The pull to reach the summit of action in a novel or story requires the writer to look within.
More than that we must reach down into those dark places where fears and hidden joys lurk.
It is here when connecting with our those aspects of life that frighten us we uncover the yearnings and desires that motivate and drive our protagonists and supporting cast.
Of Dark Places, Irrevocable Decisions, and Transubstantiation… Read More »
My daughter recently stated that she hopes that my husband and I live to a ripe old age and that we die together, much like Noah and Allie in the movie based on The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks. My daughter had just finished reading Spark’s novel, now a movie, Dear John.
That’s the great thing about reading books. They awaken us to parts of ourselves, hopes dreams and wishes, and those held for us by loved ones.
That my daughter, not yet 25, could offer me such a gift I find astounding. Most children, and rightfully so, want their parents alive for as long as possible.
Saying this to my daughter, she responded with, “I can handle my life, take care of myself as long as I know that you and Daddy are together somewhere in the universe, even if I’m not with you.”
Dear John, A Daughter’s Wish and Moments of Awakening… Read More »
Reaching that point where the protagonist has made the change, we, as writers feel differently.
We see the world of our novel from another level.
Ideally we come to hold those dimensions of personality regarding our central character(s) come in greater clarity and understanding.
And yet this is also a place where we can get to know ourselves better as individuals, not simply as persons who write.
Of Clarity and Understanding, Guide and Map, Epiphany and Plot… Read More »
Leaving the world as it is, and entering the border between the world as it was, and presently exists in the newly leveraged chaos of change requires courage and faith. It also asks for willingness to acknowledge that one has entered the unknown.
Like our protagonists, each time we venture to write a new story or novel we exit the comfort zone of what we have accomplished, and depart once more into that land of yearning and desire.
Of Borderlands, Willingness and Shifts in Consciousness… Read More »
Like Adam and Eve whom God warned not to eat of the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, the protagonists of our stories often encounter box they are to leave closed, lovers whose lips theirs are not to touch, forests in which they are encouraged not to wander alone, galas and balls that on attending they must exit by the stroke of midnight, and alas sea witches with whom they should strike no bargains.
And yet our central characters push the envelope open creating a second upheaval.
Of Identity, Persona and Naïveté… Read More »
A teacher under whom I studied one said that, “Writing is the mind on the page.”
Now a published author, I often wonder when reading, whose mind does what I am
Every good story possesses not only a character, who through the author’s lucid and vibrant descriptions, draws us to root for her or him, but who also reflects aspect of ourselves with whom we have yet to make peace, or accept. The protagonists of these stories also face a formidable opponent, a living, and breathing
Of Talismans, Symbols and Goals Read More »