by Jamie Chavez | Apr 17, 2017 | The Writing Craft
Sometimes you set out to do a thing for one reason … only to find it was so much more than you ever imagined. More than you could have actually planned. In this case, I learned just how much value can be wrung out of focusing on the first chapter and how it relates to...
by Jamie Chavez | Jan 16, 2017 | Books You Might Like, The Writing Craft
I’ve already written about The Summer Before the War—which I read first (and which is, in fact, the more accomplished novel)—but I really enjoyed Helen Simonson’s novel-writing skills in Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand (the New York Times calls it “funny, barbed,...
by Jamie Chavez | Aug 13, 2016 | The Writing Craft
Like author Chuck Wendig, I’ve gotten a whole lot pickier about what I read and how much time I give it before I stop. “For one,” he says, “it’s time.” Work and time and personal responsibilities all intrude. But also, he says, “I’m like a stage magician where it’s...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 23, 2016 | The Writing Craft
Here’s a great article from author Elizabeth Sims about internal dialogue. (In most cases I would call it inner monologue, but that’s neither here nor there; I’ve written about it before.) I particularly got a kick out of Sims’s pointing out pitfalls— Making a...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 2, 2016 | The Writing Craft
I stumbled on this article—“Understand Character Wounds: A List of Common Themes” at Writers Helping Writers—a few months ago, and I just love the way the writer drills down to character motivation. The protagonist’s path is much like yours or mine–one that will...