Writers - even the best ones - struggle with how to convey characters' emotions without breaking the golden rule of ‘Show Don’t Tell.’

Most times, who the characters are is best revealed by the emotions they forecast. Those same emotions may seem cloudy and unclear at first until we slowly unravel them, exposing their truth through actions, dialogue, and more. 

The reader wants to know: Who are these characters? What do they want? How do they differ from the other characters in the story? What makes the characters tick and why should we care? 

Whoever they are, in whatever role, we don’t want them to tell us any more than what we might learn on a first date or at a first meeting. We want to discover their dreams, quirks, and passions naturally, over time. 

We want those characters to show us who they are. We want to understand them more and feel their disappointment, jealousy, gratitude, or reluctance. We want to laugh, cry, cheer, and even...

Within the pages of fiction, no one knows the characters better than the writer. 

Designing a protagonist worthy of the title ‘lead character’ isn’t always easy.  

As writers, we’re likely to spend too much time, if there is such a thing, pondering the multitude of ‘what if’ scenarios and potential dialogue before considering whether our protagonist’s quest will be successful or not.

But first, we must design a character with a unique appearance (what makes them stand out from others), underlying thoughts (self-doubts), and determination to be more than an ‘interesting’ bystander in the story. 

To keep this in perspective, let’s remember that what the protagonist wants, more than anything in their world, may sound pretty simple: 

                                    They want something or someone they don’t...

Last week, I wrote about how using a partial sentence prompt as a scene or opening for a short story can boost a writer’s creativity. However, it never ceases to amaze me how a simple, open-ended prompt can become the springboard for a life story, essay, or poem.

A prompt can even turn into a story that leads your main character, the protagonist, to any number of unexpected endings.

Isn’t that what creative writing is all about — the journey a writer takes a reader on? That journey — your story — is vastly enriched when it is populated with believable characters.

Let’s start with the protagonist. It is, after all, their story. Others play supporting roles, but this guy (or gal) takes center stage.

Their motivation — their ultimate goal of getting what they want most — is what the story is about. However, the protagonist’s success is determined by their decisions along the way. These decisions will move the story forward through...

Sometimes the prompt of a partial sentence can get your imagination soaring and your fingers flying. It doesn’t matter if you’re writing fiction, nonfiction, a memoir, or even sci-fi. The nudge of a prompt to form a scene or the story’s opening may be all the inspiration you need. 

One warm spring day, I suggested we hold class outdoors. The birds welcomed us with their soprano notes, the squirrels played tag across the lawn, and the air rejuvenated our senses.  

Rarely do I ask students to write in class. Mainly because I don’t create well under timed pressure. I can virtually hear the seconds ticking away. My thoughts echo — Any words that land on this page will be my worst first draft ever! But on this day, everyone had a suggestion for a partial sentence. The group agreed on one. 

Here is mine. 

Suddenly, there was an explosion…and we were in the midst of hell. The side of the building burst into...

Will you have written that story you’ve thought about for years?

Is the story of your dreams in the hands of readers today?

How will you feel when someone says, Thank you for sharing your story?

I’ve asked myself these questions many times. I still do. I’m not one to rest on my laurels, so my published articles from kayaking to the art of Feng shui and sundry others may count in the general scheme of things, but I know there’s a lot more to come.

You see, my notebooks and journals are overflowing with story ideas. Fiction, nonfiction, and occasionally a poem will surface from overheard conversations. Memories of growing up as a military brat,* the loss of loved ones, and even deciduous trees and broken seashells invite me into their natural worlds without hesitation. And I’m so very grateful. 

It’s as if my DNA is laced with never wanting to miss a thing — even the chance to watch a room full of people sitting mostly...

Writing to preserve yesterday’s stories is no easy task. They’re sometimes filled with scars and wrinkles of our past as I wrote in An Easy Guide to Writing Life Stories.

                                “Scars and wrinkles appear in all lengths and depths,

                                wrapped in sundry textures. Some quite visible to the

                                naked eye, others not so much.”

Scars may come from childhood scrapes, like when I squeezed between the barbed wire fencing to escape a raging bull. Or so I thought. Seven-year-olds have active imaginations, but I still have a five-inch scar on the inside of my right knee just the same.

As we know, scars are not limited to the adventures of children....

Has your writing routine been plagued by too many interruptions lately? 

We all know how easily a writing schedule can be derailed. A neighbor needs a ride, or the appliance repairman shows up a day early. Then, before you know it, poof, the time you planned to write and the day are both gone.  

My protagonist’s inner conflict and the antagonist’s snarky attitude are abruptly cut off in mid-sentence when my writing is interrupted. Dialogue is left dangling in thin air! Frustration builds.  

I’ve found that the first step to prevent those annoying roadblocks is to make writing a habit, part of my routine, like daily flossing and coffee with breakfast. And that’s not all.

Give this habit the authority it deserves. Schedule it on a calendar like any other appointment. I like to pencil in the title of my work-in-progress. “Matilda” 10:00 - Noon. You get the idea. 

Once the writing ‘appointment’ is on your...

How do you come up with all those different prompts and lessons? Over the past five years, this is the question I am most often asked.

My standard reply is that after hearing the stories, essays, or poems created from an assigned prompt, it magically pushes my creativity onward. And I embrace and welcome the challenge. But, honestly, a creative nudge that lights up the senses, encourage a list of What if questions, and produces results that the writers are happy with, is all it takes.   

Ever so often, I plan to share some interviews with you here. It may be with an author who has their book under the Stories Worth Sharing tab, like Bill Beecher’s Double Agent Stallion, or excerpts from others’ short stories. Ones that I hope will encourage you to write either on your own or through one of my Six-Week Sessions online. 

Whether you are at work on a current project, want to write and don’t know how to begin, or feel you are not complete unless you are...

Could there be a better time to write than this very day? 

Each of us has made a sacrifice or two, or many, this past year. For some, it was giving up our sacred writing corner. Remember that ordinarily quiet area where you sought inspiration, pondered a character's temperament, or whipped a challenging plot into shape? Then, one day, you discovered it had become someone else's temporary workplace or school desk.

Whatever your reality has been of late, know that you are not alone. It has been tough. At least it has been in my writing world. 

I am a writer that creates best while in the zone. Alone. What is the zone, you might ask? It is any place where I can write without interruption. Noises distract me. Oh, I love a well-manicured lawn, but I can't stay in my writing zone when the grass is being cut just outside my window. And don't get me started on the taunting sounds of a gas-powered weedeater or leaf blower crisscrossing the sidewalk out front. I may as...

Most writers are readers. Some are even painters.

I have a tattered quote taped inside one of my journals. It reads A house without books is like a room without windows. This coveted phrase, written by Horace Mann sometime in the mid-1800s, has been my reminder to read and write. Often.

For me, a house without books would be not having the opportunity to investigate our cultural past, nor fill slower moments with entertaining trivia, or keep dreams of future hopes or promises alive. It is ‘armchair living' at its best.  

Maybe you’ve felt a similar urge to break a spine or two while curled up in a comfy chair, hugging the covers of a book you couldn’t put down, wondering what happens next yet not wanting it to end. Did the author’s imagery illuminate multiple senses, elevate your awareness, or plunge your fear into the endless depths of some faraway canyon?

I’ve been there. Right there, walking alongside the protagonist, jumping back as...