Brilliant

DiAnn Direct

The Undercurrent of Setting

A story’s setting is like an ocean’s undercurrent, keeping your characters and the plot moving in directions that aren’t always visible on the surface. Setting is the physical environment of your story. Too often it’s ignored or given an unimportant role in story preparation. This article plunges you into the depths of setting and how to make yours a vital part of your novel. Consider the setting of your novel as an antagonist. Make its traits work against the protagonist reaching her goal. The adversity of setting can be obvious or hidden, but include it in ways that force your character to make tough decisions.

For Writers

Writing Nostalgia

For fun, I want you to relax for a moment and think back to your childhood. What perfume did your mom wear when you were a child? Do you ever catch a whiff and feel like you’ve been hugged? Do you remember the song they were playing at your first dance? Were you on the sidelines waiting for someone—anyone—to ask you to dance? Or were you the one the guys stood in line for, waiting their turn? When you were younger, did you ever sprawl under a night sky and trace the Big Dipper with your finger?

Making A Scene

Personalizing Your Characters - Part III

This month we take up the discussion of our young character who wants to pursue a career in the military. We left him last month with the discovery of an inner value (Personalizing step #2): proving himself to his father and grandfather (both military men) is more important than even his own integrity.

Author By Night

I work for an aerospace company serving the Department of Defense. We, with our military customers, try to stay one step ahead of America’s enemies—both foreign and domestic. By evening, I have little energy left to offer God, my wife, other family, friends, neighbors, or my two dogs.

Genre Happenings

Real in Fiction: Real Locations in the Imaginary Tale

After the 2004 hurricane season devastated a good deal of Florida, and especially my favorite getaway spots along its east coast, I was in search of a new hideaway for writing. I lamented to everyone I spoke with but pretty much received the same words: “Everything is just a mess along the beaches.”