Stormrider!

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Writers And Readers Websites Wednesday - The website of Writer M Pax

Blame Oregon! It brings us writer of fantastic realms, M Pax. Her website brings us updates on her writing endeavors, offers a blog and is gearing up now for the annual Realms Faire. This prolific writer offers a newsletter and yes, I've been hooked by her two novel series, The Backworlds,





http://amzn.to/1p2W36E


 . First book in each series is free on Amazon. But don't stop there! The series will hook you with the imaginative and creative writing of the author. She writes of fascinating worlds and other realities. I'm on to The Initiate in the Rifter series and looking forward to the third.

Take a little time, check it all out!  Visit her site today and don't forget to come back and tell everyone here how much you enjoyed the venture into other realms...

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

The Characters We Create – A Writer’s World




Writers take us to many places from far off lands, to city streets, to other dimensions to outter space. And it’s interesting and entertaining and fun.
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They also take us other places with their development of character. The inner world can be as entertaining, chilling, exciting and gripping as the outer world.

Whether we writers realize it or not, we have to cultivate a basic understanding of what it is people really want and need. There’s a sort of a basic five.

Human beings are a predictable lot and it makes sense that we are. We need things in life  to keep things running smoothly, things like:
Safety and security- ever had your house broken into? Yeah, like that. It’s a basic need that we feel secure and safe in our lives, that those around us we love like friends, family, even pets are in that same safe space. 

We’re always looking for love – sometimes in the wrong places, right? We need love from spouses, family, close friends and even, again, those pets we take into our homes. People need to feel they belong somewhere to someone or something. Thus, families, organizations, churches, whatever.

People also need to secure basic biological needs. We need to eat. And that ties into safety and love. We need to not be in pain, to be physically mobile, all the things we barely give a thought to throughout our day if we’re basically sound and healthy.

Folks crave recognition from the simplest pat on the head from an employer to the full blown power mad dictator.  I’d classify that as a need. Along with that comes the need to reach our potential and strive for and reach some sort of personal fulfillment.

But sometimes, as authors, a drastic shift in morality is exactly what we want for our characters. This kind of change doesn’t occur easily, but it can happen under the right circumstances. This is where basic needs come into play.

Take any one of the above things away from a person or hold it just out of reach and there’s going to be created a seismic shift in the  personality of a character to get that need back.

Just staying alive is the most crucial need – Life in danger, loved ones in danger always strikes a chord.

But it goes deeper. What if the main character is a moral stand-up kind of guy trying to protect his (or her) family? What if there’s no cooperation from authorities and suddenly that person has to consider and do things that normally wouldn’t be considered? What changes happen? What if a city slicker is thrown into a wilderness survival situation – and there’s a person intent on murder hot on his heels? You’re removing his safety and security and just staying alive doesn’t seem so simple any more.

We writers are constantly throwing curves at our characters. It’s our job. It’s through adversity of some kind that the inner workings of our characters are revealed.

So know what the needs of your characters are. Know their moral compasses. Then pick one or more of the above needs, take them away or jeopardize them and play with your characters heads. How many times have we all thought, “I would do….” Whatever in that circumstance? Put your characters to the test and take your readers along for the nail-biting ride. You can chortle heh, heh, heh if you like while your characters flounder for their new equilibrium.
Think about it and give us a few examples of need removal you’ve experimented with.



Writers take us to many places from far off lands, to city streets, to other dimensions to out space. And it’s interesting and entertaining and fun.

They also take us other places with their development of character. The inner world can be as entertaining, chilling, exciting and gripping as the outer world.

Whether we writers realize it or not, we have to cultivate a basic understanding of what it is people really want and need. There’s a sort of a basic five.

Human beings are a predictable lot and it makes sense that we are. We need things in life  to keep things running smoothly, things like:
Safety and security- ever had your house broken into? Yeah, like that. It’s a basic need that we feel secure and safe in our lives, that those around us we love like friends, family, even pets are in that same safe space. 

We’re always looking for love – sometimes in the wrong places, right? We need love from spouses, family, close friends and even, again, those pets we take into our homes. People need to feel they belong somewhere to someone or something. Thus, families, organizations, churches, whatever.

People also need to secure basic biological needs. We need to eat. And that ties into safety and love. We need to not be in pain, to be physically mobile, all the things we barely give a thought to throughout our day if we’re basically sound and healthy.

Folks crave recognition from the simplest pat on the head from an employer to the full blown power mad dictator.  I’d classify that as a need. Along with that comes the need to reach our potential and strive for and reach some sort of personal fulfillment.

But sometimes, as authors, a drastic shift in morality is exactly what we want for our characters. This kind of change doesn’t occur easily, but it can happen under the right circumstances. This is where basic needs come into play.

Take any one of the above things away from a person or hold it just out of reach and there’s going to be created a seismic shift in the  personality of a character to get that need back.

Just staying alive is the most crucial need – Life in danger, loved ones in danger always strikes a chord.

But it goes deeper. What if the main character is a moral stand-up kind of guy trying to protect his (or her) family? What if there’s no cooperation from authorities and suddenly that person has to consider and do things that normally wouldn’t be considered? What changes happen? What if a city slicker is thrown into a wilderness survival situation – and there’s a person intent on murder hot on his heels? You’re removing his safety and security and just staying alive doesn’t seem so simple any more.

We writers are constantly throwing curves at our characters. It’s our job. It’s through adversity of some kind that the inner workings of our characters are revealed.

