BookingIt

I've been in the writing world for over five years now and I've known for a long time that if characters can have a good, honest talk and work out their troubles, then the plot conflict isn't strong enough. But I hadn't thought of this in the form of assumptions until a reader made a comment about a book and how she enjoyed that the characters didn't just assume things about each other. A character's goal has to be impeded by more than her thinking the other character (antagonist/hero) wouldn't like the goal. The internal conflict should be more than her thinking the other character will disapprove or hate her. I adore internal conflicts but they have to have a concrete external conflict to make them believable. If the conflict isn't believable, or worse, could be cleared with an honest conversation, then this hampers the tension of the story in a big way. The reader might not care about turning the pages to find out what happens. I know for a ...

I've been eagerly awaiting this book and Katie's writing didn't disappoint! The characters were interesting but I really enjoyed Katie's prose the most. It's strong and unique. I'll definitely be picking up her next book. I whipped through this book! Williamson is a new author to me but I thought the pacing of the story was great. Have I read/watched clone stuff before? Sure, but the characters came across very real and I enjoyed the dialogue. Looking forward to more by her! This was a sweet story. I particularly loved the secondary characters, esp. the jilted fiance. I'd love to see him with his own story because I think he'd have a great character arc. The best friend was a lot of fun too. I'm looking forward to reading more of Beth's work . What drew me to this story, besides her being a blogging buddy, was the premise. :-) Very hooky! The two books below are not my normal type reads but I enjoyed both of them. Besides being ...

I read a wonderful article in the RWR recently about theme and how it plays into books/stories. According to the article, theme is the passion and question inside the writer that finds its way into all her stories. Beneath voice and plot is theme. I'm not detail-oriented and I'm not a plotter, but after having a few manuscripts of different genres and tones under my belt, I have an idea of what the overarching theme of my stories is (note: love is not necessarily a theme). Do you think about Theme in your writing? Do you analyze it in books?

My writer friends and family know I have a soft spot for "bad boy" heroes in fiction. I've tried to analyze why and have had some interesting insights into myself, but recently I had a major breakthrough. I'm watching a series which is out of my norm, but have found myself hooked by the storyline...and the "bad boy". One night while watching a scene between "good guy" hero and heroine, I became aware of this odd feeling in my chest. A discomfort. And then I recognized what it was. Distrust. That's right. I prefer "bad boys" because I distrust Knights in Shining Armor. You know, the good boy heroes who live atop a shining steed, so high in fact that I know their fall is going to be a hard one. What I like is that while a "bad boy" starts in one place (usually empty, lonely, and ugly), I know that by the end of the story, the "bad boy" is going to have redemption. He's going to be happy at the end, and ...