A Weekend Getaway and World Building

Was a bust week for me, and I have another guest spot up over at My Word Playground, offering tips on how to take over the world -- through world building, of course. If you're designing a fantasy world or just looking to flesh out the small town or big city in your head, pop on over.

Too Fast, Too Furious, and Way Too Much

By Janice Hardy. @Janice_Hardy

I have no shortage of novel ideas. New ones come at me all the time and I’m always starting new files to hold notes and plots and whatnot. Naturally, whenever I get a new idea and I get excited and want to dive headfirst into that idea.

This didn’t change when I sold my first book, The Shifter. In fact, it made it worse. Because now I had an agent, and an editor, and I had to get as many of those books written to capitalize on this fabulous luck before they found out I was a zero-talent hack. (sound familiar to anyone? Yeah, we all have the same fears)

Running on Autopilot: Working With Unconscious Goals

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Goals are what drives a character (and a plot), but it's a bit more challenging when the character isn't aware of what they really want. With no concrete need, there's nothing external for them to focus on and a story can easily stall. So how do you keep the plot moving forward? By looking at what lies beneath.

Clues for the Clueless

Try approaching unconscious goals from a different angle, since it's impossible for a character to act on something they don't realize they want. The goal itself becomes more of a motivator, nudging the character toward choices that will satisfy that need, even when they aren't fully aware of it. They'll act in ways that could fill that unconscious desire, but the end goal isn't to get that desire.

If your characters have unconscious goals, consider:

On the Road Today With First Lines

I'm guest blogging over at Routines for Writers today talking about first lines and why I wrote mine the way I did. So if you're interested in what makes a great first line and what to think about to make your first lines sing, pop on over and take a peek.

I haven't forgotten abut Find Your Plot Fridays, and that'll be up later this morning. 

Feel the Rhythm of the Words

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Fiction it about more than describing a situation and telling readers about it. Good fiction flows and dances across the page, using every word to captivate the reader and lure them deeper into the story.

 
Which is why rhythm is so important. How the text flows matters, because choppy writing can jar readers right out of the story. It often reads like a list, with flat description, focusing more on the what than the who or the why. There's no sense of storytelling, just boring explanation.

Let's Talk About Adjectives

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Got a great question last week...

I do wonder about adjectives. I generally try to avoid more than one per paragraph or thought, but is it okay to use more or should I work on cutting them out completely? 

Adjectives are those colorful words that are used to describe other not-so-colorful words. Green tree. Ugly baby. Soft, fluffy, white clouds. There are many great adjectives out there, and a whole lot of fantastic opportunities to use them. They usually add depth to otherwise boring sentences.