"The stories we love best do live in us forever." ~ J.K. Rowling
Independence Day
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Happy Independence Day! (Feel more like Independence Week around here. There hasn't been a night since Friday that someone hasn't set off fireworks.) Hope everyone has a great day and stays cool!
When I was typing up the back summary for PERSONAL DEMONS, a question popped into my head. Why are almost all main characters loners? Think about it. Most of them only have one or two friends at most. They don't involve themselves in a lot of activities. They don't have a lot of dates. They don't run around texting twenty people at once, or even a few. Is that to cut down on the number of characters that have to have a purpose? Is it to keep the story from getting too bogged down in unnecessary day-to-day activities? But the truth is, a lot of teenagers aren't like that. Teenagers don't just have one or two friends. They might have a few best friends and then a long list of extended friends and acquaintances. A lot of teenagers go out on dates, good ones and bad ones. They flirt, they fight, they date, they make new friends and enemies. It's all part of the teen experience. So, where is it in books? Am I just reading the ones with loner main characters (which se...
What I'm Reading: I finished Pride by Ibi Zoboi and came out of it with an overwhelming desire to watch Pride and Prejudice again. Weirdly, I think I would've enjoyed this more without the P&P connections (I really don't know how to handle it when "Mr. Darcy" is their father), but it's a solid book nonetheless. Next up is Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak. What I'm Writing: In terms of word count, October has been my most productive writing month this year. A Thousand Miles is in the home stretch. What I'm Listening to: Right now, a lot of things, but I want to make a special shout-out to The Good Place podcast. It's such a wonderful, upbeat podcast about the best damn TV show. I love listening to a group of people who love their work and hearing the behind the scenes stories of how the show is coming to be. What I'm Watching: Let me say how much I love This is Us and The Good Place. So much. Last week's episodes for bot...
Dialogue is a tricky thing to get right, but it often takes up a good-sized portion of every book. Dialogue can bring two characters closer together, drive them further apart, reveal important information, and display any number of things. Use double quotation marks to open and close each line of dialogue. If there's a dialogue tag (said, asked, responded, quipped), use a comma, unless the dialogue requires an exclamation or question mark. If there isn't a dialogue tag, then there should be a period, unless it needs an exclamation or question mark. Beware of using an excessive amount of exclamation marks. If there's a lot of tension in a scene, the dialogue and actions of the characters should exhibit that. Also, there should be a new paragraph for each new speaker. When writing dialogue, keep the character in mind. Take their age, schooling, background, and who they are talking to into consideration. People talk differently to their friends than they do to their pare...
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