Cameron Montague Taylor

Fantasy Author & Fiction Editor

writing exercises

Killing Darlings

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This week, I’m trying something new on the blog: a segment called Dear Cee, in which I answer I question I received via email, DM, comment, or otherwise. The first Dear Cee is from a colleague who’s wrestling with a Contemporary Romance manuscript and trying to work out whether/how a scene ought to be cut.

If you’ve ever wondered why a developmental editor might suggest a scene-level cut—or how an editor might go about performing one—read on!

Dear Cee,

I have a question about “killing darlings.”

Let’s say an author’s manuscript has a long chapter in which the FMC (female main character) and her two friends go out to party on a boat. The only thing that happens during the trip is a conversation about the FMC’s ex-boyfriend and her hot new (MMC) neighbor. The chapter shows the closeness of their relationships, but doesn’t progress the plot or add any tension.

Should a chapter like this be cut? My gut says ‘yes,’ but I’m not sure how to approach this with the author!

You’re almost certainly right, so the questions are:

  • How much of that information is necessary to character development / to understand the rest of the story?
  • Could the author cut the entire chapter and not lose anything meaningful? (in that case, chop chop)
  • Do we need character and relationship progression there, but the scene fails to add anything to the story because it’s a ‘diner’ conversation (ie: had while eating/drinking/hanging out with little external motion)?

I suspect the issue is a combination of the above three factors. Granted, I haven’t read the source text myself, so I’m making guesses, but I’ll go out on a limb and pinpoint the following issues:

  • The reader probably doesn’t need to know all of the information that gets presented in the friends’ dialogue
  • Most of the dialogue is snappy back-and-forth, ie: literal reportage of what the author heard in their head while they were writing
  • This snappy back-and-forth feels like talking heads by the end of the scene, which drowns out important or interesting character-building information.

These tend to be ‘darling’ scenes. They’re fun, the author enjoyed writing them, they show the characters interacting and having a good time. We’re loath to cut these moments in our writing because they give us the warm-fuzzies, and it’s easy to conflate I love this scene with I need this scene. Self-editing is hard!

But your author would be happy to know that, while I’m leaning towards ‘cut it,’ there could be enough important contained to justify keeping (and rewriting) it. If you suspect that’s the case, I have another set of questions:

  • What aspect of the Big Three elements of story (plot, character, worldbuilding) are advanced in this scene?
  • Can those elements be worked into surrounding scenes in order to chop this one?
  • If not, is there a more conflict-driven, high-stakes way to approach the reveal of this vital information?

On the surface, this scene sounds like a candidate for either a wholesale cut or a drastic reduction: it moves slowly, it only advances one element of the Big Three, it lacks conflict/stakes. But—if this is the only in-scene relationship development between the FMC and her friends, cutting it might leave their friendship on shaky legs.

What if the author was right to include a character-building scene, but the execution is flawed? What would need to change in order to turn this ‘darling’ scene into one that drives the narrative forward?

Kill your darlings, then bring them back to life

Like zombies. But better.

When giving ‘darlings’ a new lease on life, we must identify what information the author conveys. Mark and set aside important dialogue exchanges, moments of action, and snippets of interiority that need to make it through to the next draft.

Next, take a step back. Look at those important bits, and ask the author “how else can you string together these pieces?”

I’m operating under the assumption, based on the nature of the question, that this is a ‘bonding’ scene. These types of scenes often cause problems, not because character bonding is irrelevant to plot, but because of how the bonding happens. The easiest way for characters to share information is through dialogue, which is why we end up with so many sit-down conversations in our rough drafts. But sit-down conversations tend to drag, and moreover, they aren’t the fastest way to show the bond those characters have.

People bond through hardship, which is another way of saying conflict—ie: the driving engine of narrative traction. When adding conflict into a dialogue heavy scene, many authors reach first for a natural next step: make the characters have an argument.

This is a possible solution, but it’s often a trap. If the scene is already too dialogue-heavy, adding more dialogue (even if it’s high-conflict dialogue) won’t necessarily fix it.

So, how else can we add conflict into a dialogue-heavy scene?

