Tag Archives: character

Monday Musings: It ALWAYS Feels Good To Finish a Book

Posted on April 1, 2024 by dbjackson

I could have ended this post at the title. That really is the point. I have been writing fiction for close to thirty years. I have finished more than thirty novels and as many pieces of short fiction, and yes, … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings, part III — The 60% Wall

Posted on June 28, 2023 by dbjackson

Today, I add to my series of posts about “Beginnings, Middles, and Endings,” with a continued focus on the vast middle of the novel. If you wish to go back and read my first two essays in this feature on … Continue reading →

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Monday Musings: What We’re Watching These Days

Posted on June 26, 2023 by dbjackson

Today’s post is a bit late, for which I apologize. It also offers a break from some of the more weighty topics I’ve covered in my Monday posts. I sometimes feel that I get too serious with my essays week … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: Trust Yourself. No, Really.

Posted on May 10, 2023 by dbjackson

Trust your reader. This is editor speak for “trust yourself.” It is something I say often to many of the writers I edit. But what does it mean? I have had my own lesson in “trust your reader” in recent … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: When To Fight an Edit, and When To Let it Go

Posted on April 5, 2023 by dbjackson

I know my knee-jerk response is not always my wisest response. All of us who have gone through the editorial process are familiar with the conundrum: We want to work with our editors. We want to cultivate reputations for being … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: My Best Mistakes, Part I

Posted on February 8, 2023 by dbjackson

A new month, a new blog series. Not that I’m committing to doing a series every month. Really, I’m not . . . . [Sigh] What have I done . . . ? Over the course of my career, which … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: “Hidden Brain,” Perception, and Fiction

Posted on October 5, 2022 by dbjackson

On a recent drive I began listening to the Hidden Brain podcast, with the brilliant Shankar Vedantam. I had listened to scattered episodes before, but never in a systematic way. But this was a long drive and I wound up … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: It’s All Connected

Posted on September 28, 2022 by dbjackson

One more post about my teaching weekend at the Hampton Roads Writers Conference . . . . As I believe I mentioned last week, I taught four classes at the event. The topics were: point of view, character development, world … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: Hampton Roads Writers Conference, and the Hardest Writing Topic to Teach (For Me)

Posted on September 21, 2022 by dbjackson

This week I head to the Hampton Roads Writers Conference in Virginia Beach. I’ll be teaching several workshops over the three days I’m there — a two-hour master class on “Point of View and Voice,” a ninety-minute class on “Character … Continue reading →

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Professional Wednesday: Once More Unto The Breach — To Outline or Not, Redux

Posted on September 14, 2022 by dbjackson

After attending DragonCon and speaking on panels about various aspects of writing, I have found myself thinking—yet again—about the age-old debate between those who outline their books and those who don’t. Or, between planners and pantsers, in the parlance of … Continue reading →

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