by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 3, 2022 | Characters
We’re back! It has been a hectic couple of months at the Morrill household, full of summer camps, sports, and travel. Most of the summer camps on our schedule were for my kids, but I got in on the summer fun by being a speaker at the One Year Adventure Novel...
by Stephanie Morrill | Apr 27, 2022 | Characters
Ed Catmull is one of the founders of Pixar, and I really enjoyed his book, Creativity, Inc. about the history and inner workings of Pixar. I especially loved this insight he shared: “The definition of superb animation is that each character on the screen makes you...
by Stephanie Morrill | Feb 2, 2022 | Characters, Compelling Character Series, First Drafts, Writing, Writing Tools
In the first post of this series, I talked about how I get to know my characters as I write, not through a bunch of exercises from before I write the book. Last week, I talked about four filters you can use to understand and manipulate your characters’...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jan 26, 2022 | Characters, Compelling Character Series
A couple weeks ago, I posted the first installment of this series, which was about how characters are created as you write. I shared how it can be useful to do character exercises before you write your novel, but that most of the time I find it more beneficial to...
by Stephanie Morrill | Jan 5, 2022 | Antagonists, Characters, Compelling Character Series, First Drafts, The Craft of Writing
Hi, writers! I hope you enjoyed your holiday season and have come out on the other side feeling rested and energized. Holidays can also be uniquely draining times, especially if you’re the sort of person who thrives with routine and structure. That’s me! I...
by Stephanie Morrill | Oct 6, 2021 | Characters, Writing a Series
An excellent question was emailed to us by Rachel. She asked, “I know that if I’m writing a stand alone book my character should overcome her internal flaw or lie by the end, but since I’m planning a series should I create another flaw or lie for the...
