Plot Study: Introduction

June 19th, 2009

The introduction ‘act’ of your story is where you give the reader all the information about the world they will be entering, along with background to explain the upcoming conflict. It’s your opportunity to lay the foundations for the rest of the tale.
Characters
It is during this section that you introduce your characters, giving an [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara General Writing, Hints and Tips, Plot , , , , , , ,

Elements of Plot

June 17th, 2009

We all know what a plot is, it’s the development of a story. Its progression from start to finish. But, what parts make up a plot? What themes are present in all stories if you look closely enough? That’s what the next few posts will be looking at; but for this introductory post to [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara General Writing, Plot , ,

A Return and A New Theme

June 15th, 2009

Firstly, let me apologise for my distinct lack of activity on the blog. Having started a new job after several months of being unemployed, it has taken some getting used to; especially with such strange hours. For anyone who is interested, I’m working for a telesales company - where most of my work-life experience [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara General ,

My Favourite Characters

May 8th, 2009

As a pleasant end to the theme of characters, I thought it would be pertinent to name just a few of my favourites. From movies, books and TV, the follwing are all characters I’d recommend watching or reading about. For me, they help make the film/book/TV series a joy to read/write.
Perrin Aybara
This character had [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara Characters, General

Naming Your Cast

May 7th, 2009

When it comes to characters, one of the most difficult things to do is actually give them names. I know it can, on occasion, be a stumbling block for me. So, let’s take a look at some of the ways we can effectively name our characters. (A lot of this will relate to character [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara Characters, General Writing, Hints and Tips, Roleplaying

Character Development

May 6th, 2009

This post will focus a little more on RolePlay than solely literary projects. As always, though, it can certainly be applied to writing normal fiction.

When playing your character, the desire is always there to have them grow. This is entirely understandable and something that should happen. How can let your characters develop in a [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara Characters, General Writing, Hints and Tips, Roleplaying

What I Learned From… Community

May 5th, 2009

Time once again (Yay!) for Robert Hruzek’s monthly WILF on Middle Zone Musings. This month’s subject is all about community. So, in keeping with the current theme here on A Writer’s Journey, I’ll be discussing what I learned from community in relation to characters.

Within each community, be it a ‘real life’ community, an online [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara Characters, General Writing, Group Writing Projects, Hints and Tips, Roleplaying

Flash Us Your Fiction!

May 1st, 2009

I have some awesome news for you today: TumbleMoose Writing Services and A Writer’s Journey are joining forces for a special project!

Following George Angus’ post on Flash Fiction, we have decided to create a group writing project for both our communities. Details follow, but it is your opportunity to have some of your work [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara General Writing

Bringing Your Characters to Life

April 28th, 2009

We looked at character creation a while back, and what is needed when making your wonderful protagonist, or the dastardly villain. But, how can we bring those characters to life? Regardless of the genre or setting, characters need to be believable so our readers can make a connection: Whether it be a working girl [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara Characters, General Writing, Hints and Tips, Roleplaying

Characters: A Focus

April 27th, 2009

The weekend saw me finally begin my novella, and as such I spent a lot of time thinking about characters. I think it would be nice, for the next couple of weeks, to give a focus on this all-important aspect of fiction writing and roleplaying.

My approach is going to be one primarily aimed at [...] Continue Reading…

Saladin Akara Characters, General Writing, Hints and Tips, Roleplaying