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My new technique for character development is to spend time writing about the character in my notebook. I don't fill out a character sheet (although I do that as well), I just write about their thoughts, feelings, tastes, desires and history in a stream-of-consciousness.
In under a month and a half I've written almost seventy-five thousand words, and my story is coming to a close. The only thing I can really hope I get from all this is improvement in my writing. I hope all of this agonizing, fretting and frustration has amounted to a lasting something.
Thanks for the follow. Like Haydos, I'd also like to know what specifically compelled you to follow me. The genre of my story? The quality of the writing? The frequency of updates? Thanks again!
The benefit, too, of outlining with only (or almost only) the plot-beats is that it lets you see much of the scene in very few words. You can then add more and more beats as you see fit, piling them up until you have scenes rich in purpose and direction.
I think I've found an even deeper, yet related, problem with my writing: When I outline, I should be laser-focused on the plot-beats. This allows me to build up a stack of logical progressions that can give meaning and complexity to each scene. Without that, writing a meaningful inner monologue...
I think I've found a problem with my writing, and it's similar to a lot of other problems I have in life: I don't think enough but just fire it off. My first child will probably be a result of this.
I received my first criticism and first extolment in the same day. I finally got "likes" for the first time on this forum, and this is the most attention anything I've ever written has gotten. I'm eager to keep going, and to do even better!
My thinking was to go beyond the sensational and into the literary. When you describe the "skimming off the top" sequence, you did so in narrative summary, and as you demonstrated, it worked well for not only conveying lots of information quickly, but for condensing time and even to add some...
Something I often say is that it's a matter of who you know. Literally.
Two-thousand five-hundred and ten people, or my daughter?
Well, sorry, Norfolk Island, my daughter comes first. I have zero responsibility to anyone but her.
With the trolley problem it's a bit easier. If I don't know any...
The connection between exposition and action cannot be overstated. I was reading a piece I myself wrote and I happened to land on a technique a couple of times. Here it is. Context is important so I copied a little more than may seem necessary:
A change of topic was the desperate but obvious...
...fact, he felt the same way. "Sure," he said.
Missy smiled at him, and Thomas knew he'd have made this same decision a thousand times over.
***
Thomas couldn't sleep. He was wired. Whatever switch in the brain there is that let's sleep come was not toggling, and Thomas's eyes felt...
...she just opened her little fingers, prying free one at the time, and allowed the dice, at their own pace, to tumble over onto the table.
***
"Verily, the crimson poppy hides within itself the black mark of death, yet is the wandering eye ensnared upon its comely petals...
...or attitude. The men needed to see hope, to see strength and confidence. He would be a pillar of these, that could be seen by anyone who looked.
***
Daniel expected to go out into the main room and find dreary faces reflecting on the impending danger. Instead he heard laughter. Boots...