Brilliant

DiAnn Direct

Building A Story Idea

Story ideas can be like firecrackers. They burst into the air and explode into beautiful colors for the viewers to delight in. Then they fizzle to the ground until the next one grabs our attention. But story ideas don’t have to spread across our vivid imaginations then fade away. A writer can take those wild, crazy moments of inspiration and build a credible, colorful, creative, and compelling story. You have a story idea; it’s banging against your head and heart.

For Writers

The E-Factor

I’m often asked how I manage to create believable characters—and I take that as a huge compliment, but it recently got me to wondering, Just how do I do that? Remembering back to when I first became passionate about fiction, as a reader I was mostly drawn to character-driven novels. As a result I decided those were the kind of stories I wanted to create. Of course, I had no idea where to begin, but in my usual way I simply took the plunge, determined to figure it out as I went along. And that’s pretty much what I’ve done.

Making A Scene

Third Person POV, Part II

Last month we began our discussion of the three types of third person POV—as I label them: close, removed, and omniscient. We looked at the first two, close and removed, with an example of each. Remember that close third puts us completely in the character’s head...

Author By Night

The Writing (Double) Life

I knew exactly what the writing life would be like: I’d have a cabin in the Rocky Mountains or somewhere up in Vermont. I’d wake up with a cup of coffee and maybe a blueberry scone. Then I’d spend my days crafting beautiful, gripping, life-changing prose while it lightly drizzled outside. But I was wrong.

Genre Happenings

Why I Love the Historical Fiction Genre

Edgar Allen Poe and Barbara Cartland: Could there be any two writers with less in common? As a child, when everyone else was reading books about babysitting clubs and young love, I was plowing through the entire works of these two authors. (Eventually I gave up on Cartland, who published 723 books before her death.)