An Actual Writing Tip

Hi D.G.,

I've really enjoyed writing my autobiography with The Remembering Site! I had wanted to write it for a long time, but the site finally gave me the tools I needed to organize everything into a coherent story. I found it extremely helpful to have the questions as a guide. They made writing a whole lot easier!

I've written other things, too, including magazine articles, poetry, and non-fiction books, but I can't seem to write short stories or novels. I'd love to, and it seriously nothers me that I haven't gotten the hang of either. Whatever I come up with is so dead--not full of life like my autobiography, with shallow plots and characters, etc. So, I'm wondering if you've written or perhaps know of a short story or novel-writing method that uses questions to guide the story. It worked well for my story, and I think it would work for other writing.

Thanks very much for any information you may have!

Sincerely,

Crystal LuAnn Howe-Kennedy


Hi, Crystal,
Thank you so much for writing me!

I have heard from fiction writers who use the questions to build their characters. Interesting characters are what keep the reader ( and the writer! ) involved. Go through the questions and answer them as if you were your character. Each character. Your ideas and connections will grow when your people and places and idiosyncracies form the character in your mind. And then they'll take it from there!

Good luck, Crystal. I hope this helps.

D.G.



Hi D.G.

Thanks very much for your help. That sounds like a good and logical way to develop characters. After all, If the writer doesn't know them well, the reader won't either. And there can't be a story if you don't know the character well enough to make their actions seem realistic.

Crystal Kennedy