So know what the needs of your characters are. Know their moral compasses. Then pick one or more of the above needs, take them away or jeopardize them and play with your characters heads. How many times have we all thought, “I would do….” Whatever in that circumstance? Put your characters to the test and take your readers along for the nail-biting ride. You can chortle heh, heh, heh if you like while your characters flounder for their new equilibrium.
Think about it and give us a few examples of need removal you’ve experimented with.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - the Blog Of Writer Lorna Suzuki

Another great writer heard from - Lorna Suzuki has a great blog and site for interested readers and writers. A great place to visit (I did, before and after she kindly interviewed me for her blog). 

http://amzn.to/1wkrWODSimply named "All Kinds Of Writing" that's pretty much what it is. She profiles writers weekly so you can get an insight into what makes them tick. She connects us to YouTube videos of her travels and adventures, talks about her books (The Imago Chronicles) and the upcoming film version and talks about the very fascinating fantasy world she's created. Visit her site, poke around for a while and don't forget to follow her on twitter at @LornaSuzuki 



Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Writers Have Problems



Writers have problems.

Big surprise, right?

Well, the life of the self-employed and self-motivated can be very much different from going to an office at given hours. Freeing in many senses, but then there are the other problems.

For example when a writer is confronting emotional issues ranging from simply not being in the mood to depression or just reacting to distractions like a dog fixated on squirrels, it can signal lots of problems or merely a bump in the road.

If you find you’re hardly ever ‘in the mood’ to write whatever you have before you maybe you need to rethink this whole writer thing. Perhaps it isn’t for you after all. No harm, no foul, just think about it.

http://amzn.to/13LG2qI


If you’re incredibly easily distracted it’s another problem to think about. If there are problems going on in your life maybe it would help to deal with those first or even to go see a counselor of some species.  If there are ALWAYS problems going on in your life that prevent you from writing, then really, seek some kind of help.

Though personally I have to say I find writing can help with mental blips. Going into another world of your creation, using focus, putting words down in neat rows can help to get you moving forward. It may not be easy to just start writing and it might be crap what you throw on the blank page, but it would well be of great help in getting past those blips and bumps.

Another problem writers have are impediments to our writing. I mean things happen, right? Your kid broke his leg and you have to run him to the emergency room. No writing today. The way things are going with climate change maybe a forest fire is heading your way. Maybe no writing for a couple of weeks. Maybe your computer crashed big time. God knows how long it will take to get it fixed. Maybe YOU broke your arm and are having a helluva time typing. Six to eight weeks to heal. The dog got bitten by God knows what – run for the vet! Hmmm.

Okay, okay, things like that are hard to dodge and they can get you off track for a while, but think about it, are you letting other, smaller things intrude on your writing time, all the time? Like the neighbor dropping over, or the phone ringing, or paying too much time to texting? If you want to continue writing you’re going to have to get the upper hand and take steps to ensure your writing time is protected.

But you’ve been told this before I’m sure, in many ways, on many blogs so I won’t go into detail on that subject.

Writers. We have problems. We are problems. If there’s a writer in your life be patient, supportive and maybe occasionally lock us in a little room where we can do nothing else but write. Your efforts will be greatly appreciated!

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Good Books-Great Books: Readers and Writers Together



“Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once.”
― Stephen King

Good man, Stephen, and any reader or writer worth his or her salt will agree with him whole-heartedly. 

Readers don’t want a dump of info all at one time. They don’t want to be given every little inside tidbit that would ruin the ending of the story for them. They want to be teased and tricked, drawn into the story, to become a part of it. 

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Writers want to provide them with just that. A tease, a hook and some great entertainment. 

So where does that leave everyone? 

In a very good place. How many times do the giver and receiver actually agree on what they’re looking for and trying to do? 

Consider the great books you’ve read.  Even the not so great ones. There are hints and suggestions as you go along and part of the enjoyment of reading is guessing what’s coming next. 

From the writer’s side part of that same enjoyment is hooking the reader, giving that reader just enough to make him or her want to keep reading; need to know how it’s all going to turn out. So how do writers do that? That’s not so easy to explain. You could say they create fascinating, engaging characters against an engrossing setting with an intriguing problem to be overcome. 

I could say that and probably very few people would know what the heck I was talking about really. No, it’s much more complicated than that. Each writer is different in his or her approach. Some create detailed outlines, other fly by the seat of their pants. Some write with words flowing, others have a movie running inside their heads. “Just open a vein” some writers say. Others quip, “stare at the blank screen until blood beads on your forehead.” 

Readers just have to enjoy and maybe leave a favorable or not so favorable review. You guys have it easy. And, when Writers are in reader mode they have it easy to. 

Then there’s writer mode and things change. If you’re a reader aiming at writer status there are a few things you should remember. For starters learn the language you’re writing in. No, it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it can’t be sloppy. Read other writers you enjoy. Get hints and tips on style and story crafting, but don’t go the plagiarism route. You’re creative. You don’t even have to consider taking someone else’s work. But reading the work of the others can give you a very good feel for story structure, dialog flow and what genre you feel most comfortable in writing. Get to know your prospective audience. Lots of readers read in many genres, but each genre is a world onto itself. Learn all about that world. 

Readers – well I’d like to urge you to support the writers generally and specifically the ones you really enjoy reading. Think about posting a review somewhere when you really enjoy a book. Talk about what you liked and maybe didn’t like. 

Writers and readers are a team. So come on, tell us what you love about reading, writing and what authors you enjoy reading – and if you have the time, why. The more we share the better we become.

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