  • A ticking clock
  • An obstacle

In other words: incorporate an action element to replace, contextualize, and balance the scene’s dialogue.

The resurrection

When I edit, I ensure the author understands 1) why I believe the structure of a scene isn’t serving their story, and 2) offer multiple solutions for how the author can address the issue. I try to recommend a way to ‘save’ a scene unless I believe, from the bottom of my soul, that it has to hit the chopping block. In this case, I’d give an example of a way to add a ticking clock or obstacle in order to provide the tension necessary to carry a relationship-building scene.

In this case, let’s say:

  • The FMC has promised to dog-sit for the MMC that evening (ticking clock), and
  • The boat’s engine breaks down (obstacle).

Though in some genres, these obstacles will be life-threatening, they absolutely don’t have to be! All we need is a little shock or scare that gives the characters a reason to rally together, bond (or bond further), and reveal information in an organic way that doesn’t read like a conversation included for the reader’s benefit.

For the purpose of the example, let’s say the boat’s engine breaks down. This would give the characters a reason to talk about the FMC’s hot new neighbor (MMC), because if they can’t get back to shore in time, she’s going to ruin his night by failing to show up to dogsit for him. Even better—what if they don’t have cell reception, so she can’t even let him know what’s happening?

Was the FMC’s ex good with engines? Does she momentarily bemoan their breakup only for her friends to leap on the offensive and remind her what a no-good cheater he was?

Sure, this could be a scary moment: they’re adrift and panicking as the sun starts to set and the waves get bigger. Or, it could be a lighthearted, zany adventure as they find a handheld VHF, charge it, and make a radio call to the coast guard. What if, when the tow boat comes, the captain is young and attractive, and one of the friends flirts outrageously with him—and teases the FMC when she won’t join in on the fun, saying her ‘heart is spoken for’ by her hot neighbor?

There’s a reason why friend groups often get involved in antics in books/movies/tv: antics are fun, they provide an in-scene way to show relationship dynamics to the reader, and they almost always result in a conflict the group needs to overcome in order to reach their scene-level goal.

Tie it all in

To recap: the best thing for the story might be to cut the scene entirely. But if that’s not the case, the author must find a way to tie the events of that scene into either an external plot or subplot, creating moments of action that have a ripple effect on scenes. The easiest ways to add tension are through a ticking clock or an obstacle—preferably both!

This author’s order of operations becomes:

  1. Identify a goal for the FMC that will carry her through the boat scene and into the rest of the story. Does this goal—or a sub-goal beneath it—carry a ticking clock? Even better.
  2. Put an obstacle into the boat scene that will force failure on the ticking clock goal.
  3. Hijinks ensue as the friends rally around FMC to help her meet her goal.
  4. Use this as an opportunity to work the important conversation, action, and interiority that was flagged as ‘must save’ from the original draft.
  5. Allow the FMC to have a partial win (she doesn’t get stranded at sea, hooray!) with a defeat immediately chasing its heels (she is egregiously late to dog sit, so the MMC missed his evening obligation).
  6. Does the MMC get upset about this? Probably! This ties into the romantic plot’s ‘push’ factors (the MMC thinks she’s a flake; the FMC thinks he’s an uptight, unforgiving jerk).
  7. This partial defeat can also tie into the next step of the external pot (how does the FMC make it up to the MMC? This gives them an opportunity to connect further!).

Naturally, this tweak with the engine breakdown and the dog sitting might not work for the author, and that’s totally okay. In editorial work, our suggestions aren’t The Only Way to ‘fix’ a story. Instead, they’re fleshed-out examples that show the author how altering an element of the story will strengthen it, hopefully paving the way for them to plug-and-play their own solution.

The details of the change itself aren’t important. We can change them to anything: one of the FMC’s friends falls overboard and the MMC is a member of the Coast Guard, for example, or the FMC breaks something on the boat and has a blow-out fight with the friend who owns the boat, which reveals a lot about the FMC’s backstory in the process.

Whatever the author chooses, the result is the only thing that matters, and that’s a scene which reveals both the FMC’s backstory and the bond she shares with her friends, while generating conflict/stakes and connecting back to the external plot.

