distracted, plot wasn’t too hard. The problem with plot for me at least was understanding that it wasn’t simply the events that happened to a character. There’s a story arc that goes from beginning to end like the warp on a loom, and no matter what else you add to it, or take away, that must lie underneath.

I got that because other people kept having me read their stuff, and it was just a chronicle of the character’s days, and it bugged me. I worried at it until I saw what was different between those pieces and the published stuff I like.

No, for me it’s color. Adding sound, smell, mood, feelings. The things that make the stuff resonate with a reader. I read things about this and say, “Oh yeah!” but my stuff is dull, grey, flat, instruction set. Blah.

And I read a blog that makes it sound so simple, but I know that I don’t do it….

Sigh.

I really don’t like being Sisyphus, you know?

jkd

P.S. Thanks for the encouragement! Sorry for being so self-absorbed.