My hero whistles. It came as a surprise to me. Yes, I don’t do extensive characters sketches–my characters evolve as I write. And this isn’t the first time one of my heroes whistled. So why did my current hero Trent’s trait surprise me this time? It’s not the fact he whistled, but how he whistles. [...]

In discovery phase I, I do enough research to get me launched on a story–it’s the prestory writing stuff where I read a bunch of books and surf the net and acquaint myself with my characters’ jobs, story setting, etc. After that I wing it and don’t delve back into research until those blank lines [...]

I’m pleased to report I’ve started the new story. And got it named. The working title is Hello, Chaos. Oddly enough that pretty much sums up my life the past week. Family doctor appointments can suck away so much time–judging from the other faces in the waiting rooms, nobody was thrilled to sit endlessly waiting [...]

Other than having a solid goal, motivation and conflict in mind for the major characters, I don’t do extensive plotting before I begin a story. But I do I take a page from Amy and ponder a lot about characters and plot. Starting a new story is a challange I absolutely love. It’s like having [...]