Tag Archives: characters

The Magic of Writing

Posted on December 15, 2011 by

The Capital Crime Writers had a function last night and Toronto guest author Howard Shrier spoke about how he writes. Apparently, he takes a notebook (or two or three) and writes down his thoughts over a long period of time. … Continue reading →

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Stuck? Try writing badly.

Posted on October 13, 2011 by

It’s okay to write badly? You bet. This probably seems counter-intuitive; after all, if you want to be published, you have to write well, yes? True.  But you also have to write. You need 80,000 to 100,000 words of polished prose … Continue reading →

Posted in Getting Published, Plot, Writing | Tagged , | 4 Comments

About cats … and believable characters

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

This is a great blog post by my AW pal, Toni Dwiggins, about what happens when an author introduces a cat (or two) into the house. But probably my favourite non-cat related line in her blog  is this one, as the … Continue reading →

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Character Development

Posted on February 15, 2011 by

An interesting post by author Mark Billingham on how he never really knows where his character (a London detective in a series) is going until he gets there. I totally agree with him. I know authors who plan out the … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Writing | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Describing Characters

Posted on February 14, 2011 by

Wow, crazy week. I’m in the midst of revisions to The Beggar’s Opera (about a third of the way through the first cut) but things have been incredibly hectic, which means I’ve been working away on the manuscript whenever I have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Revisions | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Teasing out backstory

Posted on October 26, 2010 by

Some writers work out an entire backstory for their characters before they even start writing. (They usually develop plot outlines, too, and have the amazing capacity to write a book in one or two drafts, since they’ve spent so much time … Continue reading →

Posted in Backstory, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

It’s all about character

Posted on September 8, 2010 by

When I was first writing The Beggar’s Opera, I came up with characters who I thought were very real. A Canadian policeman, Mike Ellis, claiming to be framed for a crime he didn’t commit. A Cuban detective, Inspector Ramirez, dealing with … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Revisions | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments