all my awkward,
embarrassing moments, and every time I wanted to talk to someone and
couldn't because I was too shy.<br />
<br />
I blame you for all the nights I spent scribbling stories in
darkness, searching for something worthwhile in myself, something to
make me confident, something to make me NOT need you. I blame you for
all the piano lessons I begged for, for every time I could not NOT make music with something. I blame you
for the $800+ I spent on photography, and the countless hours I
spent capturing and editing photos.<br />
<br />
I blame you for a lot of things in my life. If you hadn't
happened, maybe things would be different.<br />
<br />
<b> But I just wanted to say thank you, I wouldn't change a
single thing about you and our life together.</b> (I might change a few
of the embarrassing moments)<br />
<br />
Thank you for all the mistakes, the embarrassing moments, all
the glorious creative, inspiring moments, for every word I ever
wrote, for every note I ever played, for every picture I ever took,
for every time I redesigned my blog.<br />
<br />
Thanks for every time I cried when I thought I wasn't good
enough for <i>them</i>, for every time I thought I was horrid when I
couldn't do anything to please the world. Thanks for always being
there for me, even when for most of my life I didn't know you
existed.<br />
<br />
Thanks for being a part of me, thanks for being inexplicably
ME.Thanks for putting up with me, thanks for staying with me despite
all the times I tried to forget you and be an Extrovert instead,
despite all the times I hated you and wished you'd go haunt someone
else.<br />
<br />
Thanks for every sweet moment of realization that you were
one of the best things about me, that I was different because of you,
and that was a good thing, not a bad thing.Thanks for hanging on
through all the tough times, for every quiet, peaceful moment of
sweet refuge. Thanks for always understanding.<br />
<br />
Thanks for helping me see
the beauty of a still moment alone in an empty house. Thanks for all the times you comforted me when I was
sad. Thanks for sticking it out for the long haul.Thanks for us—being
together. For always.<br />
<br />
<b>Please, remember that even though I sometimes have a bad day,
I'm so very glad you're a part of my life. That you've made me who I
am and I wouldn't be me without you.</b><br />
<br />
So thank you.<br />
Love & hugs, Kayla K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-51187661589291838952016-04-06T00:00:00.000-06:002016-04-06T12:44:11.013-06:00How to Write When You Don't Want To Write + INSPIRATIONAL FREEBIE<div style="text-align: center;">
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So this does not have a very fun answer. Every time I think about it I wanna throw a book at someone. But I know it's the one and only way to ever get a word in edgewise.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>All you do is this:</b></span></div>
<ol>
<li><b>You pick a time, any time that's best for you. </b>You settle in, turn off distractions--phone, internet, and put them as far away from you as possible--open your word processor/notebook, read one page out of a book, and then you put your fingers to the keys and you start writing.</li>
<li><b>You sit down and you write. </b>Or you stand, if you like the standing desks. Or curl up on the sofa. Either way, you write.</li>
<li><b>You stare blankly into a yawning abyss of billions of words. </b>You can't find one that makes any sense whatsoever. And you keep on writing</li>
<li><b>You think Pinterest will have something to offer in the way of inspiration<span style="font-weight: normal;">. But you turned off the internet. </span></b>So you keep on writing, plunking each terrible word down, one right after the other. </li>
<li><span style="text-align: center;"><b>An odd smell wafts into the air as your writing continues down its path of illegitimacy and synthetic garbage</b>. It's so bad you think checking Twitter will help give you a break and return with a fresh perspective. But your phone's clear on the other side of the house and internet is off. </span></li>
</ol>
So you keep on writing. That's what makes you a writer. Sure, it's the smelliest stuff you've ever written. But you keep on writing.<br />
<br />
6. <b>Then the fear starts kicking in, and the vulnerability of just laying your heart out on a page other people might read.</b> And you'll never be able to write like Maggie Stiefvater, or stir people's souls like L.M. Montgomery, or reduce readers to tears like Markus Zusak. Never.<br />
7. <b>So you just slip on a hoodie, pull the hood around your head, and blare your music as loud as you can </b>to drown out the voices of defeat and failure. Or surround yourself with silence. Whatever you wish. <br />
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<br /></div>
And you keep on writing.<br />
<br />
Because tomorrow, when the book is done and you're editing, those days when nothing seemed to sound right, and the characters were threatening mutiny, some of those bad paragraphs won't be so horrendous after all. And some of the passages you thought were the best stuff you've ever written won't be worth the space they take up.<br />
<br />
And you won't have to be like Maggie Stiefvater and Elizabeth Wein because you're you. And only you can write the best book you can.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Never stop creating.</b></span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/timedoser/cmkneeaihlcdllananjlkmppnkdahdcc?hl=en">Tip: Try this app. Time Doser!</a><br />
<br />
<b>How it works:</b> You start the timer and write for 25 minutes. A pretty little strum marks the end and you get a five minute break. Another pretty strum tells you it's time to get back to work and write for another 25 minutes. You do this several times and then you get a longer break of 15 minutes.<br />
<br />
I've used it for work and it was amazing for productivity. Simple. Easy to use. Motivating. I liked it because 25 minutes looks far more inviting than an abyss of endless unknown. You can pause and restart any time you like, and you can personalize it for your convenience.<br />
<br />
<b>Here, some pretty things for you. </b><br />
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<u><a href="https://inkling2.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/1.jpg">CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD</a></u></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Let's talk! Do you have any tips or tricks you've learned to keep yourself writing or get you into the writing mode?</span>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-89182732820342233932016-04-04T00:00:00.000-06:002016-04-04T14:48:01.299-06:00Why We're Addicted to Television & Movies & How it Can Help Writers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
