Hey Everyone!

Well, my spring is off to a great start, and I’ll have even more time for writing Mayden this summer as I’ve taken time off from my mentoring work! I’m hoping for a new chapter once a week or more instead of the usual once every ten days! We will see… 

Okay, so I got this message on my email, not as a comment, so I’m going to put it all for you to get my answer. I’ll keep the commenter “anon” just in case that is the preference!

Hello Robin,
My name is ANON. I recently watched the videos on youtube of you giving tips on writing and I found them most informing, and they have helped alot with the books I’m writing. I also like your story, and like the direction that is progressing. I really like Jake he seems like a great character(with or without his shirt) also I like Mayden, I see her as a truly three demensional character, and I like her realtionship with the magic that the twins are teaching her. I hope to see the finished article some time in the future. I was actually writing to ask you, what do you find helps with the creation of ideas for your stories also I have trouble writing beleiveable diaglogue that fits with a particluar character, if you could give me any tips that would be great.

Yours Magically, ANON
P.S.-I hope that mayden helps anna get out of that home, that poor women needs a break.

So ANON… For the most part, my stories seem to come to me. I am open to them, always looking around for ideas. Sometimes, there are too many! And sometimes, they come in dreams. I look for stories about magic because they interest me most, but I don’t like cheesy material, so I like to think of how it would be for someone pretty normal to find out 1) they are not normal and 2) that the world is not normal.  I think to get really good ideas you have to think of what you like, and then think of what you want to say to the world. See if something comes from that.

Dialogue is both a skill and a gift. Skill comes in technique, and later I’ll be showing more of that.  For example, some characters will ONLY say “can’t” and others only ”can not.”  I’ll tag each character with a few words only they use. But I do that in later drafts.  For now, I just try to “listen” to how they would say it, and consider that.  If it sounds like my voice on everyone, I have to go back. I see that like painting the basic outline of what I want to paint, then going back for detailed shadowing. So just get what you want to say down first, then design an image and chose words and ways of speaking (some long sentences, some short, some full sentences, some get cut off a lot), then add it later.

Hope that helps!  Hugs to all, and thanks for commenting! Makes for great fun! Robin