Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing C.L. Clark. Cherae Clark graduated from Indiana University’s creative writing MFA and was a 2012 Lambda Literary Fellow. In addition to writing, she has had various jobs as she’s traveled the world, including: personal trainer, English teacher, editor, or some combination thereof. When she’s not writing or working,… Read more »
Have you ever read a scene and felt like it didn’t go anywhere, or didn’t have a purpose? Do you struggle to write scenes that develop characters? On a scene-by-scene basis, do your characters experience external and internal changes? Do you do in depth scene analysis? Whether or not published in a book or jotted… Read more »
Since the onset of the 21st century, writing has undoubtedly evolved in a lot of remarkable ways. Now, more than ever, writers from all niches have access to more resources to help them create genuinely outstanding literature. While the scope of available writing tools might have expanded and access to resources increased, the fundamental principles… Read more »
As human beings, our work is very important. Choosing a career is one of the biggest decisions we make in life, and we often put a ton of time and energy into it. But what about our characters’ jobs? How much thought do we put into that? We authors recognize the importance of strong characterization,… Read more »
With discussions and movements surrounding racial equality growing every day, writers around the world are having to step back and look at the world we love so much. From a lack of Black and Own Voices writers on bestseller tables to everyday racist and bigoted terms that sneak below our editing radar, we writers and… Read more »
Hey word nerds! We’re continuing my series on your Storytelling Superpower today by digging into the first two of four character archetypes. But first a quick recap: In my first post, we talked about how character, more than plot, world or any other story element, drives a story forward. If your reader doesn’t care about… Read more »
We love, hate, and cry over fictional characters. They can be our best friends, first loves, and most inspiring mentors. So how can we, as writers, make sure our stories are populated by characters readers care about? It’s not enough to have so-so characters, and we definitely don’t want them to be flat or boring…. Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I am delighted to have Rodrigo Hasbún on the show! Rodrigo is a Bolivian novelist whose work has appeared in many top literary magazines such as Granta and Words Without Borders. In 2007, he was selected by the Hay Festival as one of the best Latin American writers under the… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today I am delighted to have award-winning author Joan Dempsey on the show! Joan’s writing has been published in numerous places including The Adirondack Review and Alligator Juniper, and she is the author of This is How it Begins. For this fascinating novel, that is a mix of literary fiction and… Read more »
As human beings, we’re all products of our past; good and bad, our experiences have formed us into who we are. The same should be true of our characters. One way to make them really believable and memorable is to dig into their backgrounds and unearth those defining moments so we’ll better understand how they… Read more »