One of the reasons I believe we're addicted to Hollywood, celebrities, and movies is because for a few dollars each month you can slip into a world with people you love--people who won't hurt you, or disappoint you<b>. </b>People you've seen at their darkest moments, their most vulnerable moments. You know their secrets, their tragic pasts, and you love them.<br />
<br />
<b>BUT we also embrace this culture because we find that we ourselves do not have to be vulnerable.</b> We do not have to share our embarrassing moments, our secrets. We can spend a few moments with people who understand, find comfort and solace in the fact that even though they don't know you personally, they understand, they sympathize, they've felt the same hurt. They know, because you've watched them fight the same battles you're facing over and over again.<br />
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<br />
And yet, as comforting as this world is, we let the emotional side of us fall too deeply into it. <b>We become so attached to these make-believe worlds and people we've never spoken to, that we grow cold to real life, to real people, to each other.</b> We are so starved for some real vulnerability in real life relationships that we forget to be real and vulnerable ourselves. So much so that the only places we can find the solace and the vulnerability we need is in make-believe worlds that never really existed except in our mind.<br />
<br />
I've been guilty of slipping off into worlds when the weight of life is just too heavy to bear. I've gone to people who've never hurt me or disappointed me, I've gone to them because they were safe. They're trapped in a world they can never get out of--in short they can't ever disappoint me because they are not real. They are safe, but they are not real. They are an illusion of reality, yes, but <b>we fall so deeply into this illusion we forget to be real and vulnerable, that people--out here, in our world--need us to be real and vulnerable.</b><br />
<br />
If there's one thing I've learned in life it's that people need people. Human interaction is crucial to living.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="color: #45818e;">What Writers Really Need</span></b></div>
<br />
I never believed this before. I'm an introvert. My best days were imagining myself in a small, cozy, comfy apartment in some picturesque city. I'd imagine myself sitting in front of a window in jammies, with a cup of tea, reading a book, and watching the street life go by beneath me. <b>But the more time I have for writing and being alone and by myself, the more I see myself withdrawing from the world, from humans and their drama. </b>Some might say this isn't a bad thing, <i>sometimes</i> it isn't.<br />
<br />
But I grew very unhappy, and it didn't make sense. I was pulling away from the world into other worlds where I wanted to be - I should have been happy. <b>But those worlds could never give me what I really needed: </b><b>Human interaction, confirmation, love, empathy, and vulnerability</b><br />
<br />
We are created to need such things! So--we NEED them.<br />
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<br />
<b>The key to living your dreams is not disconnecting from the people in your life</b>--it is connecting, drawing closer, and, you're gonna hate me, being vulnerable, sharing our scars and our secrets, our failings, showing our tears, sharing the deep hurts of our hearts.<br />
<br />
And I'm not talking about FB rants and attention seeking. FB rants are not personal. There is no real connecting with anybody through FB posts.<br />
<br />
I'm talking about connecting with people on the lowest level there is. One person at a time.<br />
<br />
And connecting is not just you spilling your heart to someone who will listen--it's you giving others 100% of your time and attention. It's you empathizing with them as well. Being real in their lives.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">How Movies & Television Can Help Writers</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>So are stories bad then? Is falling in love with story worlds and story people wrong? </b>No. No. No. No. Love them, cherish them. Be with them, root for them.</div>
<br />
Do not leave what you have learned about empathy and love and vulnerability from stores there--in the story worlds.<b> </b>You must take what you have leaned and you must use it. You must share it.<br />
<br />
Stories, books, movies--they not only give us entertainment and escapism, they are our examples. They teach us about important things. They teach us how to be real. Take what you see about real and go live, being real.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b>You cannot leave the empathy you feel about these people and places and things there, you must take this empathy and love and you must put it into your books.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>Action is Not Empathy</b></span></div>
<br />
It's easy to become addicted to the adrenaline rush of action. But I think non-stop action fries our brains because we let ourselves become bored when there isn't enough action.<br />
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Treat television and movies like they are gold mines for story ideas, character arcs and plots. Dig for what makes you empathize with these characters, and take notes. Every little detail is a diamond. Don't get hung up on action. In the end, it's just action and it means nothing.<br />
<br />
Go for empathy and real human connection. There, in any story, you can't go wrong.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">Let's chat! What do you think is the most important thing a writer needs to be able to tell a story well?</span></b>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-20461783480851016242016-03-30T10:32:00.001-06:002016-03-30T10:32:24.120-06:00Creating a Realistic Rebel Resistance Group for Your Story | Small Resistance Groups<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FSzQj33oIz6Ox86gyQDPOqqfrtlT0N1figpJEUI17ukbWFS9vlQwlCkmaDHEPxPhaWn91Ah-N7a-PLXxbCbawnM7lLO4IbnD7G37wT_dY7xlsL_eLcjNSyYVd7wrVOJcVkdbyyIJb9U5/s1600/4+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1FSzQj33oIz6Ox86gyQDPOqqfrtlT0N1figpJEUI17ukbWFS9vlQwlCkmaDHEPxPhaWn91Ah-N7a-PLXxbCbawnM7lLO4IbnD7G37wT_dY7xlsL_eLcjNSyYVd7wrVOJcVkdbyyIJb9U5/s640/4+%25282%2529.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMyiBC6J4bsaP81GEBCxNBwtndm5vgHaZNabb-IerxFeYr6DNIW_zLLN7fErmf9MMhXJnmwzEVPIAzvzgWNVovYQFtSEHBo5_GNRNofIBP74gXOX0315mzAqfrFvU0h-5xGko_SlcoXek3/s1600/Great_escape.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMyiBC6J4bsaP81GEBCxNBwtndm5vgHaZNabb-IerxFeYr6DNIW_zLLN7fErmf9MMhXJnmwzEVPIAzvzgWNVovYQFtSEHBo5_GNRNofIBP74gXOX0315mzAqfrFvU0h-5xGko_SlcoXek3/s200/Great_escape.jpg" width="130" /></a>Hands down, one of my all time favorite movies/books/stories, is <i>The Great Escape</i>. It's proof that humans are brilliant, amazing creatures who can defy even the worst odds.<br />
