Moons ago, someone carved me a nickname into the sand. The tide came and swept my name away. That name was "Sputnitsa," which means "fellow traveler" in Russian.
Category Archives: character development
I Remind Myself, in Troubled Times
Have the courage to accept our responsibility and our pain as our starting point. Imagine, seek and honor the most compelling truth of “the other side.” Abandon demeaning speech and belittling thoughts. Forgive others for not being perfect, for not … Continue reading
Finding characters
The path to finding one’s characters is not as clear-cut as I once thought. It turns out characters not only change utterly during the writing of a tale, but also (thank the heavens) once you’ve discovered them, they still grow … Continue reading
Posted in character development, plot development, rewrites, secret ingredient, voice, writing
Tagged character development, plot development, unplanned, writing
4 Comments
Formless but not Inchoate: Building Character
Nothing bores me more in life than filling out long forms about myself–nothing but golf, of course. So it should come as no surprise that I have approximately zero desire (give or take a head-in-wall-thumping) to do the same for … Continue reading
Posted in character development, characters, writing
Tagged character development, writing
13 Comments
Know Thine Enemy (On Writing)
Every morning, bleary or bright, I gaze down on my beloved streets of New York and assess the people below me. How huddled are they against the weather, how languidly do they swing their arms—in other words, what shall I … Continue reading
Beyond the Point of No Returns
There’s no two ways about it. Writing is an insane activity. Both when it’s working—and one walks along city streets in earnest, deep conversation with oneself, periodically stopping still to jot down notes—and when it’s not working (which involves more … Continue reading
Posted in analyzing one's writing, antagonists, challenges, character development, discipline, editing, endless first drafts, fiction, finding your own way, first drafts, foiled again, learning from others, mistakes, moleskine notebooks, plot, plot development, rewrites, writing, writing update
Tagged challenges, character development, fiction, first drafts, plot, plot development, writing
2 Comments
Developing Characters, or: What Doesn’t Kill You…
The other morning I had a guest over for brunch. In other words, I had to tidy the apartment. The problem was that my apartment was already tidy. This is because I’m writing a book, and writing a book requires … Continue reading
Posted in antagonists, character development, characters, discipline, editing, fiction, finding your own way, first drafts, life, perils of housework, plot development, scenes, writing, writing exercise
Tagged challenges, character development, fiction, first drafts, life, photos, plot, plot development, writing, writing antagonists
19 Comments
Plotting Along
This weekend was pure torture. And by pure torture I mean intermittent irritation in a backdrop of a wonderful weekend. So clearly I choose my words wisely. I woke up to an unusual sound on Friday. Puzzled, I looked about the room, … Continue reading
Posted in character development, fiction, first drafts, plot, plot development, writing
Tagged antagonist development, character development, plot, plot development, writing
10 Comments
Six Pages This Morning, All is Good with the World
A question had been niggling me as questions are wont to–at least when they pertain to my story and therefore are really my job to solve, and solve quick. How do characters M and B realize that two auspicious artifacts … Continue reading
Random Thought on the Nature of Self (fictional and alive)
Every moment of every day, we are not just living, we are creating who we are. Isn’t that pretty amazing? I am as much the sum of my experiences, physicality and psychology, as I am the product of my own … Continue reading
Posted in being, Central Park, character development, imagination, invention, life, nature of self, New York, photos, self-creation, whatnot
Tagged being, Central Park, imagination, invention, life, nature of self, New York, photos, random, self-creation, whatnot
2 Comments
Speak to Me…
I’m thinking about voice now, about how it frames and directs a character, as well as our sense of who they are. How a person speaks reflects so much: their background, their education, their “themes” in life, their passions, their … Continue reading
