Archive for the 'Jessica Page Morrell' Category
Don’t Name Your Kids After Fictional Characters
As a Game of Thrones fan, (more the books than the HBO series) I could have warned parents not to name their daughters Daenerys. Unlike many people, she was my least favorite character, but there was also a great deal of foreshadowing from the get-go indicating she was damaged, unstable, and blood-thirsty. And, of course, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Write with your eyes like painters, with your ears like musicians, with your feet like dancers. You are the truthsayer with quill and torch. Write with your tongues on fire. ~ Gloria Anzaldua
Read the rest of this entry »The Writer’s Way: A secret to creating characters: Enduring Traits
A rainy week in the Pacific Northwest with snow on the way (hooray!) and I’m starting slow today, drinking my morning Earl Grey tea. In my book Bullies, Bastards, & Bitches: How to Write the Bad Guys in Fiction I dove deep into the topic of character traits. I explained that main characters will possess […]
Read the rest of this entry »For Portland-area writers: join me at a Power Writing class
It’s still foggy here this morning and I enjoy gazing out at the contrast of the fog muffled against the tall Douglas firs that line this property. I’ve got ongoing editing projects and my own projects so yesterday when I was driving to meet a client for lunch I was ‘writing’ in my head. Later […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Writer’s Way: you need to care deeply about your protagonist
It’s impossible to write about a main character you don’t care about. And care deeply. When I say care, you can actually pity the poor sod {Quoyle in The Shipping News}, or disagree with his morality as when you write an anti-hero like Scarlett O’Hara or Tyrion Lannister of the Game of Thrones series. […]
Read the rest of this entry »The Writer’s Way: Your Ideas Won’t Always Work Out
Story ideas often come to writers as a fleeting spark of an idea or feeling. Maybe it comes from meeting an interesting stranger. Maybe it comes from a childhood memory or looking back at a life-altering trip. Or perhaps you’re trying to rewrite a difficult situation you’ve always wished you’d handled better. Maybe you spot […]
Read the rest of this entry »A new year, a new word
Fresh beginnings are so promising aren’t they? The new, unknown and possible all before us. An empty road leading toward the future. Or like an untrammeled wilderness in the cold, an empty sky, a blank page. If January 1 is your blank book, what do you intend to fill it with and how will you […]
Read the rest of this entry »Science Fiction and Fantasy Mix Familiar and New to Create Language
Science fiction and fantasy writers are often burdened with inventing a vocabulary for their story world that deepens and explains an alternate reality. Because a crucial part of any culture is its language. They’re called constructed languages. The best methods of using language to authenticate your fiction often lies in blending the familiar and new, […]
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