<br />
And this group of men is an excellent example of resistance on a smaller scale.<br />
<br />
So let's break down what happened in this top security POW camp,<b> how less than 500 men resisted the enemy with literally no weapons, less than half rations, and with only what they were able to scavenge, borrow, bribe or steal.</b><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>". . . it's my duty to harass, confound, and confuse the enemy to the best of my ability. I'm going to cause such a terrible stink in this Third Reich of theirs, that thousands of troops that could well be employed at the front will be tied up here looking after us." ~Roger Bartlett, Big X</i></blockquote>
<br />
<b>And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly the function of a small resistance.</b><br />
<br />
But how do the<u><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for_24.html"> 3 Major Characteristics of a Resistance Group</a></u> fit into rebel resistance on a smaller scale?<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Authority and Leadership</li>
<li>Networks and Cells</li>
<li>and Meaningful Defiance</li>
</ul>
Let's take a look. These notes are primarily from the John Sturges film version, but I highly recommend the book as well. It tells the true story and does not disappoint.<br />
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</div>
<span style="color: #45818e;"> <b><span style="font-size: x-large;">1. Roger Bartlett - Big X</span></b></span><br />
Roger Bartlett is the unquestioned leader of this prison camp resistance. But he answers directly to the superior officer, Ramsey, and MacDonald is his second in command.<br />
<br />
Everyone looks up to Roger, they obey his commands, and they follow him unquestionably. Why? He's earned their trust and a reputation as one of the foremost prison camp escape masterminds.<br />
<br />
Together these three men, Roger, MacDonald and Ramsey make up the authority and leadership portion of the group.<br />
<br />
They are experts in their field, leaders to begin with, unanimously chosen by their comrades. Who better to lead a resistance, no matter how small it is?<br />
<br />
Leadership is most important in any situation. Without solid leaders who take in all the information and make the decisions there would be no effective change whatsoever.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>2. A Stunning Network of Masterminds</b></span><br />
But these men would never have been effective if they had not had a handful of men working in their fields of expertise below them.<br />
<br />
I love this part. Here's a quick list of the men who are the "blood and guts" crew, the men who carried the out the orders, the men who got down and dirty for their leaders.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">The Scrounger</span> -</b> he secured all the tools, materials, and weapons needed to dig the tunnels, shore up the tunnels, make escape clothing, passports, and everything the Manufacturer needed. Not to mention some life-changing potato moonshine. He was an invaluable part of the whole escape. He begged, borrowed and stole, mostly through The Ferret, Werner, a prison guard.<br />
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<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Tunnel Kings</span> -</b> they were the experts in the tunnel digging business. They knew everything that was needed to get the job done.<br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e;"><b>The Forger</b> </span>- An artist who forged fake passports and special papers needed for the men to get across Germany, to blend in, and to get home.<br />
<span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">The Manufacturer</span></b> - Made air ducts and air pumps, even manged to make a pick-axe. You needed something built you came to him.<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Intelligence</span></b> - Spied on the prison guards, the commandant, knew everything that was going on in the camp, even among their own men<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Disperal </span></b>- specialized in getting rid of the dirt dug from the tunnels, and he was quite brilliant<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">The Mole</span></b> - a small man, fast digger, and quite handy when one wanted to escape quickly<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">The Surveyor</span></b> - needed to take measurements of the tunnel to judge how far they still needed to dig<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Diversions</span></b> - while they were making any kind of noise building and tearing up bunks or something, he created any diversion you needed, loud noise or a distraction from a certain person or place in the camp<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Tailor</span></b> - sewed all the clothes, and this included German uniforms, and they needed to look real and authentic<br />
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<b>This is the essence of Networks and Cells, and you won't get a clearer picture of how they work than this.</b> To plan an escape of such size, to resist and harass the enemy to the best of their ability, every one of these men needed each other. They couldn't have done it as well or efficiently without each other.<br />
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I love this story because all these men united in their fields of expertise, their comfort-zones, working together for a common cause, there's nothing more powerful than this.<br />
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<b style="font-size: xx-large;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="color: #45818e;">3. Uniting in a Common Goal</span></b><br />
These men joined the war for different reasons, but their main cause was to fight Hitler, and to restore and secure freedom for those who had lost it, and for their loved ones.<br />
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<b>The common goal of these men thrown together in a prison camp:</b> Get home, and "confound, confuse and harass the enemy" with everything they had.<br />
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If they could cause such a stink in Germany and draw troops away from the front to come search for them or guard them, they were winning. Can you imagine that? Prisoners in a camp winning?<br />
