We’re done! But I thought you might like a re-cap and a table of contents.

The 31-day Think Like a Writer series challenges writers to write at least 750 words each and every day for a month. I used the website 750words.org, but you can do it with pencil and paper or on your computer. These creative writing prompts are meant to be “morning pages” or practice in Thinking Like a Writer.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Observe the world around you
2. Observe Sensory Details
3. Noses: Observe Characters
4. Make Your Characters Move
5. How to Create a Mood with Sensory Details
6. Discover Your Passions
7. Be Mean to Your Character
8. How Old is Your Character?
9. Subtext: What is this story really about?
10. Write in Scenes
11. Give Your Character Something to Hold
12. Emotion from a Photo
13. 3 Ways to Handle Time in a Novel
14. Titles that Readers will Love
15. Make an Image become a Symbol
16. What what you are SCARED to write
17. Everything is Worse and Worse
18. Writers Need to Whine Sometimes
19. Found Object Stories
20. Set the Scene: Panorama
21. Set the Scene: Zoom
22. Set the Scene: Scan
23. Omniscient POV
24. 1st Person POV
25. 3rd Person POV
26. Different Perspectives for Different Audiences
27. Before and After: Reveal Character
28. Secrets and Letters
29. The Other Side of the Story
30. Unlovable Characters

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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In our continuing quest to write 750 words per day for a month, today we will look at unlikeable main characters.

Which One is Unlovable? The Eye of the Beholder

Donald Maass, in How to Write the Breakout Novel, says to make this type character self-aware. They know what they are doing is wrong, they acknowledge it. They take the sting out of the behavior by telling the reader they understand it is unacceptable. Nevertheless, they must do it. And of course, you’ll then add in the reasons why this behavior is reasonable.

The date jerk was dumped when he was 13 and has never gotten over it.
The guy in anguish is grieving over the loss of his family to a drunk driver. The guy who hurts puppies–oh, that’s a hard one! How WOULD you justify that? Oh, isn’t that the story, OF MICE AND MEN?

A second way to turn a jerk into a lovable character is to have someone demonstrate that they do indeed love him or her. Scarlett O’Hara is jealous, conniving and a drama queen. But the family’s nanny still loves her. Because the nanny loves her, we feel more tender toward Scarlett.

Today, write about an unlovable character.

• They must say, do and think awful things.
• Then, soften the character by having someone do a loving act toward them.
• Soften the character farther by having him or her acknowledge the errors of his or her ways.

Think like a writer: make me want to read about that unlovable character.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

In our continuing quest to write 750 words a day, today, we will think like our opposites. Our enemies.

Drawing of the TinTin Villain

Today, write a scene from a character who represents the opposite side, the opposite take on things, the opposite point of view. Generally, this will mean your villain or your antagonist.

Read this three part series about villains:

• Villains Don’t Always Wear Black
• Strengthen Your Villain
• Villains to Imitate

Now, write 750 words explaining your villain’s point of view, exploring their backstory, understanding the whys and wherefors of this fella.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

IN the on-going series of Thinking Like a Writer, everyone can recite the plot diagram of rising action which ends in a climax and denouement. But writers can’t just recite the particulars of a diagram; instead, we must create a plot that changes a character in some way.

One way to get at that change is to start by writing the Before and After character sections. Where is the character at the beginning of the story and how have they changed by the end.

For example, in the Before section of “A Christmas Carol,” Scrooge is miserable and miserly in three ways: toward the poor, toward his nephew, toward his employee and his family. He meets three ghosts, which leads to the After section, where he is kind and generous in three ways: toward the poor, toward his nephew, toward his employee and his family.

You may have a character moving from shy to bold.
What scene, description, and/or character set-up will Show-Don’t-Tell that this character is shy? How can you contrast that with the After scene?

First, identify the character arc for your character.
Then write a Before and an After.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Is 750 words per day getting easier or harder? January 2012 is a month when I am making a commitment to write at least 750 words each day.

For me, it’s hard to get started, but goes easily once I actually go to 750words.com and log in. Just knowing that it is timed makes me work hard for the 15 minutes or so it takes.

One of the typical creative writing prompts is to think of an embarrassing moment and describe that. I agree that’s a good prompt and here’s why. When you Think Like a Writer, you know that fiction must put your characters into a bad situation and make it even worse.

Without conflict, there is no fiction. But we love our characters and hate to make things worse for them. This time, you must make things as difficult as possible for your character. Put your character into a difficult situation; then make it worse; then make it worse.

Then, make it even worse. No let up.
It can be an embarrassing thing, or stressful, or painful. Just create a scene where the situation gets worse and worse and worse, without relief.

Now that, is thinking like a writer.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I am trying to keep up with my friend, Charlie, who has ridden his bike over 25 miles a day for over 3000 consecutive days. I want to write 750 words a day and I’m using 750words.com to keep track of everything. The point of this exercise is to make sure I am Thinking Like a Writer, doing my scales, keeping up the practice needed to be a great writer.

For today’s creative writing prompt, look for an object around your house, something you can pick up and hold. It might be a camera, a needle and thread, a baseball glove, a salt shaker, a frying pan, a hair dryer, a favorite book–anything.

