Nathan Bransford - The Forums

My space is in the guest bedroom closet (well, only in half of the closet, honestly). My husband built me a little desk with shelves up the side of the wall, and thanks to years living in an apartment the size of a shoebox in NYC, I can actually fit some of my reference books and little thingies in ...

When my daughter was 2, I wrote during naptimes and after she was asleep for the night. I also passed her off to my husband for 10 minute breaks here and there. But I didn't have a 4 month old at the same time--honestly, when she was 4 months I was a zombie with no sleep (she's a horrible sleeper to...

Thanks, Claudie! I'm still trying to figure out the balance between the two is all--my last book I was told that the characters were great but I didn't torture them enough by more than one agent. I'm thinking of having "kill your darlings" tattooed somewhere so I don't forget. :D And it's ...

I'm a total Pantser, but the one thing that's held true for every story I've written is that I see my MC first, in my head, before I have any idea re. the rest of the stuff. The story comes from the person: I plop them down in a random place or scenario and see what they do. They pretty much lead th...

I've had that same experience a lot, especially with my current WIP. I started it during Nano in November, and I'd have days where I'd do over 3k for a while and then poof, nothing. The last week especially--if I remember right I was in one of the slower spots where getting anything out was like swi...

I'm in, though I'm going to be focusing more on pages edited than total word counts (I'll still put them in). I really want to finish this first rewrite of my novel this month. I'm horrible at letting time pass between edits, so I can see the plot holes and stuff when I come back, and if I can get t...

Actually, I don't see a bi character sleeping around as a stereotype as much as the whole intelligent, blunt and sarcastic combo. But I've known a lot a people who sleep around, I guess, plus a lot of people of varying sexual persuasion. So personal experience tells me there's no real relation to or...

To me I think it would depend on how much of the character's traits/habits/appearance is sterotypical versus how much is unique. If the stereotype used is only one small part of who the character is, then for me as a reader it's not offensive because I know the author isn't *trying* to just write a ...

I like the idea. I think it's an interesting way to add to a character and their backstory without clogging up a novel. Readers who enjoy the character and want to know more could read it, and readers who were "meh" on the idea could choose not to. I really don't see it as much different f...

Hmmm.....food for thought, Margo. I'm going for the whole debut author status so maybe I need to rethink. Especially when there's such a fine line between the two classifications in some cases. Thanks!

Ooooh, tough. But I'll go with books that had a huge influence on me: 1. "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury 2. "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams 3. "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by Richard Bach 4. "Skeleton Crew" by Stephen King (my first in th...

I think by definition urban fantasy is supposed to be set primarily in a city. Though by that definition Cassandra Clare's "Infernal devices" series could be classified as urban fantasy as it's in London. But....it's Victorian London. So maybe UF is modern day fantasy in a city? And the cl...

Hmm, yes. The eyes thing.... My character's eyes tend to do more than my characters. They're always glinting or squinting or turning the color of stormclouds or some such thing. The rest of their bodies never seem to do anything at all, at least when it comes to showing emotion. Sometimes the lips j...

Just a quick post on first draft crazies, and why I don't blog as much when I'm in the middle of that particular madness:

http://www.amschilling.com/blog/?p=111

Part Three of my North American Field Guide to Critique Partners:

http://www.amschilling.com/blog/?p=105