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If they could do this, they weren't just helping get themselves home, they were helping to end the war, defeat Hitler, and save Europe. This was their goal, this was their Meaningful Defiance.<br />
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<b>So, there you have it. Even if your story's resistance is small, these<a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for_24.html"> 3 Major Characteristics</a> need to be in place for you to have a realistic and believable group of rebels.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Resistance on a smaller scale, such as in <i>The Great Escape</i>, will take more time as opposed to something like the SOE and the French Resistance, just because these groups had materials and resources made readily available to them. But you can also see how resourceful, one can be even in a prison camp.</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>
<b>It does not matter how small your resistance is, they can still create an impact that will stun the world. Humans are amazing.</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">Let's chat! Is your resistance big or small? What kind of impact will they make on the world? Tell me about it in the comments below.</span></b>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-19018365963047260512016-03-28T00:00:00.000-06:002018-04-02T19:59:34.753-06:00Why You Need to Read Before You Write<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Before I ever even knew what I was doing, before I decided writing was my life, before all the dreams started piling up, before all of that,<b> I knew that when I read I could write better.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For years I'd return to the books I loved, one in particular. </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">When ever I was in a writing slump and my writing had lost a little sparkle, I'd reread this book.</b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There was nothing special about it, except that I loved it, and the writing gave me something. It settled the wild chaos of storming worries and self-doubts. The flow and simplicity of words grounded me. They gave me something to write up to, a ruler by which to measure my own writing. This book would say to me, "There now, wasn't that simple? All this story out of a few words. It's not that hard. You can do it."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">And magically, I could write again.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know, I know. You have little enough time to even write as it is . . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;"><b>WHY TAKE THE TIME TO READ?</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>It wasn't just the magic of the book, but it was also the magic of reading the written word. </b>The arc and flow, the sentence structure, its ability to draw me so completely in. This is what made writing magic for me.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Reading books unstuck words and created flow and movement.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This showed me time and time again how writing was supposed to feel, look, read, and taste. <b>All good writers read good books.</b> This is what makes a good writer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>MAKE IT A PRACTICE</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Practice brings you back to earth every single time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Following a pattern, like reading before you write, will help you sink into the creative mindset. It will melt your resistance. </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
When it's time to write and you sit down and grab a book you'll be delighted instead of anxiously wringing your hands, wondering what on earth you should write.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Your worries will have time to pass, your dread will be smoothed by the words of a fellow writer and your creativeness will be inspired.</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit;">READ WRITING BOOK & FICTION BOOKS</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Read your favorite books, read books on writing, on creating stories, on structure, on world building.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Read books with voices you adore. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Read books strong with emotion and feeling, books that hit hard every time and bust you wide open.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">My go to books:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>The Scorpio Races, </i>Maggie Stiefvater </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>To Kill a Mockingbird</i>, Harper Lee</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Bird by Bird</i>, Ann Lamott</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Structuring Your Novel & Creating Character Arcs, </i>K.M. Weiland</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">All these books have spoken to me in their own unique ways and have filled very different voids. You need to find the books that do the same for you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;">SILENCE YOUR DOUBTS</span></span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Those of us who come back to writing again and again know we will never be free of it.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can I really write? Do I really have what it takes? </span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><br /></b>
<b>Reading before you write silences these doubts.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">You will see how others have done it before you, and though sometimes it will look impossible, you will see it can be done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large;">What does your pre-writing routine look like? Tell us about it in the comment section below!</span></b>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-4269729699173251242016-03-24T00:00:00.000-06:002016-03-24T17:53:41.011-06:00Creating a Realistic Rebel Resistance For Your Story | PART 3 Meaningful Defiance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-in.html">PART 1</a> - Authority & Leadership</b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
<b><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for.html">PART 2</a> - Networks & Cells</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Behind any great resistance, and even some failed resistances, is a worthy cause. This is the most important element ANY resistance can have.</span><br />
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<b>When creating your resistance group, make sure the reason they are fighting is not just because a few random people are annoyed or unhappy. </b>They need to be more than just attention and glory seekers. They need to want something more than just satisfaction for themselves.<br />
