antagonist

How to Use Character Flaws to Develop a Plot

April 16, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Last time, we talked about using our characters’ strengths to develop their flaws. But I didn’t get a chance to talk about how we could figure out the matching flaw for a character strength. Many of you are probably familiar with the Myers Briggs test, a well-known test that labels people with a four-letter abbreviation for [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, character archetypes, character flaws, Jami Gold, listening to characters, Michael Hauge, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven

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The Thin Line between Character Strengths and Flaws

April 11, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Last time I asked you to share your superpower, that trait—useful or not—that makes you unique. Everyone shared some great stories, although none of us had skills that would land us on Cracked.com’s “Real People with Mind-Blowing Mutant Superpowers” list. *eyes the superpowers that made the list* Maybe that’s a good thing. At the end [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, character archetypes, character flaws, Jami Gold, listening to characters, paranormal author, strong characters, theme

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Are Your Characters Based on Real People?

September 6, 2012 Writing Stuff
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One of the stereotypical author interview questions is “Are any of your characters based on real people?” And I’m always struck when an author answers “Yes.” Usually, they’ll even share that so-and-so was based on such-and-such person. Sometimes they’ve based a character on a friend or family member. Sometimes they’ve based a character on an [...]

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Tagged as: antagonist, character flaws, genre, Jami Gold, Jami is insane, listening to characters, muse, paranormal author, writers are insane

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How “The Amazing Spider-Man” Rocks Subtext

July 10, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Subtext? In a comic book movie? Really, Jami? Yes, really. Now, I’m not calling The Amazing Spider-Man groundbreakingly genius or anything, but it’s an, er, amazingly good movie character-wise compared to… Oh, say, the Green Lantern. If you remember from my Green Lantern posts about how how not to write plot or characters, I freely admit I’m a genre-loving geek [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, genre, Jami Gold, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, subtext, theme

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The Ultimate Guide to Pitch Writing

June 5, 2012 Writing Stuff
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As we head into “writing conference” season, I thought I’d revisit my post about how to write a pitch.  This post originally ran several months ago, but the information never gets old.  (In fact, I’ve used this to help myself write pitches lately.) Pitches fall into many categories, from loglines and elevator pitches to queries [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, agents, antagonist, conferences, Jami Gold, paranormal author, pitching, queries

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Pitch Prep: How to Write a Pitch

January 3, 2012 Writing Stuff
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This week we’re preparing for the Pitch Your Shorts pitch session coming here January 10th.  Even if you’re not pitching this time, stick around.  Today we have The Ultimate Guide to Pitch Writing.  (Thursday’s post will cover story openings.) The Ultimate Guide to Pitch Writing Pitches fall into many categories, from loglines and elevator pitches to queries [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, character archetypes, character flaws, Jami Gold, Janice Hardy, paranormal author, pitch session, queries

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How Do You Deal with Difficult Characters?

August 11, 2011 Writing Stuff
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(Side note:  Do you know how troublesome it is to find a picture of someone bound and/or gagged that doesn’t look…well, inappropriate for this blog?  *snicker*) Writers all know the type—the character who refuses to play by the rules, who doesn’t communicate with us, or who wants to be a scene-stealer.  These characters can drive [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, beta reader, critique partners/groups, Jami Gold, Jami is insane, listening to characters, muse, paranormal author, plotter vs. pantser

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A Rating System for Books, Part Two: How Can We Include Context?

August 2, 2011 Random Musings
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Thanks once again to all who responded to my last blog post about whether books should have a rating system.  And I say that not just because I didn’t need my flame-proof jacket.  *smile* Many shared thoughtful ideas here on my blog, Google+, and Twitter that helped me refine my opinion.  If you haven’t read that article [...]

Tagged as: antagonist, beta reader, book ratings, feedback, head-hopping, Jami Gold, omniscient, paranormal author, point of view, romance novels, Twitter

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The Green Lantern Movie: How *Not* to Plot a Story

July 5, 2011 Writing Stuff
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I recently saw the Green Lantern movie.  I know, I know.  The reviews were terrible, but I often enjoy turn-brain-off movies.  This fun-but-dumb superhero action flick definitely fit the bill. But the real entertainment came after the movie, as my family and I analyzed why this superhero movie failed compared to other recent titles.  Where did this [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, information dump, Jami Gold, Janice Hardy, page turning stories, paranormal author, risk, story openings, tension

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Do Stories Need a Theme?

May 26, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Earlier this week, Julie Musil had a great post about how to create story endings that resonate.  I almost wrote an epic comment to her post, but decided to save my wordiness for here.  And I get to use one of my vacation pictures—Disney’s California Adventure theme park, get it?  *snicker* To answer the question [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, emotional heart, Jami Gold, Kristen Lamb, love, paranormal author, plotter vs. pantser, premise, theme

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