Tag: Formatting

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Where Have I Been?

I was stunned when I realized I hadn’t written a blog for almost 2 months! Yes, I was busy, but … well, instead of making excuses, here are some events that took up my time.

In early April, I received a call from a pastor who needed my help. The church leadership was considering transferring from one denomination to another, and asked me to oversee the project. That took two very busy months in California, but we got it done.

Before leaving Southern California, we attended an air show in Central California … before the fires broke out. Our older son and two of his sons are pilots, and we had a great time.

We then headed east to attend the wedding of one of our grandsons; it was a long drive from California to Ohio.

Returning home in early July, our 9-year-old grandson, Joshua, came to spend two weeks with us. Although his school was out for the summer, he volunteered to use my 24-year-old DELL computer to begin writing a short story about his family trip. Doing quite a bit of internet research, he did very well and it might become a 65-page booklet. I’m proud of him.

And I taught him the basics of playing racquetball! After he and I played very slowly for 45 minutes to teach him and give him experience in the game, he watched a dynamic, hard-hitting game between Michael (our 42-year-old son) and me. Michael normally beats me, but it sure is fun.

I spent the next three weeks getting caught up on my business of formatting books. It was then that I realized I had neglected my blog. So, friends, please forgive me, and I’ll get back on track. And I’ll endeavor to …

Write Creatively.

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Creating a Character

Several months ago, after I had formatted and published a book for a friend, the author asked, “Do you know who the main character is styled after?”

“No, I hadn’t thought about it.”

“I already had a plot, but I formed the primary character after a man that we both know. That made it easy because I didn’t have to create the character. You wouldn’t recognize him because I added a few other traits to mask his identity.”

That’s good thinking, and it greatly reduced his writing time.

Use the character traits of a friend, family member, or even someone you don’t like. Use them to form your heroes and villains. You can also take notes of what you observe about someone you just met and set your imagination free to think about what that kind of person might do in various situations. A story idea can pop up without much effort.

Writing can be fun. It takes time, but it can be easy. So, sit down and write that next book. And make sure that you …

Write Creatively