Month: January 2021

Pitfalls to Avoid: Mary Sue Characters

Dragon Soul Press

You: “Oh man, people are going to love my female MC. She’s a total badass!”

Friend: “Why?”

You: “Because she has all sorts of magic at her disposal, she can fight with swords, she’s got a genius-level IQ, and she’s beautiful. Guys just swoon for her, but she’s a virgin, saving herself for her True Love.”

Friend: Rolls eyes. “Of course. What does she do?”

You: “I’ve got a whole series of books planned. She’s from a fantasy world, but she’s transported to our world in the 21st Century. She then learns about guns while wielding magic. She has to fight Neo-Nazis, werewolves, evil corporations, and gives a speech at the U.N. on women’s rights. She doesn’t need a man to save her.”

Friend: Sighs…loudly. “That’s it? What’s her flaw?”

You: “Umm…flaw? Oh yeah, she was abused a lot by her parents. She doesn’t know how to love. She can’t…

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The Horror! THE HORROR! A Writing Exercise on How to Scare Readers

BRIDGET WHELAN writer

(Horror fiction) shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion – Clive Barker

EVERY SATURDAY for the month of January I’ve shared exercises from my popular writing guideBack To Creative Writing School. This is the last one and it’s an extract from a much longer exercise in the book. I hope you…well, perhaps enjoy isn’t quite the right word.

Karl Albrecht writing in Psychology Today in March 2012 described five basic fears from which all our other fears stem.

Extinction – fear of annihilation, of ceasing to exist. The most basic and the most universal, but it also includes a range of more specific fears, such as a fear of heights.

Mutilation – including the fear of being invaded, taken over. It also includes phobias about animals and insects.

Loss of Autonomy – fear…

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Ways to create a writing habit, even when every day is unpredictable

Uninspired Writers

Last week, I spoke about how my writing habit had been crushed and re-shaped by the pandemic. And as part of the re-adjustment, I’ve been thinking of different ways to make a writing habit. The thing is, every day is unpredictable at the moment. And so the typical habit-making behaviour of picking a set time each day to write isn’t working. In fact, I’m often finding that my other commitments (work, uni, health) mean that my timings change day to day. So I’m trying the methods below instead, and it seems to be working! Have a peek;

Weekly goals, instead of daily
I used to focus on daily goals. Set word counts or time goals. The issue with daily targets, is if you don’t reach it one day, it sets you on a downer for the rest of the week. So it’s well worth considering setting weekly targets instead. This…

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5th Annual Haiti Week

Repeating Islands

Vanderbilt University’s Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS) will host its 5th Annual Haiti Week with virtual programs from February 9 through 11, 2021. On February 10, 12:10-1:00pm CST, CLASpresents “Translating Haiti: A Conversation” with Nathan Dize (Vanderbilt University) and Vanessa K. Valdés (The City College of New York-CUNY). Advanced registration is required. To register, see below:

All events will use the same Zoom meeting link. Register once to receive the link to join all events. Feel free to join us for one or all of the programs, drop in when your schedule allows, turn off your video feed, etc. Everyone is welcome! Advanced Registration Required.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2021

5:30-6:30 PM CST“Teaching Haiti with Music and Carnival”with Danielle Dorvil (Vanderbilt University) K-12 Teacher Workshop

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2021

12:10-1:00 PM CST“Translating Haiti: A Conversation with Nathan Dize and Vanessa K. Valdés”featuring Nathan Dize (Vanderbilt University) and Vanessa K. Valdés…

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