I thought today we'd have a nice chat about outlines today.

Are they the enemy? Are you making them the enemy? What do they do? What good are they? Why is this the hill people want to die on?

#ontheporch #amwriting #amrevising #writerlife #amwritingromance #amwritingfantasy For reasons I never learned in school and have only barely begun to learn in life as a professional, people absolutely love labels for their work, and the work of others. It gives them something to debate, it gives them something to cling to or hide from.

I think this morning's thread is a pretty good one. It's one of my favorite "it's important but boy oh boy do people freak out about it" topics.

This morning, I want to talk about "characterization"

#amwriting #ontheporch #amquerying #amrevising #writerslife CHARACTERIZATION is a big word that carries a lot of weight conceptually, but often gets blown out of proportion when the panic starts.

What is it?

It's making a character feel like a person. Like you could relate to them or find them out in your world pretty easily.

I was up early this morning (thanks chest pain), and it got me thinking.

So today's thread is about pursuing your dreams. I cannot stress this loud enough, I could not possibly say this often enough, but if you have something you want to do, some thing you want to make, some person you want to talk to, some goal you want to achieve - go do it.

No, it's not easy. But that doesn't mean don't do it.

In this morning's thread ...

Not so much a thread as it is a pile of stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

So I present to you: ASSORTED THOUGHTS, vol. 6. PUTTING DESCRIPTION ON THE PAGE ONLY SACRIFICES PACING IF THE LEVEL OF DETAIL OUTWEIGHS THE UTILITY OF WHY YOU'RE DESCRIBING THINGS.

Describe something because it matters. Because knowing something new about a thing matters. Stop fearing that it takes time to do so.