Monday, December 22, 2014
Merry Christmas - Classic Story - Unwrap Party by Jordan Shelbourne
Merry Christmas from David and Davinci Strykker. This year, Jordan Shelbourne provided the present. Here's another classic story we wish we'd written: Unwrap Party by Jordan Shelbourne.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Chris Hadfield's "Space Oddity" music video filmed on the International Space Station
Here's a music video of astronaut Chris Hadfield's unique version of David Bowie's song "Space Oddity" from the International Space Station(ISS).
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Help! I'm blocked!
Are you suffering from writer's block while wrinting a story? Unsure what will happen next?
The question isn't: Which way do I want the characters to go? The question is: Which way do the characters want to go? Based on the current situation, the characters' backstories, and their personalities, what is the natural thing for them to do next?
Blocks mostly happen to me when I'm trying to force the characters to act out of character. If the characters don't match the plot you have in mind, then either the characters or the plot needs to change.
As a confirmed seat-of-the-pants writer, I almost always change the plot.
I rarely change the characters; often the problem is that I've misunderstood the character. For example, one character was such a good bullshitter that he had me convinced he was much smarter than he really was. Once I understood he was an idiot outside of his narrow specialty, he did stupid things which made the originally-envisioned plot possible.
The last resort is to throw away the story :-(
It may help for you to write descriptions of your characters for your own reference. These descriptions will never be published. (Although in my case, writing the descriptions tends to
magically develop backstory which may turn into prequels or flashbacks.) Why are your characters the way you described them? What happened to them, before the start of your story, that made them the way they are? Now you know how they will act in a given situation.
The question isn't: Which way do I want the characters to go? The question is: Which way do the characters want to go? Based on the current situation, the characters' backstories, and their personalities, what is the natural thing for them to do next?
Blocks mostly happen to me when I'm trying to force the characters to act out of character. If the characters don't match the plot you have in mind, then either the characters or the plot needs to change.
As a confirmed seat-of-the-pants writer, I almost always change the plot.
I rarely change the characters; often the problem is that I've misunderstood the character. For example, one character was such a good bullshitter that he had me convinced he was much smarter than he really was. Once I understood he was an idiot outside of his narrow specialty, he did stupid things which made the originally-envisioned plot possible.
The last resort is to throw away the story :-(
It may help for you to write descriptions of your characters for your own reference. These descriptions will never be published. (Although in my case, writing the descriptions tends to
magically develop backstory which may turn into prequels or flashbacks.) Why are your characters the way you described them? What happened to them, before the start of your story, that made them the way they are? Now you know how they will act in a given situation.
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