Plan complicated quirks, flaws and weaknesses in your whole cast of fictional characters. But then make these quality have consequences. Santino, Sonny Corleone, the oldest son in The Godfather was impulsive and a hothead, but he was also a loving father and husband and believed in protecting women and children. When his pregnant sister Connie […]
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Jessica Page Morrell' Category
Here’s one for Motivational Mondays
You know, I do believe in magic. I was born and raised in a magic time, in a magic town, among magicians. Oh, most everybody else didn’t realize we lived in that web of magic, connected by silver filaments of chance and circumstance. But I knew it all along. When I was twelve […]
Read the rest of this entry »Scholarship
I am offering a scholarship to my upcoming From Idea to Story workshop on Saturday. The information about it is a few posts below. Also, the autumn The Writing Life newsletter has been emailed. If you didn’t receive it or need to update your email address please let me know. Keep writing, keep dreaming, have […]
Read the rest of this entry »Slightly Crazy: Map Your Course to Survive NaNoWriMo
I’ve heard NaNoWriMo referred to as the writers’ version of running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain; a tequila hangover, a 30-day migraine, and an icy plunge into Lake Michigan in January, except you can’t escape from the water. It teaches you to show up to the page. it teaches you how immersive and powerful […]
Read the rest of this entry »From Idea to Story workshop on November 8
November 8, 9-4:30 Tabor Space, Portland, Oregon Writers have long grappled with the problem of taking a flash of inspiration through the marathon process of completing a finished work. That flash is your premise. But a premise on its own is flimsy, […]
Read the rest of this entry »Registration still open for Claim Your Story Writing Conference
October 4 You can find the details for the conference here. Here’s the short version: a day of workshops and inspiration for $125 at the Lithia Springs Resort, one of the most charming places you’ll ever set foot in. Melissa Hart is the keynote speaker. I’ll also be teaching along with Midge Raymond. Includes a […]
Read the rest of this entry »Avoiding the Perils of Expositional Dialogue
There comes a time in many stories when a character must deliver needed information via dialogue. It’s called expositional dialogue—a conversation with a whole lot of facts or explaining going on. It provides the back story and details necessary to understand for the story. Trouble is, after not too long these dialogue exchanges […]
Read the rest of this entry »Practical
I was just talking with a lovely, talented author about a novel she’s working on. She’s having doubts and we were brainstorming how the story could unfold. I started suggesting solutions, rattling them off…..as I tend to do. And she laughed and said, “But this is so practical.” “Well, yes. I am practical. Sometimes solutions […]
Read the rest of this entry »Quick Take: Get into your body
Our minds are crowded little places and we too often sit at our computers our breaths shallow and shoulders riding high. Or, after hours spent alone in your head it feels like an echo chamber. Yet your inner knowing is connected to your heart beat, your breath, your bones. The more you write from your […]
Read the rest of this entry »Characters We’ve Never Met Before
Fiction readers want to meet story people that they cannot meet in the ordinary world. They also want these people to possess complicated world views and unexpected moral codes. The cast members of Mario Puzo’s The Godfather are splendid examples of this. It’s one of the first novels that depicted mafia families in a sympathetic […]
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