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Hans and Sophie Scholl lead a small group of individuals called The White Rose, a pacifist resistance against Hitler in Germany during WWII. They recognized, young as they were, that Hitler was a tyrant and his regime would ultimately destroy not only their lives, but the lives of everyone they loved.<br />
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England and France, too, recognized Hitler was taking away the basic human rights and taking charge where man was never meant to control and manipulate.<br />
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Though Hans and Sophie Scholl and The White Rose did ultimately fail, their overall cause did not. They were only a small facet that helped make a difference. They recognized what Hitler was really doing was wrong and they rose up to try and stop it. This, my friends, is why they did not fail completely. They stood up, they took the risks knowing what they were, and they tried to stop what was destroying their lives and the lives of others.<br />
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<b>The cause your resistance is fighting for is the deciding factor in if they really do fail or if they succeed.</b> The cause must be worthy of a resistance, a cause that would continue to be<br />
right and just, even if the people behind the resistance fail.<br />
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<b>To have an effective resistance means that people are fighting to preserve the right to do what they ought to do. </b>Not to do what they want to do, but what they OUGHT to do, what is right, not relative. If you create any rebel resistance for a story, it must and should be for this reason.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>How to Determine Your Rebel's Worthy Cause</b></span></div>
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Ask yourself these two questions:<br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Who and what are they rebelling</span></b> - a dictator, injustice, forced war, tyrannical government<br />
<b><span style="color: #45818e;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e;">Why are they rebelling -</span></b> for what cause are they fighting, their own or the cause of someone else. Or both.<br />
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Once you've determined who and why, study your material and ask yourself if this is truly a worthy cause to be fighting for. Is it something you would fight for?<br />
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The Sons of Liberty fought for the right to govern themselves, freedom from a dictatorship, to establish their own laws, to live in their country free from the control of kings who decided their fate.<br />
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Diet Eman and Hein Stietsma were part of the Dutch Resistance who formed "Group Hein" to supply passports to Jews to help them escape the death camps. They were both eventually caught, but did that mean they failed or that their cause was unworthy? Not in the least.<br />
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Freedom of religion and nationality, freedom of speech, and the freedom to live your life in the way you choose - these are all worthy causes. <b>Make sure your resistance is not just a bunch of angry, unorganized people rioting in the streets.</b> Rioting may look big and courageous, but in the end it accomplishes little.<br />
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<b>Your rebels' cause may perhaps be the deciding factor in whether or not they succeed, in the story and to your readers. Make it a good one. Make it a meaningful defiance.</b><br />
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So that covers the three ingredients every realistic and effective resistance must have. <b>Next week, we'll take a look at resistance on a smaller scale and how these three points still need to be in play for them to be realistic and effective.</b><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-in.html">PART 1</a> - Authority & Leadership</b><br />
<b><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for.html">PART 2</a> - Networks & Cells</b><br />
Enjoy your weekend!<br />
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<b style="font-size: xx-large;"><span style="color: #45818e;">Tell me what you think: What are your rebels fighting for?</span></b>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-4732883911520140962016-03-23T00:00:00.000-06:002016-03-23T00:00:17.862-06:00Creating a Realistic Rebel Resistance For Your Story | PART 2 Networks & Cells<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b><u><span style="color: #45818e;"><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-in.html">Besides a defined set of leaders and doers,</a></span></u></b> your resistance needs to have sub-leaders and sub-leaders of the sub-leaders.<b> It needs networks, cells and circuits.</b><br />
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For a successful resistance to run smoothly and efficiently, you need a chain of command. You need small, inner workings of a bigger installment. <b>A huge corporation is not run on just one, singular action,</b> but a series of small singular actions that build up to making the huge corporation work and run smoothly.<br />
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In France during WWII a man named Francis Suttill was the leader of the Prosper Circuit, the main resistance circuit operating in Paris. But Prosper was not the one and only circuit. There were dozens of sub-circuits with their own individualized leaders, but who also took commands from Suttill, who in turn took commands from London.<b> All of these circuits worked together to accomplish the same goal, yet each one served a different and unique purpose.</b><br />
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Sub-circuits were operated by a smaller group of individuals and were lead by one leader who took orders from the main circuit leader, but who made his own decisions in the field. <b>This is a great example of a small, but functioning and effective resistance, and gives you a way to tell a personal story.</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3lxVO0OQtZHb_r86fMiFrcpL_OCOq0HJCQNcnvm5C_WTPxy2HtFf7W-GmSyeumZaNzo3Dbv6bBYjQ-xAMTl8426wIzwMMStDVXrqSV4nifqzbVLGz3lPqjsN76mzILGPGXaM4fVe8kxg/s1600/Vera+Atkins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3lxVO0OQtZHb_r86fMiFrcpL_OCOq0HJCQNcnvm5C_WTPxy2HtFf7W-GmSyeumZaNzo3Dbv6bBYjQ-xAMTl8426wIzwMMStDVXrqSV4nifqzbVLGz3lPqjsN76mzILGPGXaM4fVe8kxg/s320/Vera+Atkins.jpg" width="212" /></a>Then there were people who never touched a weapon. Never even knew who their leaders were, never even knew if what they were doing was making any difference whatsoever. <b>The simple farmers out in the country, </b>far from the Nazi grasp, opened up their homes as safe houses for endangered people.<b> </b>They took in Jews, Resistance workers who had to go into hiding. <b>They helped in their own small way, but it contributed to the overall success of the resistance, and they could not have succeeded without them. </b><br />
