CataUniversity

Antiheroes by Manda Benson

By Manda Benson ⋅ February 26, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Starting to tire of the status quo? The villain gets engines of destruction and malefic technologies at his fingertips; the hero gets a sidekick who can do magic tricks and a white horse with bells on it. It’s time to level the playing field. It’s time to talk about antiheroes.
What is an antihero?
An antihero is [...]

Where do they come from—Those ideas, those characters?

By Alice ⋅ February 3, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Most times readers want to know where an author gets there ideas to write the stories they write. Sometimes ideas come upon us full blown, other times we have to fight with them, argue them down to our size, or just plain wrestle them to the ground. I find if I start out with my [...]

Advice to Young Writers by Cindy K. Green

By Alice ⋅ January 20, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Many thanks to Cindy K. Green for this wonderful post. Learn more about Cindy at www.cindykgreen.com.
I haven’t been a professional writer of fiction for too many years. Non-fiction, sure, as I’m a trained historian. But on the fiction writing front, I still feel like I’m learning something new every day even though by the [...]

Making Characters Click: Planning Interpersonal Relationships in Novels by Manda Benson

By Alice ⋅ January 13, 2010 ⋅ 6 comments

Special thanks to Manda Benson for today’s guest post. Visit Manda at http://tangentrine.com.
Have you ever read a romance novel where the relationship felt more like an extended one-night stand, and the characters seemed to have nothing in common asides from initial physical attraction? How about a science-fiction book in which two people trapped in an [...]

Developing Characters That Sell – Part One by John Patrick Lamont

By Alice ⋅ December 9, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

So, you have a killer plotline idea that you’re confident will sell a million books. You may even have a title that will jump off the front cover and grab the attention of anyone who sees it. That’s great! You’re way ahead of the majority of people who dream of writing the Great American Novel. [...]

Authentic Writing by Kim Prissel

By Alice ⋅ November 25, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

How do I add more sparkle to my story? How do I make my characters seem authentic? How can I make scenes feel real? Research!!! Online catalogs and trade newsletters for professionals can help. It also helps to interview a professional in that trade. If you have a friend who is an arachnologist, who better [...]

What is Music Anyway? What is Writing Anyway? by Billie A Williams

By Alice ⋅ May 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

For those who are musically inclined, you may find this article interesting as it compares the basics of music to the basics of writing a book. Many thanks to Billie Williams for her contribution to CataU!
In the Intellectual Devotional by David S Kidder & Noah D Oppenheim we are given a lot of food [...]

The Sagging Middle

By Alice ⋅ June 27, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

If you’re floundering in the middle of your novel, here is a collection of articles (with highlights) that will jump start you toward the end.
Tightening the Sagging Middle by Alicia Rasley
cataurl.com/jsFDG
Highlights: The important middle scenes develop conflict and explore the setting, characters, and theme, while moving the plot forward.
The plot purpose is the most [...]

Dialog Tags by Isabel Sharpe

By Alice ⋅ May 26, 2008 ⋅ 6 comments

This isn’t an inspirational blog so much as what I’d call a “cautionary” article on one of my biggest pet peeves: Unnecessary dialog tags. I know many, many published authors love dialog tags I would consider unnecessary, so I’m not going to tell you it’s wrong to use them, but they drive me insane.
“Does [...]

CONFLICT Basic Principles of Writing

By Alice ⋅ March 17, 2008 ⋅ Post a comment

groups.msn.com/RomanceWritingTips/conflict.msnwHighlights:
“There are four types of conflict:
1. foreshadowing,
2. static,
3. jumping, and
4. slowly rising. ”
You’ll need to read the articles to see what that means.

Search

Craft