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The Inside/Outside Trick

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Do you struggle with talking heads or an overreliance on body language cues like smirking or eyes widening or brows furrowing when you’re writing dialogue passages? You’re not alone. It’s so tempting to reach for those easy, common body language cues, especially in early drafts.

As a developmental editor, I’ve recently realized that my advice to clients when strengthening or replacing body language descriptions always goes one of two ways. I encourage the writer to either:

  1. Zoom all the way into that character’s head, or
  2. Zoom all the way out to show the reader how they’re interacting with the setting.

I call this the inside/outside tip, and it’s all about adding richer context to dialogue by avoiding an overreliance on middle-distance description.

But why is an overreliance on body language a bad thing?

A GIF of Ursula from The Little Mermaid saying "and don't underestimate the power of body language!"
Don’t underestimate the importance of body language!

We overuse body language in fiction

Lemme start by clarifying my point: there’s nothing wrong with describing body language, and many descriptions of body language are useful, if not necessary, to our writing. But when crafting dialogue passages, we tend to lean on body language even when it isn’t the strongest possible way to convey a character’s emotion.

In particular, we often focus on facial choreography, describing the way a character’s eyes, mouth, or brows are moving. When used too often, these action beats being to feel meaningless—almost as if we plug them into dialogue passages in order to attribute the dialogue rather than enhancing it.

How important is it, really, that his brows raised?

That her eyes narrowed?

That he flashed a grin?

Though all of these cues tell us something about the character, they’re shorthand descriptions of emotion. At times, the shorthand is perfectly suitable; if the reader already understands the context, a small reminder is ideal.

At other times, however, body language cues can feel vague, repetitive, or even disruptive to the story flow.

This is particularly true when the point of view character uses body language to convey their own emotional state to the reader. Although most people are aware of how their faces move in conversation, we tend not to think too much about our micro-expressions in casual conversation. Why would our characters be any different?

Thus, when a POV narrator relies on descriptions of their own face to give the reader a window into what they’re thinking or feeling, it reads like they’re observing themselves from the outside, either

  • increasing psychic distance, or
  • creating a POV error.

How does that character know their own eyes have darkened? This implies the character can observe themselves from outside their own body, which could jolt the reader out of the story.

But… what about ‘talking heads?’

Many writers learn to incorporate abundant body language cues into their writing in order to avoid an issue called ‘talking heads.’

When we receive criticism that our characters feel like ‘talking heads’ during dialogue exchanges, it means that, while the bare facts of a conflict are conveyed through speech, the reader has no idea

  • Who these characters are
  • Where these characters are
  • What their body language is conveying.

New writers often lean on body language in order to avoid giving the reader the impression that dialogue lines are spoken by disembodied heads. Though it’s a good start, it won’t provide quite enough context; even the best-crafted body language can’t hit points #1 and #2.

Think of it this way: body language is one part of a much greater descriptive whole. It’s the connective middle between a character’s thoughts (interior) and a character’s actions (exterior).

And without the inside (thoughts) and outside (actions), the connective middle begins to lose its meaning.

So, if not through abundant body language and facial cues, how else can we enrich our dialogue and avoid talking heads?

A GIF from a music video by the Talking Heads.
The only acceptable Talking Heads

Go ‘outside’

One element of talking heads is called white room syndrome, in which the setting description is so minimal—and the characters interact so little with it—that they might as well be having a conversation in a blank, white room.

This is where ‘outside’ comes into play: give your readers a window into who your characters are and what your characters are feeling by showing their interaction with the setting.

Bear in mind, I don’t mean your character should repeatedly sip from a teacup during a sit-down meal; interactions with props can be just as meaningless as repetitive body language cues.

But could a character in the midst of an argument make tea aggressively in a Regency romance by setting cups down with a clank, stirring in sugar so hard the tea sloshes over the rim, dropping spoons with a clatter? Sure!

How your character interacts with the setting will lend context to the conversation they’re having. What other interesting interactions with setting can your character have in order to give a window into their internal world?