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<b>These networks, cells and circuits were the blood and guts people, the Guerrilla warriors, the risk-takers, and those who sacrificed themselves for the fight against Nazi tyranny.</b> These people did the gritty, exhausting, terrifying work of facing the enemy, and following the commands from headquarters in London.<br />
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<b>As you might have guessed, because these people were separated by thousands of miles from the London headquarters there was a lot miscommunication, many frustrations and LOTS of misunderstandings. </b>They felt London did not understand what was really going on out in the field, and London felt the agents didn't understand what they themselves had to deal with at HQ. These misunderstandings are to be expected in any group of people.<b> They both had terrible jobs and it's important to note neither one of these jobs, commanding or carrying out the commands, are at all easy, nor can either one be done effectively without the other.</b><br />
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<b><b style="color: #45818e; font-size: xx-large;">So how do you create networks and cells?</b></b></div>
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The SOE was in constant contact with the French Resistance through BBC radio broadcasts and wireless operators. They secretly parachuted agents and dropped weapons into France all the time. But first they had to establish a base.<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Plant your spies/agents behind enemy lines by any means necessary for your story</b></li>
<li><b>Define the leaders and sub-leaders of each circuit and their purpose within enemy territory (sabotage, intelligence, reconnaissance)</b></li>
<li><b>Set up a communications network - radios, messengers, planes, word-of-mouth, any way to get word back to HQ and the leaders in the offices</b></li>
<li><b>No group is perfect. Plant double-agents. Create conflict between the leaders and the common solider, arguments and misunderstandings, question orders and commands on both sides</b></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>How Much is Too Much?</b></span></div>
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<b>If you're creating a resistance as large the SOE, chances are you won't be able to focus on every moving part in the story.</b> It's highly impersonal, and I don't recommend trying to write a story with more than five major characters, or more than ten minor characters. It may lead to confusing your readers. <b>Networks and Cells give you the chance to write about a small corner of the resistance and on a deeper, personal level.</b></div>
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But it is important for you, the writer, to know how your resistance is going to function. When you're creating your resistance group, ask yourself these questions to help you figure out how it all works:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Who are the leaders? </b></li>
<li><b>Who are the sub-leaders?</b></li>
<li><b>How did the agents get behind enemy lines?</b></li>
<li><b>Where are you going to place your circuits and sub-circuits?</b></li>
<li><b>What are the operations of each circuit?</b></li>
<li><b>What supplies are needed for smooth and significant operation?</b></li>
<li><b>Where do they secure supplies? </b></li>
<li><b>How are supplies transported to agents in the field?</b></li>
<li><b>How do agents communicate with leaders? </b></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
Not all of this information with be pertinent to your story, but still the writer should have every detail of the resistance planned in order to create something concrete and believable for the reader.<br />
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<b>One group cannot do it all, it will not suffice to bring about effective resistance. And I'm talking big government take down. If your resistance's goal is to stop a tyrannical government they're going to need more than just one group of individuals to get it done in a short amount of time. They're going to need hundreds of groups of individuals, just like the SOE had planted all over Europe during WWII.</b><br />
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<b>Tomorrow we'll be discussing the final ingredient to creating a realistic and effective resistance. See you then!</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-in.html">Creating a Realistic Rebel Resistance: PART 1</a></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">Let's chat: What do the circuits and sub-circuits of your resistance look like?</span></b></div>
K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-5036619036983819672016-03-20T16:40:00.000-06:002018-04-13T11:54:48.001-06:00Creating a Realistic Rebel Resistance in Your Story | PART 1 Authority and Leadership<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Resistance, rebels, underground networks, sabotage, spies, special agents. They are this wonderfully exciting, blood stirring movement against tyranny and injustice. It's what we love about them. It's what makes them great. <b>But what really makes rebels and resistances so effective? How can you write about a realistic resistance without them being merely a group of impassioned, angry people rioting in the streets?</b></span><br />
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What better place to find these answers than history?<br />
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In the most famous resistance and rebel movements, we find that the most effective resistances had three things in common.<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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<ul>
<li><b>Authority and Leadership </b></li>
<li><b>Networks and Cells</b></li>
<li><b>Meaningful Defiance </b></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Let's take a deeper look at what each of these entail.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">Authority & Leadership</span></b></div>
