Alright, I am a little over 25,000 words into NaNoWriMo... a bit behind! Have to step up to writing 2k words per day to finish on time... challenge accepted :P. I hope you are all doing well! Any updates on your NaNo? Let me know!
-Matt
(Follow me on Twitter! @MattTaylor1776)
Showing posts with label Audio Book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Audio Book. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Friday, October 10, 2014
Starting up a second blog with a friend!
A friend and I are starting up a second blog pertaining to writing, "Wordsmiths Foundry". It will be launching by Monday! We will have frequent guest articles, and will be posting two days per week: Monday, and Friday. Check it out!
Thanks,
Matt!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Writing Interesting Characters: Quirks and Hobbies.
Alright, so one thing that I hear talked about a lot, is character creation and making characters that seem well rounded and not flat.
One interesting thing I have learned to do through the various books I have read on the topic, as well as the pod casts and videos I have watched is to give all of my characters interesting quirks or hobbies.
By giving a character a hobby, coin collecting for instance, you add a new dimension to that character. They aren't just existing with only the current happenings of the story to define them, but have something they care about besides the problems in the plot that add more depth. One I have used is dirt collecting. In my fantasy novels, the first mate of the ship -who is a dwarf- collects a little vial of dirt whenever he travels to a new location.
Now to you and me, dirt may seem boring or pointless. But it makes that character seem a bit more real. Why do they collect the dirt? Who knows, he just likes to do it. But I can relate to collecting and so can plenty of others. In real life I like to collect the squished pennies from the penny crushers whenever I travel somewhere new. It gives me something to look back on and remember fun trips I have gone on. My dwarf happens to keep all of his dirt vials in his cabin, on a rack, so maybe he likes to sit down and think about past adventures. Plus, dwarfs and earth (maybe a bit too cliche), am I right?
Besides that, you can use their hobbies to introduce new plot complications, or solutions. Maybe the dirt collector really knows his stuff, so if there's an issue where soil must be identified he can help out and still be believable. Maybe his collection goes missing - bam! new task for the characters to do. Time to catch the dirt-napper.
Anyway, that's just a quick little thought I had on the topic. Wanted to share it with you all, nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, but useful.
Happy writing!
Matt
One interesting thing I have learned to do through the various books I have read on the topic, as well as the pod casts and videos I have watched is to give all of my characters interesting quirks or hobbies.
By giving a character a hobby, coin collecting for instance, you add a new dimension to that character. They aren't just existing with only the current happenings of the story to define them, but have something they care about besides the problems in the plot that add more depth. One I have used is dirt collecting. In my fantasy novels, the first mate of the ship -who is a dwarf- collects a little vial of dirt whenever he travels to a new location.
Now to you and me, dirt may seem boring or pointless. But it makes that character seem a bit more real. Why do they collect the dirt? Who knows, he just likes to do it. But I can relate to collecting and so can plenty of others. In real life I like to collect the squished pennies from the penny crushers whenever I travel somewhere new. It gives me something to look back on and remember fun trips I have gone on. My dwarf happens to keep all of his dirt vials in his cabin, on a rack, so maybe he likes to sit down and think about past adventures. Plus, dwarfs and earth (maybe a bit too cliche), am I right?
Besides that, you can use their hobbies to introduce new plot complications, or solutions. Maybe the dirt collector really knows his stuff, so if there's an issue where soil must be identified he can help out and still be believable. Maybe his collection goes missing - bam! new task for the characters to do. Time to catch the dirt-napper.
Anyway, that's just a quick little thought I had on the topic. Wanted to share it with you all, nothing earth shattering or revolutionary, but useful.
Happy writing!
Matt
Monday, September 22, 2014
Lies of Locke Lamora
Been listening to this on audiobook through the Audible App on my iPhone!
Great story, very interesting. At first, I didn't think I would like it. But after a while it really got moving and caught my interest. If you like heists, this is a great book. Takes place in a setting that kind of feels like Venetian Italy, it has canals with the gondolas and all that good stuff.
I don't really want to say more for fear of spoiling anything, so go ahead and give it a listen. Let me know what you think about it!
-Matt
Great story, very interesting. At first, I didn't think I would like it. But after a while it really got moving and caught my interest. If you like heists, this is a great book. Takes place in a setting that kind of feels like Venetian Italy, it has canals with the gondolas and all that good stuff.
I don't really want to say more for fear of spoiling anything, so go ahead and give it a listen. Let me know what you think about it!
-Matt
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