Writing – Page 11 – Christine Smith

7 (Extremely Flawed) Literary Characters We Love and Why

Post published:July 9, 2018
Post category:Reading Writing
Post comments:31 Comments

Book characters are life. If you don’t have few dozen (or hundreds) of fictional characters you spend your life pinning pics of on Pinterest, making memes for, staying up late coming up with wild theories and headcanons about, and like a lot better than some of your own acquaintances well…you’re lying. People like people. And when those people are fiction, that’s just BETTER. (For some reason???) But here’s the thing. Sometimes our fictional people tastes can get…strange. I’ve always said some of my most favorite fictional characters are people I wouldn’t be able to stand in real life. But here…

5 Ways to Conquer the Editing Dragon

Post published:July 2, 2018
Post category:Writing
Post comments:32 Comments

As you all probably know (since I keep blabbering about it), I’ve been deep into edits for my WIP, Burning Thorns, ever since January, and only just finished a few weeks ago. Editing was a hard and long road. But at the same time? It was kind of amazing. (Shocking, right???) And along the way, I learned a lot. Like a lot a lot! Eventually I’d love to give you guys a look at my editing process and some tips and tricks I used (if you’re interested in that sort of thing, that is?), but today I’m just going to…

The Get to Know Me Tag {Writer’s Edition}

Post published:June 18, 2018
Post category:Writing
Post comments:30 Comments

About half an age ago (a.k.a 3 months) the dear Savannah from Inspiring Writes created the Writer’s Edition of a Get to Know Me Tag. And I loved it so much, I was toootally gonna put on my pirate hat and steal the tag if she didn’t tag me for it. Buuuut she DID tag me, so I shall be doing it all legally and stuff. Yay me! (Except can I still wear a pirate hat and pretend to be nefarious???) ANYWHO. This is one of those super fun get-to-know-me tags so you dear nosy dragons can learn more about…

How to Achieve Great Story Pacing with “Character Fireside Chats”

Post published:June 11, 2018
Post category:Writing
Post comments:40 Comments

For the past few years I’ve discovered my love for modern stories—whether they be TV shows, movies, or books—has decreased. For a bit, I couldn’t figure out why. So many had unique premises, exciting plots, interesting scenery. On the surface, everything seemed as though these should be enjoyable stories. Yet…I couldn’t fall in love with them. And it bugged me. So me, being the writer I am, began to dissect these stories and figure out WHY. Why did these tales with such great potential fall so very short? Then, finally, finally, it hit me. The pacing was off. That was…

Beautiful People – Favorites Edition {And the FINAL Beautiful People!}

Post published:April 23, 2018
Post category:Writing
Post comments:30 Comments

My absolutely favorite blog linkup is ENDING. And I’m a blubbering ball of sadness. *cue the waterworks* I’m sure most of you know about Beautiful People—a linkup hosted by Sky @ Further Up and Further In and Cait @ Paperfury, in which each month they ask questions for us to answer about our story characters. Talking about my characters (or, ya know, ANY fictional characters) is my favoritest thing on this earth, so naturally I was alllll about this linkup! And GUYS, I’ve been doing it since my first year of blogging. Since before Cait was one of the hosts and…

Five Ways To Expand Your Story

Post published:April 2, 2018
Post category:Writing
Post comments:42 Comments

Some of you may know that my current WIP, Burning Thorns, was originally a 20k novella that I later turned into a full novel. That was my first time ever doing anything like that. I’ve always written novels, but I’ve never turned a novella/short story into a novel. It was a new experience. But it went well. Surprisingly well. That little 20k novella is now a 95k novel and I’m currently editing the 3rd draft. Crazy what little story ideas can become, amIright? I probably should have done a post like this during the expansion days (that was like 2…

The Spring Cleaning Writerly Challenge Tag

Post published:March 26, 2018
Post category:Writing
Post comments:41 Comments

Can you guys believe we’ve made it to spring? (Probably not judging by the frigid temperatures…) Hoooow is it nearly April? Pretty sure Christmas was yesterday! But since spring is pounding on the door like an uninvited guest (seriously, I want it to still be January!), I suppose I better let it in and offer it cookies and tea or something. (Please don’t waste your precious lives trying to make sense of my analogies.) In honor of spring arriving and the urge to spring clean, my frabjous and brilliant friend Deborah O'Carroll has created a spring cleaning tag. But we’re…

The Job of “Writer”: There is No Clocking Out

Post published:July 10, 2017
Post category:Writing
Post comments:50 Comments

Remember those dreams of grandeur during your first happy days as a writer? Those imaginings that your life would be full of lounging in a quaint coffee shop and clacking contentedly on your keyboard whenever you felt like it? The realization that you’d be paid to merely daydream and create? Talk about a life! After all, the writer’s life is the easiest gig, right? Our job description is quite literally “make stuff up”. The majority of the time our work outfit is our pajamas, and our work space is the comfiest chair in the house. We make our own hours.…

When Springs Blooms (Short Story)

Post published:February 20, 2017
Post category:Prompts Writing
Post comments:47 Comments

So I did a thing. I sort of accidentally wrote a short story when I supposed to be editing Burning Thorns. *cough, cough* The fantastic Jenelle Schmidt has proclaimed February as Fantasy Month, which is obviously the best idea ever. There’s all sorts of fun fantasy things going on at her blog. Do go check it out! One of the fun things is a short story challenge. Her challenge was to write a story using the word SNOW somewhere. When I saw that, my brain got an image of a girl standing in a snowstorm, and things exploded from there.…

Flash Fiction – Into the Rift

Post published:August 31, 2015
Post category:Prompts Writing
Post comments:26 Comments

Confession: I never write flash fiction. I basically never venture out and write anything but whatever current novel I’m working on at the time. I always feel guilty writing something else when I already have a novel that needs my attention, so I. . .never do. BUT right now, since I finished Burning Thorns, I don’t actually have a current writing project going. I’m free. So I did the unthinkable. I wrote a flash fiction piece. Bum bum BUMMM. My Pack (my online writing group of fabulous girls) has this thing called “Writer Dares” where we post random writing prompt…