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During WWII, the <b><span style="color: #45818e;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Operations_Executive">Special Operations Executive</a> </span></b>was in charge of training and sending British agents into France to help the French Resistance. These agents communicated with England, took in weapons drops, spied on the Germans, and were involved in espionage, reconnaissance, and sabotage.<b> Most importantly, the SOE was organized. It was conducted by a group of intelligent, military individuals, had a great deal of resources at their convenience, and was funded by the government.</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Resistance">The French Resistance</a></span></b> on the other hand was a group of armed individuals from all walks of life, everyone from high society to the farmer. <b>They were the blood and guts of the operation.</b> They were guerrilla warriors, providers of first-hand information and intelligence, they helped Allied men and women escape back to England, and were hugely involved in orchestrating the Allied invasion of Normandy. Though both the SOE and the French Resistance made costly mistakes, they are considered successful in the outcome of WWII, and serve an important lesson about the reality of effective resistances.<br />
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<b>Many times when we think of resistances and rebels the image they portray is that of a group of passionate people of our own age, especially in YA genres, </b>who are the sole resisters to a corrupt government. And there are have been such resistance movements, I'm not denying that. A small group of sole resisters does not mean they are any less courageous or effective.<b> But the point is, they cannot be as realistically effective as the SOE or the French Resistance if they are small, and the sole resisters.</b><br />
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<b>The SOE and the French Resistance would never have been as effective without each other. </b>They <i>needed</i> each other. The French because they supplied invaluable information to the British about German movements, factories, etc, and supplied the blood and guts needed to get the job done. But the French needed the British to supply them with the radios, agents, weapons, and explosives they needed.<br />
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<b>Realistic resistances need firm leaders who can take an objective look at the big picture. </b>And that's what the London based SOE office could do. They could take in all the reports from every Resistance circuit, put together little bits and pieces of information, and therefore have a bigger and broader picture of what was going on. Because of that they were <b>able to direct and control and command from a better viewpoint. </b><br />
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<b>Resistances need thinkers and doers to be successful.</b> The thinkers need not be any less impassioned, though. In fact, they may be just as impassioned, they just use their skills differently. <b>They cannot all be gun-wielding partisans.</b> Someone has to stand back and be in full command. There must always be a larger, stronger, smarter someone behind the scenes.<br />
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<b>In The Hunger Games</b>, the resistance leaders were adult men and women who exercised stealth and intelligence when planning to arise from the wood works of Panem. They were a very large force with thinkers and doers, with Katniss as their poster girl. <b>Everyone regarded Katness as their true leader, but there was something bigger working behind her.</b><br />
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One leader at the head of a world-changing resistance, who is out in the field doing the blood and guts work, taking in all the info, AND making all the dangerous decisions, is just not that effective or realistic. We will discuss this more in later posts.<br />
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Take a closer look at the resistance you have created for your story.<br />
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<b>For any resistance to be effective they need: </b><br />
<ol><b>
<li><b>A defined headquarters and a defined group of individuals who are the unquestionable leaders. These leaders never fight and never go into battle.</b><b><ol style="display: inline !important;">
<li style="display: inline !important;"><b><ol style="display: inline !important;">
<li style="display: inline !important;"><b> </b></li>
</ol>
</b></li>
</ol>
</b></li>
<li><b>They also need help, outside resources provided to them. They can work on their own and slowly achieve their goal, but ultimately if they want to be effective, they need help from outside sources.</b></li>
<li><b>They also need the blood and guts people who do the field work and take all the risks. These are always the glorified heroes while the leaders in the offices are often looked down upon. Don't be sidetracked by this. They both need each other to get their work done and save the world.</b></li>
</b></ol>
<b>Collaboration, leadership, and authority. </b><br />
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Your resistance may be different. It may be small, it may not have the luxury of outside leadership and resources, with only one or two leaders, and that's ok. What you need to make sure is that your small resistance is NOT functioning as a large resistance. Doing this will only make it unrealistic and harder for your reader to believe.<br />
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Stories are about creating remarkable worlds, full of passion and memorable moments. But any story must be steeped in reality, because your readers belief in these worlds is essential if they are to become memorable.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Check these out:</b></span><br />
<b><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for.html" style="text-decoration: underline;">PART 2</a><u> - </u>Networks & Cells</b><br />
<b><u><a href="http://thequietwritersdesk.blogspot.com/2016/03/creating-realistic-rebel-resistance-for_24.html">PART 3 -</a></u> Meaningful Defiance</b><br />
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<b><span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;">In what ways is the resistance in your story effective?</span></b>K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7627543141310468319.post-53072548531416626842016-03-15T21:07:00.000-06:002016-03-15T21:07:17.384-06:00Does Writer's Block Really Exist?<div lang="en-US" style="page-break-inside: avoid; text-align: left;">
