D L Richardson

I'm not usually one to suffer from a lack of story ideas, but sometimes getting the writing started can be the challenge. It's the only form of writers block I usually experience. I have an idea, I know what I want to write, but then I get stuck.

Let me explain this week's challenge. Poison In The Pond is a horror novella I released in October 2014. Last week I had the idea to write a sister novella. I came up with the title for the next in the series, Evil In The Embers, and tweaked a story idea I'd drafted a few months prior, then I sat down at the computer and...nothing. I couldn't get the story started. For the past week I've attempted to get beyond the words Chapter One.

Writer's block is a massive hurdle. I wondered if it was due to the fact I was editing a 120,000 word novel. Writing and editing require different brain activity. Yet Poison In The Pond is a 20,000 word novella, so Evil In The Embers only needs to be 20,000 words. And for the past nine m…

I've had a brief hiatus for a few weeks while I get Book Two of my apocalyptic fiction series finished. It's coming along nicely. I'm also discovering books to read via an Amazon discussion so if you'd like to have some books recommended, please join in.

http://www.amazon.com/forum/fiction/ref=cm_cd_t_rvt_np?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1X9OILUVOYVZ7&cdPage=3&cdThread=Tx1R33R7EPCAZVR#CustomerDiscussionsNew


This new series is heavy on plot and character. I'm developing characters that readers want to care about, and also developing the plot. But which is more important?

Characters driven novels are described as novels that characters drive. Der. But they're more than that. They're stories that we love because we want to know what happens to the people in them. When I read To Kill A Mockingbird, I desperately wanted to read about the plights of Scout, Jem, and Atticus. I became a part of their lives. I didn't want the story to end. As a side note, I&…