Can your characters argue while reorganizing a bookshelf and start slamming books into their places? Would an anxious character in a restaurant scene start organizing condiments by size and shape? While planning a heist, would the easily distracted character click a pen over and over until the hair-trigger-temper character leaps across the table to rip it out of their hands?

Going ‘outside’ of body language to show interaction with setting is a great choice for all characters, but when it comes to POV characters, we have a second option that’s just as powerful:

Go ‘inside’

By going ‘inside,’ I’m referring to a POV character’s interiority: their thoughts, judgments, and how they unpack, contextualize, and make sense of the conversation they’re having. Interiority not only deepens the connection between the reader and the character, but it can also ascribe additional meaning to a non-POV character’s words or body language.

Interiority strikes back at talking heads by showing the reader who these characters are, preventing a back-and-forth dialogue exchange from losing meaning. It can take several different forms, including

  • Descriptive narration

“What do you want?” the shop-keep asked as he spun to face her. He had a blunt face with a scar cutting into one cheek. “Well? Spit it out. Don’t got all day, y’know.”

  • Verbatim thought

“What do you want?” the shop-keep asked as he spun to face her.
Damn, he’s ugly. “Uh, I—”
“Well? Spit it out. Don’t got all day, y’know.”
Impatient, too.

  • Narrative thought

“What do you want?” the shop-keep asked. He had an ugly mug and an attitude to match, and interrupted her attempt at a reply. “Well? Spit it out. Don’t got all day, y’know.”

All three of these examples show different flavors of interiority, but there’s no reason you couldn’t use a combination of them, moving between description and thought as necessary to show the reader both what the POV character is observing and what judgments they’re forming about it.

It’s also possible (and encouraged!) to combine inside/outside in a single line where appropriate.

For example:

The shop-keep slammed a cabinet shut and spun to face her. He had a blunt face with a scar cutting into one cheek, and an attitude to match his appearance.

“What do you want?”

Sara clutched the package to her chest. “I uh—”

“Well? Spit it out. Don’t got all day, y’know.”

Impatient, isn’t he? She’d have to sweeten him up or she’d never get her refund.

Tools, not rules

As always, remember that these are tools for your writer’s toolbox—not rules that ought to be obeyed to the letter. I’ll never tell authors to wholesale delete darkening eyes or cocky smirks or arched brows, but I will issue a challenge:

If you find yourself using a lot of the above descriptions, pick up a highlighter while working on your line edits and use it to pick out body language cues in your dialogue passages. For each one, ask yourself: is this the best possible way to show the reader what’s going on?

If I substituted one of these cues for interiority or environmental interaction, would it add meaning, balance, or clarity to the scene?

I suspect you’ll find that the answer is often ‘yes!’

Body language can’t carry a conversation on its own; as with all elements of craft, it’s a middle-distance tool we can reach for when neither inside nor outside feel quite right. In other words, I’m not asking writers to thinking critically about our use of body language in dialogue passages in service of eliminating body language, but rather, as a way to encourage balance: the secret ingredient for clear and compelling prose.

Do you overuse body language in your own writing? I sure do! I find it all the time when I’m self-editing. Here’s your boilerplate reminder that it’s impossible to get it all ‘right’ in the first draft, so don’t get discouraged! Words on the page can always be tweaked, and getting that story down in draft form is a victory in and of itself.

Let’s chat

Let me know what body language cues you overuse in the comments, or fire away with any questions you have about the inside/outside trick.

Or share a short excerpt of a place where you’ve used the inside/outside trick to enrich your dialogue passage!

Support the blog

Did you find this blog helpful? Consider becoming a patron to support Cee’s writing!

Click for Cee’s Patreon!

Morning Pages: Only My Pride

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Welcome to Morning Pages — it’s time for a monthly roundup. I hope you have your pencils sharpened and ready to write. Want to join in on the fun? Pick a prompt, set your timer* and get ready to let the words flow. Feel free to post the results of your work in the comments below where we chat about writing and (if the mood strikes us) get a craft discussion going.

If you want critique from other commenters, use #YESTHANKS in your comment. Otherwise, you can tell us about your flash fic and the process you went through to write it. And of course, I’m always open to hear what you think about my excerpts! You can follow the links below to find them on Patreon (but please bear in mind: I post MPs as-is without any polishing).

