plot-driven vs. character-driven

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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Recipe for a Successful Synopsis

February 12, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Whether we’re entering contests or submitting manuscripts to agents or publishers, at some point, most of us need to write a synopsis. Many writers hate writing synopses, but I don’t mind them. At least not anymore. Synopses no longer intimidate me now that I understand what’s supposed to go into them, and just as importantly, [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, cause and effect, Jami Gold, paranormal author, pitching, plot-driven vs. character-driven, plotter vs. pantser, story structure, synopsis

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Will Omniscient POV Ever Be Popular Again?

January 22, 2013 Writing Stuff
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My recent post about avoiding “information dumps” prompted a conversation in the comments about omniscient point-of-view (POV) and its use of “telling” rather than “showing.” Serena Yung wanted to know why omniscient POV—and thus, telling rather than showing—are less common now than in the classics. She’s certainly right about omniscient being uncommon in books now. Omniscient [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, Jami Gold, omniscient, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, point of view

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Write Romance? Get Your Beat Sheet Here!

November 1, 2012 Writing Stuff
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NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month—write a 50K word novel during November) starts today, and while I plan to continue blogging throughout NaNo, I wanted to make sure I gave you something good to keep you happy during my crazy month. *smile* Of course, whether or not you’d define today’s post as anything good might depend [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, Jami Gold, love, Michael Hauge, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, plotter vs. pantser, romance novels, romance novels are not porn, story structure, workshops

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Michael Hauge’s Workshop: Combining Emotional Journeys and External Plots

August 21, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing tips from Michael Hauge’s presentation at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference. First we looked at how to make sure our love (or romantic interest) stories didn’t fall prey to a lame “love at first sight” relationship. Then we talked about how to show that our characters really are the [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, conferences, Jami Gold, Janice Hardy, Michael Hauge, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, romance novels, RWA, story structure, tension, workshops

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Michael Hauge’s Workshop: An Antidote to “Love at First Sight”

August 9, 2012 Writing Stuff
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By far, the best workshop I attended at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference was Michael Hauge‘s presentation, “Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories.” Unlike every other workshop, Michael gave his presentation twice. I attended on the second day and the room was standing-room-only packed. The first day was likely the same. Yeah… It was [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, Jami Gold, Michael Hauge, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, romance novels, RWA, strong characters, workshops

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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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What’s Your Writing Process?

August 23, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Today I’m guest blogging at Melinda Collins’s blog.  I’m talking about the craft of writing, and how I love every bit of it.  Yes, even the hair-ripping-out parts.  *smile* That love of the craft means I don’t have a favorite part of the process, so I don’t strictly fall on one side or the other [...]

Tagged as: guest blogs, Jami Gold, Jami is insane, organized, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, plotter vs. pantser

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What Drives a Story: Plot or Characters?

July 26, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Wish me luck.  I’m about to dive into one of the eternal debates among writers.  Which is “better”: a plot-driven story or a character-driven story? If you’re not familiar with the debate, let me explain why this question is so fraught with potential landmines.  A common snub against genre stories is that they’re all about [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, genre, Jami Gold, page turning stories, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, strong characters, tension

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