How She Writes

Note: This poll has ended, but you can see the completed story  here . I have a new story coming soon. It's a fantasy adventure story with dragons, and of course the brave hero. However, I've gotten stuck on the main characters name, so you get to decide. To give you a quick look at the character, he's a blacksmith in his late teens or early twenties. He is the sole caretaker of his two thirteen-year-old brothers, Elliot and Isaac. He's stubborn, protective, and a risk taker if he's the only one who stands to lose. At the moment, his name is Evan. You can vote for his name to remain Evan, or change to one of the other options below. The poll will remain open until Saturday the 16th, June 2018. What should I name my character?

To be honest, I find that there are many days when I don't want to write. I know that sounds crazy, coming from a girl who's always talking about her love of writing, but it's true. I'm passionate about a career that is hard, and while it's worth it, I have days when I really want to do something easier. Over and over, I have heard people say that if you don't write for the love of it, or because you can't not write, you're not cut out to be a writer. I've thought about that. A lot. And I've come to the conclusion that writing because you can't not write is a myth. I've never met a writer with that particular ailment. That, and just because you love doing something doesn't mean you enjoy every minute of it. I love my work. I really do. I love seeing the characters come alive in my mind, I love being able to put the stories I imagine into a form in which other people can enjoy them. I don't however, love sitting down at...

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Is it just me, or are the quirky characters the best characters? I mean come on, don't we all love that side character who always has something sarcastic to say?  Or how about those characters who walk onto every page with a new flavor of tea and a notebook tucked under their arm? Aside from how absolutely awesome quirks like that make characters, they also make them likable, unique, and memorable. Like all aspects of character development, not all quirks will work for every character, but the right one can give a character new dimension.  To help you find the right one, I have come up with a long list of character traits to give your characters, or to inspire you to come up with your own. Biting their lip An addiction to coffee Sarcasm Daredevil tendencies Plays with their hair Fidgets Daydreamer Pessimistic Optimistic A love of tea A love of puns Good with technology Disorganized Music preference A morning person Constantly adjusts their glasses Fear...

The other day, as I was working on a short story, I realized that the reason I used to struggle so much to finish stories was because I didn't know how. Sure, I looked for advice on how to do it, read countless articles on writing short stories in five simple steps, and maybe the steps were too simple, or maybe five was still too many steps because none of them ever worked for me. So, I'm going to tell you what I truly wish someone had told me a long time ago: how to write a short story and finish it. 1. Start with the concept What is the concept of your story? A venture into space? Being stranded on a desert island? The first day at a new school? This concept will be the backbone of your story. If you don't already have a concept in mind, check out writing prompts. There are plenty of great ones that can get your creativity going. Or, if you, like me, already have unfinished stories on hand, rewrite one of those. 2. Consider your characters Before you c...

Alright, everybody, it's time to look behind the scenes of The Girl from Vakril . Today we'll discuss how I got the idea, and just how many false starts I made before I hit on a successful version.  Just like last time, this post will contain spoilers. If you want to read the story first, you can find it  here . This is one of the stories that I have been trying to write for several years now. It started in September of 2016 when I was reading through a book called Writing Magic by Gail Carson Levine. At the end of a chapter, it had a writing prompt that asked you to write about a girl who wants to be a scout in the war against the Dwarfs of Akero. I wrote about a page and a half about a girl named Elinor Flake before I couldn't come up with anything else to write.  Since then, I have come back to it over and over, trying to find a way to make it work. I thought through reasons the King might have turned her away.  Maybe he didn't have the money, maybe there wa...

As promised, here are the rest of the stereotypes I found. Some of them are wrong, others are relatively accurate.  Here we go: 1. Writers write by compulsion The rumor that writers just can't help but write was actually spread by writers. this is a very romanticized view of writing. Unfortunately, I have yet to find this to be true. From my experience, it's much more common to force yourself to remove all distractions so you have nothing better to do than to put words on paper. 2. Writers always know where a story is going Rarely. I usually start with a somewhat vague outline before I start writing. By the time I've hit the end, I usually realize that a scene would work better somewhere else, that my main character needs to struggle more, that the character who I thought was the antagonist is clearly not the antagonist and now I don't know who it is any more than my readers do. Besides, one of the best parts of writing fiction is making a mistake that turns o...