Creating Character Flaws
Hmm, those characters are really... nice. Time to ruin them and make some fun!Now, there are flaws that work and many that are just irrelevant. One key ingredient to a good flaw - it moves the story! And before we begin, 'brooding' is not a strong enough flaw for any character, human or otherwise. There's a good reason viewers preferred Spike to Angel in 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', he was bad. This brings me to another key ingrediant - balance it with a good trait. Spike was funny, funny enough we could overlook the years of slaughtering and kitten consuming.

Writing Resources & Distractions
Occasionally I like to share websites and resources that I find helpful for writing (or for entertaining me while I pretend to write).Halfway now through NaNoWriMo and I'm starting to pick up the pace. The Costume Maker is moving along well, although I'm finding I need to deepen two of my main trio's characters. The irony is the most shallow character seems the best hashed out. I think the other two need deeper flaws, so I'll do some research and that may be the topic of my next post.For now, here are links I'm enjoying:

Opening lines and hooks.
 The first line of your narrative is your connection with the reader. You want to make an impact, build an interest so the reader commits to the narrative. Like all relationships, there will be ups and downs. Your narrative will require quick moving/action scenes but also need to give your reader a rest with easier paced sections and ways to pass on necessary information.  Make sure your reader has a strong investment in the narrative so they will see you through the slow times.  Fashion

Dialogue - What I'm trying to say...
DialogueThis is my weakness in writing and can be an essential part of 'showing not telling'. I've been working on my dialogue for my NaNoWriMo novel The Costume Maker and this is what I have found helpful:Watch out for 'Talking Heads'...If your conversation between two or three people runs too long, you'll have endless he said/she saids, the reader looses the connection they've worked to build up of place. Your location fades and disapears - all the reader sees is flo

NaNoWriMo 2nd Week!
9 days into NaNoWriMo and all is well.I've 16,336 words towards my novel The Costume Maker, so at this stage I am very confident of making my 50,000 word goal. In fact I'm planning to step it up a bit now and aim for 75,000 words for a good first draft.The story is coming along well. My characters have found themselves in the magical realm and need to get home. They have encountered dragons, mystery forest creatures and Fairies. The three teenagers are very different characters, although they are just