*you can write for as long as you want, but most folks choose 15-30 minutes.

What I learned this month: Subjective omniscient is not for me.

I’ve read a lot of subjective omniscient stories (a favorite is Fredrick Backman’s Beartown, which I highly recommend, though it has heavy themes). For those who haven’t tangled with subjective omni, it’s a style of narration that, much like true omniscient, uses a narrator who isn’t a physical character in the story. This narrator has their own personality, voice, and opinions. While they’re all-seeing and all-knowing like true omni, the ‘subjective’ part also allows them to peek into characters’ heads and tell the reader what those characters are thinking and feeling.

Increased psychic distance makes it different from third limited, because the reader doesn’t actually experience the story as if they were any of the characters, nor do those characters get a narrative voice. It’s more complicated to write than third limited, imho, because it’s difficult to direct the narrative to prevent head-hopping and even harder to prevent voice bleed between the characters and the narrators.

I’d never intentionally choose to write subjective omniscient (I find it crazy difficult to craft), but being an editor means I occasionally encounter writers braver than I in the wild. I recently tangled with a short excerpt from a writer who struggled with head hopping but wanted to write in subjective omni, and holy hell, it was so much harder than editing for third limited.

So. Much. Harder.

Right now, I’m torn re: whether I want to edit it, or whether I’m simply not a good fit for writers who use subjective omni. I think I’d like to practice a little more, but my gut is telling me that I’d be a better dev editor for that style, and would perhaps prefer to refer those writers to a colleague for their line/copy needs.

I imagine this isn’t the most titillating of revelations for members of the general bookish public, but here we are: the things a fiction editor ponders on the daily.

The Prompts:

“Did you hurt anything?” “Only my pride.”

Baseball ‘verse: Marshall Bedford doesn’t appreciate smack-talk from batters–especially when that smack-talk hits too close to home.

“Write a scene from the perspective of a bereaved character.”

Oceana ‘verse. Somehow, even the cat knew he was grieving.

“A character has unsettling (and perhaps prophetic) dreams.”

Oceana ‘verse. The worst thing about a far-seeing talent was how difficult it was to tell dreams from prophecy.

“How would a shapeshifter escape an arranged marriage?”

He thought he’d have a pliant, quiet bride. He was wrong.

Get Involved!

Answer the prompts or dive straight in and respond to others’ comments — let’s share our knowledge, our experience, and have a discussion we can all learn from! Don’t want to miss a post? Subscribe to the blog in the sidebar to get notified about new posts.

Today’s questions:

  • What’s your favorite POV to write in (ie: first, third limited, omni)?
  • Do you pick a single POV, or do you like to have multiple POV characters?

Looking for more writing? Become a Patron!

In addition to flash fiction, my Patreon hosts full-length novels, artwork, behind-the-scenes worldbuilding, and more. Click below to check out the tiers I offer and support the blog!

Click to visit my patreon!

Morning Pages: Fireweaver

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Welcome to Morning Pages — it’s time for a monthly roundup. I hope you have your pencils sharpened and ready to write. Want to join in on the fun? Pick a prompt, set your timer* and get ready to let the words flow. Feel free to post the results of your work in the comments below where we chat about writing and (if the mood strikes us) get a craft discussion going.

If you want critique from other commenters, use #YESTHANKS in your comment. Otherwise, you can tell us about your flash fic and the process you went through to write it. And of course, I’m always open to hear what you think about my excerpts! You can follow the links below to find them on Patreon (but please bear in mind: I post MPs as-is without any polishing).

*you can write for as long as you want, but most folks choose 15-30 minutes.

What I learned this month: Things take time!

It’s a truism, I know. Recently, though, I’ve found it particularly difficult to cope with fiction’s timelines. It takes months to write a book, months to edit one, years to build a business and a brand. Whenever I branch into a new area, I start from square one, and while this is a fundamental part of the learning experience, I tend to place unreasonable expectations on myself for how well and how quickly I ought to get the hang of things.

