Character Madness and Musings

What are you hoping for in 2016? I usually like to spend some time going over the year that past, just to see if I made my goals, but for whatever reason, I didn't make any last year. I don't bother with resolutions, they seem to be more self discipline than I have, but I think goals and things to hope for are a positive endeavor. So here are a few of mine. I haven't been writing as much as I should, so I made a schedule, and added catch up days in case I fall behind. I have a few novels that are almost finished, a couple of anthology novelettes, and of course I plan on keeping up on Pretentious. I also have another series of short stories planned, but that will all be published together when the time comes. But every writer probably has more writing on their new year list. Reading more books is a definite for the new year. Most people know that I read for a screenwriting contest every year, but this year, I want to read more novels, and post more review...

This Week Tolor Interviews  Beslynx Spiritwalker Interview 3 of 5  from  The Followers of Torments, series,  by Katheryn Caffee Tell us about your story Which one?  If it’s about me, you’ll have to wait.  I’ve seen you talking to the others, so I presume you wish to speak about that filth who tries to pretend to be an alpha?   What part do you play in it? I tricked, and I was trapped.  I want no part in this tale. Is it scary or a love story? Who cares.  If it is scary, then it is even more reason for me to get out of it.  I still cannot believe the Woodland Path helped him trick me into the Path forsaken collar of his, and now will not provide me any guidance. Have you heard any good gossip lately? None worth sharing.  Thanks to the fiend who claims he “owns” me, I am going to have to move again.  And, I had just begun to earn a place in that village, too.  Do you realize how much it is...

This Week Tolor Interviews  Akantheldama Interview 2 of 5  from  The Followers of Torments, series,  by Katheryn Caffee Tell us about your story There are two stories with me.  The first is how I came to be, though I have not yet attempted to chronicle that one.  The second is much later, after I had learned the rudiments of what I needed to know.  I convinced my progenitor to “lose” me in a wager to the fighter I saw so long ago in the Sands.  There is something about him… something I can not yet grasp… that is important to myself, and my House.  Only in service to him will I be able to come to understand what that something is, or to bring my rogue gifts under control. What part do you play in it? I am a guide for Nameless, though I must tread carefully.  He is my master, and yet I must ensure he reaches the end I have foreseen.   I am also his Silk’s trainer.  All new captives are turned over to me for th...

Ironically, this was this week's blog prompt, but it seems like a hurdle to me. There have been a few roadblocks for me over the years. Idea's usually aren't the issue though. One of my favorite screenwriters used to tell his students to open a newspaper if they need ideas. There's plenty of tension and life happening in there. I've never opened the newspaper, but I love tinkering with writer's prompts and images. Usually running into the right image is just what I need. I've used prompts and images, for both stories, and single scenes. Sometimes I have trouble changing scenes when the intensity changes. I've found music is great for getting past that. I just figure out what emotion or atmosphere I need to create. There are all kinds of music playlists on youtube, spotify, and other websites. Just key in what you need. If words bother you, there are instrumentals, which is what I use most often, since words distract me. Since I plan my storie...

It's been a while since I wrote the last hurdles in writing post. This one is pretty huge for some people, and others tend to ignore this piece of craft. Not writing the prologue was never a real issue for me, but the problem it causes for many writer's, including myself at times, is the same,  Then how will the reader's know the premise or background, and where do I start my story? I'm going to start off by reminding you that I believe in craft. There are reasons that some things work, and others don't, but I've never been taught to see them as rules. Every writer has their own thoughts on the issue, and their own style of writing. The comments in this post are simply my opinions. Take what you find helpful, and toss the rest. So, let's start with some of the reasons we avoid prologues. I read a post once where someone said this.  "Writing a prologue is like saying I'm going to tell you a story, but I have to tell you this fi...

This Week Tolor Interviews  Nameless  from The Followers of Torments, series,  by Katheryn Caffee It's been a while since the last character interview. This will be the first of five character interviews from this series. Be prepared for a treat. Nameless speech pattern is strange to follow at first, but he has become a much loved character by many, and it becomes easier to follow after settling into the differences.  Tell us about your story What “story” is?  Life is.  Live, die, born, become.  Is story not to anyone. What part do you play in it? What part is?  Life is.  Win I, eat I, live I.  Said enough? Is it scary or a love story? ::shrugs::  Scary why?  Living am free now.  Alone not, Her favor have always.  Apart not am. Have you heard any good gossip lately? Gossip?  What is? If you could be anything you want to be, what would you be? As am now, everything perfectly w...

This is the first of this week's blog-prompts, and for me, it's a pretty good one. I have a writer's prompt blog, and a Pinterest board with fantasy images for writing prompts, I bought tons of images, and have used free sites too. And we all know about the blog-prompt group, since I usually post from it at least once a week. I also had a Musicians with a Pen, group, but lacking vision, it bit the dust pretty fast. For me, inspiration comes from everywhere, and when I'm writing, the muse goes all over the place. I've tried writing the ideas down, but I've found that the vision still wavers with time. So, to avoid that problem, I started writing terrible first drafts. I know that's okay, but the worse they are, the more difficult I find the rewrite to be. I have a couple of great novels coming as soon as I finish those rewrites. My fascination with images began when I told a writing partner I wanted to write a dragon story. Waiting to hash out the p...

I've been really bad keeping this blog up lately. Not because I don't know what to write about, there are an abundance of things to discuss, and this blog is one of my favorite things that I work on as a writer. I do have my writer's prompt blog caught up till the first of the year, but I'm a writer's prompt fanatic. Setting up the blog prompt group was fun, but we aren't always interested in the same style of posts. I tend to focus on characterization a lot, but that's just who I am. I love great characters, and having fun with them. Keep your eyes open for the Character interviews coming up. They should be a lot of fun. So, Three Wishes? Like most people I know, I would wish for an end to hatred.  I've learned over the years that it takes a special person to agree to disagree. We're people, and we all think differently. That will never change, so we need to agree to disagree sometimes, get along with each other, and stop hating. I didn...

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