My Role

by Jennifer Paros

The other day I was at my desk trying to get myself to start working.  I didn’t feel like doing anything, it seemed, and yet I also wanted to work. Frustrated and unable to neither crack the proverbial whip nor walk away, I closed my eyes for a moment in the hope of releasing myself from this tug-of-war. 

In my mind’s eye, I was back in eighth grade, musing over how good I felt rehearsing our graduation play (it was a musical) and helping out on the production. I thought about Sam (name changed for this tell-all account) – my “co-star,” a fellow eighth grader.  Sam was not comfortable acting and had trouble singing on key. At the time, I didn’t bother much about Sam’s challenges, though I was rooting for him and any possible improvement. I wanted it all to work but more importantly, I just wanted to work. I wanted the experience of working together on the production and I already had that experience, regardless of Sam’s performance. 

In eighth grade I didn’t feel great about who I thought I was.  I felt compelled to hide, striving to conceal what I had determined to be some ill-defined deficient aspect of me. I wasn’t thrilled about showing up for life because life seemed to be about feeling bad about myself. But while in this play, I was engaged in the pleasure of my new role and work, and the usual story that so colored my days rarely caught my attention.   more...

Pebble by Pebble
 

by Pamela Moore Dionne

So one day as you sit in front of your computer staring at a blank screen you find that the words don’t come easy. Maybe they don’t come at all – not even when you hog-tie them and try to drag them onto the screen. What do you do? Are there tricks to getting something down in print that will give you a place to start – a bare beginning from which to take a leap of faith? Over the years, I’ve hit many boulders in the path to a completed manuscript. I’m here to tell you that there’s usually a way over, under, or around every obstacle on the road to publication.

Sometimes a block is only a bump, like a nudge that gets you to dig deeper into your subject. Other times it’s a mountainous directive telling you that the bridge you’re trying to cross is no longer functional – turn back. Sometimes you have to let go by getting up and walking away from the computer. I’m not telling you to abandon your work altogether. more...

What does it take to create a great character?

by Jason Black

First you need a fresh concept for the character, right? Sure. You don’t want to be giving us the same cliché, central-casting characters we’ve seen a million times. Then they have to be admirable in some way that helps readers root for them. That is, they don’t have to be likeable or nice, but there has to be something about them we can respect. And we can’t forget to give the character some flaws, too, so the character can experience personal growth through the story. Naturally not. Besides, readers can’t relate to characters who are too perfect. Oh, and a good, solid name helps too, doesn’t it? Goodness knows we writers spend a lot of time agonizing over finding the perfect name.

Those are all helpful things, but they’re not what it takes to create a great character.

Creating a great character takes you.  more...