The crazy part about writing is: no matter how many books we write, some elements of writing fiction will always feel difficult. This difficulty is what draws me to fiction, I think; it’s miserable and magical to wrestle with words on a page and hope they capture a fraction of what’s inside my head. The constant struggle to progress as a writer can be overwhelming or disheartening at times, and so this month, I’ve tried to truly embrace two-steps-forward, one-step back as a good thing.

(But it’s hard not to rake myself over the coals for taking those backwards steps.)

If I’ve learned anything this month, it’s that a perceived step backward in one area of my writing often precedes a big leap forward — almost as if my writing is a rubber band that needs time to wind up as I spin my wheels trying to figure out this one specific thing. Sometimes it’s an element of craft. Sometimes it’s an aspect of marketing, packaging, or design. Sometimes it’s about processes or editing.

The times when I feel like I’m backsliding are often the times when I learn the most important lessons.

To be more specific: I’ve really, really struggled to get work done in March (any work of any kind). Though I’m leaving March dissatisfied with my output and feeling like I’ve backslid in many ways, I’ve also emerged with loads of new tools for time management and guiding my creative process. Now, I get to bring those tools into April.

Here’s hoping this next month is the step forward I’ve been waiting for.

The Prompts:

“A character struggles to carry out a difficult or unsavory task.”

Imran on Bow Watch: It’s hard to stay awake for a midnight watch.

“Firefighters are the only ones who know the real truth about house fires. They are started by evil fire elementals. In order to put out the fire, the elementals responsible must be killed. The firefighters are sworn to secrecy, the public can never know.”

Cyprian Cavish from Deathmark has a younger brother named Griffin. Griff works as a firefighter in Ilia’s Central district.

“They dug deep into the underwater caves, not realizing what they’d woken up.”

It took a long time for Dareus’ faith in the church to die. This was one straw of many.

“Character A helps Character B get past their heartache.”

Marshall isn’t quite sure how he and Max Battista became best friends after a career of refusing to speak to one another…

Get Involved!

Answer the prompts or dive straight in and respond to others’ comments — let’s share our knowledge, our experience, and have a discussion we can all learn from! Don’t want to miss a post? Subscribe to the blog in the sidebar to get notified about new posts.

Today’s questions:

  • How do you manage your time as a writer or creative?
  • What systems / processes do you use to keep yourself on track?

Looking for more writing? Become a Patron!

In addition to flash fiction, my Patreon hosts full-length novels, artwork, behind-the-scenes worldbuilding, and more. Click below to check out the tiers I offer and support the blog!

Click to visit my patreon!

Morning Pages: Wildcat

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Welcome to Morning Pages — it’s time for a monthly roundup. I hope you have your pencils sharpened and ready to write. Want to join in on the fun? Pick a prompt, set your timer* and get ready to let the words flow. Feel free to post the results of your work in the comments below where we chat about writing and (if the mood strikes us) get a craft discussion going.

If you want critique from other commenters, use #YESTHANKS in your comment. Otherwise, you can tell us about your flash fic and the process you went through to write it. And of course, I’m always open to hear what you think about my excerpts! You can follow the links below to find them on Patreon (but please bear in mind: I post MPs as-is without any polishing).

*you can write for as long as you want, but most folks choose 15-30 minutes.

What I learned this month: SO MUCH, friends.

I’m currently taking two classes on editing fiction: one at the developmental level, one for line-editing. Though I already had an experienced editorial eye for substantive (ie: dev) edits, line editing I’ve largely picked up by reading/talking to other writers.

The line editing class has helped me build out my theoretical knowledge of style and voice — so helpful! It’s also validating to have a pro editor with 10+ years in business going through my edits line by line and affirming that I do, in fact, know what I’m doing — even if I’m still learning the language to describe why.

My dev editing class has been helpful mostly on the process/business end. I’ve been doing manuscript critiques for years and studying craft for longer, so I’ve focused mostly on honing my editorial voice and creating systems for myself to ensure my editing is thorough, professional, and time-efficient. It’s also been a lot of fun to learn about the business of editing from my teacher!

All of this makes me very curious about other writers’ editing processes. I’d love to hear about yours. Hop down to the discussion questions, and let’s chat in the comments!