Now, put that object in the hands of your character and write. Be sure to use lots of sensory details, what you see, hear, taste, touch, feel. If you need to, stop and make a list of those details first. Put the character in motion with that object in his/her hand and see what happens.

It might precipitate a flurry of action, perhaps cooking a favorite meal. It might evoke a poignant memory. It might be the grounding for a scene you couldn’t make work before.

Post a comment–what happened when you gave your character a solid object?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

I’m on a 4 day streak, after messing up a 36 day streak of writing daily on 750words.com. Sigh. Why did I mess up? Too many family issues going on.

If you’re writing 750 words daily, too, part of the goal is to learn to think like a writer. Character relationships are important to establish, but the relationships must be natural. In order for that to happen, you must not put too much on top of the text. In other words, you must have subtext.

Subtext is the real topic of discussion, whatever is going on in the relationship.
For example, a couple might be making apple pie together, peeling apples, mixing up and rolling out pie crust, popping it in the oven. Their dialogue might be:

This green apple is sour.
That’s why I got half green, half red.
It’s too sour.
Then add sugar?
Yes. Sometimes you need to sweeten things up a bit.

Straightforward, talking about apple pie. But the subtext could vary. Maybe they had a fight that morning and when one says “sour” they really are talking about the fight. When the other offers to add sugar, maybe it’s a subtle apology.

This green apple is sour. She hesitated, waiting for him to speak.
That’s why I got half green, half red.
It’s too sour.
He took the knife from her hand and turned her around.
Then add sugar? He bent to kiss her.
Afterward, she said, Yes. Sometimes you need to sweeten things up a bit.

The text is still talking about making apple pie, but the subtext is the couple making up after a fight.

What if it is two brothers?

His mouth puckered: This apple is sour.
Tight lipped, his brother said, That’s why I got half green, half red.
He shook his head and dropped the apple in the trash: It’s too sour.
His brother pulled it out again and slammed it onto the counter and glared.
Quickly now, hoping to avert the anger, he stuttered, Th-th-then add sugar?
Yes. His brother’s eyes gleamed red and he rolled up his sleeves and flexed his fist. Sometimes you need to sweeten things up a bit.

You get the idea. It’s not the dialogue, per se, that carries the weight of a relationship. Sometimes, it’s the subtext. Often that is in the dialogue itself, but often it is in the beats or actions, thoughts and emotions responding to the dialogue. Think like a writer: what is really going on in a relationship?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

This month, I am trying to Think Like a Writer and write 750 words a day, practicing my writing, much like a musician plays scales daily.


When you introduce a character, do you say something like this?
John Doe, age 37, trotted down the street.

The question is how old is the character and how does the reader KNOW the character’s age?

Today, write about 5 characters, that’s about 125 words for each character. Make the characters ages 5, 15, 25, 55 and 85. The reader should know the ages simply by the description. It might be physically how they look, how they move, something they say, or where they are found on a Saturday night.

The cliche is wrinkled skin and gray hair, of course, But we will go beyond the cliches, won’t we? Because we are thinking like writers!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The following are the top posts of 2011 on Fiction Notes.

1. Checklist of 17 Character Qualities
2. 43 Book Trailer Sites to Inspire, Instruct and Share
3. 15 Days to Stronger Characters
4. 29 Plot Templates: Know the Readers Expectations Before you Bust Them
5. How to Create Whacky, Interesting Character Descriptions that Stick with a Reader
6. Outline Level of Plot
7. 4 Goals for a Novel’s Opening Chapter
8. 30 Days to a Stronger Scene: Table of Contents
9. 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book
10. 9 Traits of Sympathetic Characters
11. 9 Ways of Plotting a Novel
12. 15 Graphic Novel Resources: Read, Evaluate, Write, Illustrate, Submit

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

The Think Like a Writer series continues here with an exhortation to continue thinking in sensory details, the basic exercise of any writer. Today, think about how a person moves as a way to characterize him or her.

Action and Metaphors of Action

She is as lithe as a jaguar.

That simile evokes a certain type of grace and perhaps, stealth, in the movement of a woman. Today, watch everyone around you and record their movement in words. Use strong action verbs. Not walk. Instead, think about stumble, stagger, dance, pirouette, stroll, amble, etc.

And, hardest for me, is to think in terms of metaphors of some type. But metaphors can be some of the most evocative of descriptions.

Here are a couple videos to watch. How would you describe this beginning waltzer?

If you can’t see the video, click here. *|YouTube:l1wPywALl5U|*

Contrast that with these 8-year-old dancers in a competition. You can describe the overall FEEL of the dancer, or take a ten second section and try to describe IN DETAIL exactly how he moves.

If you can’t see the video, click here. *|YouTube:uUPSQYmZqZs|*

Contrast the above with these Tango Soloist.

If you can’t see the video, click here. *|YouTube:C8WkA1ja2-w|*

After writing about each video, read your work over. What does the DESCRIPTION say about your character? How does it make this person come to life in a way that could not be done with interior thought?

750words.com Features

If you are using 750words.com, you can see interesting stats about your writing. At the end of the day’s writing, click the green word count at the bottom and look around the stats about what you just wrote. Pay particular attention to whether you are using lots of visual, auditory or tactile senses. Try to vary your writing to include as many senses as possible.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win