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<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #999999;">I’m still in the middle stages where I believe Writer’s Block to be a total falsehood, and then when I have bad days Writer’s Block totally gets blamed for everything. When I’m on the verge of becoming convinced that Writer’s Block doesn’t exist, I’m tipped ferociously back down the other side of total belief in the thing.</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #999999;">But before I start spouting arguments for or against it, here a five things I believe about Writer's Block:</span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #999999;">I believe Writer’s Block needs to be renamed.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDsNvXUxHw18LCSa1UyTFN7WFfnPJGOpZHxT8z3rwKUVwNeOixsCp_vKH8d-MhsLHy4zSPSLezhJpnllgCZNifMqMp1rCMaJJ2OsBSjV9Md9ABLCHwJdbeg1mnyPwMY5OAqf3RNAaC7mW/s1600/photo-1442606688842-a421432a776f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKDsNvXUxHw18LCSa1UyTFN7WFfnPJGOpZHxT8z3rwKUVwNeOixsCp_vKH8d-MhsLHy4zSPSLezhJpnllgCZNifMqMp1rCMaJJ2OsBSjV9Md9ABLCHwJdbeg1mnyPwMY5OAqf3RNAaC7mW/s320/photo-1442606688842-a421432a776f.jpg" width="304" /></a><span style="color: #999999;">I believe Writer’s Block isn’t so much this huge wall, where all the words are stopped up on one side with you on the other, as it is a self-doubting blanket suffocating you.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">I believe Writer’s Block is the dead feeling of creativity that needs stirring back to life.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">I believe Writer’s Block is the sinful little devil telling you that you can’t do it. You can’t write. You can’t tell a story with meaning or depth, or a story that changes lives. You can’t. You can’t. You can’t.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">I believe Writer’s Block can be silenced. Not once and for all, we’re just humans, it’ll come back again when you’re least expecting it. But like a harrowing nightmare can be snapped from mind by a sudden wakening, Writer’s Block can be silenced.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-size: x-large;"><b>5 Ways to Silence Writer's Block</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;">So regardless of whether or not you believe in Writer's Block, regardless of what you call it, here a just a few tips I've been using over the last year to keep Writer's Block at bay.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">1.</span><b><span style="color: #45818e;"> Keep writing. </span></b><span style="color: #999999;">No matter how ugly your writing gets. You can only stop Writer’s Block first by writing a relentless storm of words.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">2. </span><b><span style="color: #45818e;">Stop being a perfectionist. </span></b><span style="color: #999999;">Writer’s Block is a very good friend to the perfectionist. But perfectionists aren’t allowed when you're writing first drafts. At least, if they are come they aren't going to have a very good time. <b>You can’t be perfect and neither can your writing(will you come have a good cry with me over this when we’re finished? I’ll bring the chocolate)</b>. Your writing can only be made better, and so can you.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">3.</span><b><span style="color: #45818e;"> Read.</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> The more you read, the more you fill with inspiration and word-flow, sentence structure and character arcs, story techniques and story worlds. <b>The more you read the more you’ll know how to write a story and how NOT to write a story.</b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">4.</span><b><span style="color: #45818e;"> Starve it.</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> You starve it by not listening to it. <b>And yes, you can choose to block out the annoying voice beating your right cerebral hemisphere senseless simply by not listening to it.</b> How do you not listen to it? By squeezing that voice out of your mind and writing out the words of your story as they come. Focus, really focus, on what you’re writing. When you’re lapsing into a far off distance, forgetting about what you’re doing, and the little voice comes in to tell you it’s too hard--reread the sentence you just wrote. <b>Ignore the voice and get back on track, remember what you’re doing, what you’re writing, what you want</b>.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999;">5. </span><b><span style="color: #45818e;">Name it.</span></b><span style="color: #999999;"> <b>Most people are afraid of things they don’t have a name for or something they don’t understand.</b> Once you name your Writer’s Block, once you understand what it is, it’s all the easier to not be afraid of it, all the easier to understand it. Some people call it the Inner Editor who sits on your shoulder pointing out all your mistakes.<b> I believe the only thing stopping me is myself and my doubt. </b>This is what I understand it to be. I don't have a name for it per se, but I know what it is and I understand it. That's the important thing. <b>The better you understand it the easier it will be to stop it.</b></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrl9Y_PdIRX7Cxcx8qaTrHmJ8qnWk80ODgN2hWwT0HA1QpPttsKbPsZ3flh7K8G7qjYE4EMisaIX5KkZguuoFrLFbWqlzQt8G_ek9vMRDD1w4lpQN0QSSWuF0CVGC8JTUwtyQZuh5aKOk/s1600/Picture.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghrl9Y_PdIRX7Cxcx8qaTrHmJ8qnWk80ODgN2hWwT0HA1QpPttsKbPsZ3flh7K8G7qjYE4EMisaIX5KkZguuoFrLFbWqlzQt8G_ek9vMRDD1w4lpQN0QSSWuF0CVGC8JTUwtyQZuh5aKOk/s320/Picture.png" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #999999;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #999999;">It gets easier to ignore Writer’s Block. When you get a routine going, ignoring Writer’s Block becomes a routine, too. But then comes the day when everything goes wrong. </span><span style="color: #999999;">Those days are around, lurking outside the gloriousness of having written. </span><span style="color: #999999;">Those days you totally believe in the existence of Writer’s Block. But those days you just have to write something. If you don’t, that means you've lost and everyone but you won.</span><span style="color: #999999;"> But Writer's Block can be beaten. I know because I've beaten it. And sometimes, yes, sometimes what I thought was the worst thing ever turned out to be not so bad after all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #76a5af;">This post is an excerpt from my free e-book.<i> </i></span></span></div>
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<b style="color: #76a5af; font-size: xx-large;">Let's talk! Do you think Writer's Block exists? What are your biggest struggles with finding time to write and keeping Writer's Block at bay?</b></div>
K.M. Updikehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15009790780569243377noreply@blogger.com1