The Prompts:

“Write a text-only or dialogue-only story between two or more characters.”

Texts from the President: an Oceana ‘verse AU.

“I wouldn’t mess with him, if I were you.”

Cyprian Cavish from Deathmark gets warned about Jael Soti. Does he listen? Of course not.

“One of your characters is getting ready for a party. What do they wear?”

Jael from Deathmark has an eye for fashion.

“Catastrophic climate change makes the oceans rise until there’s almost no dry land left. The haves are those who keep command over it. Everyone else takes to the sea. How do people live?”

“Nessie.” A tug captain living and working on a floating island starts to notice something strange in the water…

Get Involved!

Answer the prompts or dive straight in and respond to others’ comments — let’s share our knowledge, our experience, and have a discussion we can all learn from! Don’t want to miss a post? Subscribe to the blog in the sidebar to get notified about new posts.

Today’s questions:

  • How do you edit your books? (Beta readers, self-editing, pro editor, etc.)
  • If you self-edit, what’s your process?

Looking for more writing? Become a Patron!

In addition to flash fiction, my Patreon hosts full-length novels, artwork, behind-the-scenes worldbuilding, and more. Click below to check out the tiers I offer and support the blog!

Click to visit my patreon!

Morning Pages: After Many Miles

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Welcome to Morning Pages — it’s time for a monthly roundup. I hope you have your pencils sharpened and ready to write. Want to join in on the fun? Pick a prompt, set your timer* and get ready to let the words flow. Feel free to post the results of your work in the comments below where we chat about writing and (if the mood strikes us) get a craft discussion going.

If you want critique from other commenters, use #YESTHANKS in your comment. Otherwise, you can tell us about your flash fic and the process you went through to write it. And of course, I’m always open to hear what you think about my excerpts!

*you can write for as long as you want, but most folks choose 15-30 minutes.

What I learned this month: Oh BOY have I learned about craft this month.

Throughout January, I’ve read a craft book called Story Genius by Lisa Cron. She uses a different method for structuring story and building character than I’ve ever seen, and working through her story-building guide has helped me hone the way I think about construction and character alike.

One of my favorite concepts from story genius: The story begins long before the first page of the novel. By page one, the protagonist has a complex history and relationship with themself and others. These preexisting story elements shaped the protagonist to be who they are, and therefore set them up to confront the story’s external problem head-on: a problem they’re uniquely ill-equipped to solve.

In order to build out the ‘first half’ of the story, or the part that happens before page one, Cron provides several exercises to assist with story concept, character backstory / development, and scene structure. This month, I tackled prompts for my upcoming novella, Deathmark. They helped me learn about Cyprian, the protagonist, and Jael, his love interest–and how their backstories and transformative memories intertwine to make them 1) ideal partners who will 2) have a terrible time solving the story’s external problem.

If you haven’t yet read Story Genius, I highly recommend it! Though Cron’s process can feel somewhat prescriptive, the prompts and exercises were generative enough that I was able to look past some of the book’s issues and appreciate the new perspective it gave me on craft.

The Prompts:

“The ocean is a sentient being–a trickster–who entertains itself by messing with people. What happens when it falls in love with a sailor?”

Sister Ocean was many years old when she first saw him.

“Self-destruct.”

Not all characters handle difficult backstories well. Jael Soti from Deathmark is most certainly in that category.

“After Many Miles” by the Ghost of Paul Revere

A song prompt in the Oceana ‘verse yielded a story about the long journey to the afterlife.

“Write a traumatic or otherwise pivotal event from your character’s childhood that impacted who they became as an adult.”

“Keri Lake:” Deathmark. Cyprian Cavish has always looked out for his little brother.

Picture Prompts

“The Watcher:” Have care with what you say in front of them, lest you disappear like the others.

Get Involved!

Answer the prompts or dive straight in and respond to others’ comments — let’s share our knowledge, our experience, and have a discussion we can all learn from! Don’t want to miss a post? Subscribe to the blog in the sidebar to get notified about new posts.

Today’s questions:

  • What’s your favorite craft of writing resource?
  • Why / what did it teach you?

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