Anna

I absolutely agree with you Raine about not every character progressing through their arc in synchrony and entirety but nevertheless needing some sort of arc. I have only recently realised that this gives the relationships between characters energy and life as they shift according to where they are in their ‘journey’. It is a powerful tool.

I think “Spotting an opening…” needs a new para. The lipstick thing is a little over complicated, I think you could shorten it without losing anything.
The “pills like skittles” analogy doesn’t work for me.
“Small-to-medium-time” seems a cop-out, he’s a small-time crook, I think.
“Anticipated to sit..” should be “anticipated sitting”.

I’d take…[Read more]

I too tend not too worry too much about the overall structure when I’m actually in the thick of writing a first draft but I have found that reading the various books about structure has helped me be aware of the broad sweeps of the shape of a story as I’m thinking it out.

The Banjo
The phone rings in the lost property office at Euston Station in London.
“Lost Property, Smith speaking, how may we help?”
He takes a sip from his tea, listens.
“Yes, sir, anything left on a train on this line ends up here. Assuming it’s turned in, like. What have you lost?
“So, a banjo is it sir? Well let me have a look, won’t be…[Read more]

Loved the story, Elle, congratulations!

Well done, good job as usual, L!

I might do it. Even if only to get some stuff on paper as I’m nowhere near ready to actually write anything new. Plus I’ve got my sister coming for a long week in the middle of November… When do you have to commit?

Without any other information I would assume the title was the name of the MC (or just possibly an invented country) and guess that it was YA or children’s fairy story or fantasy

Tangled Web (A, The, What a, Weaving a,)
Untangled Web

Time is sometimes described as a fourth dimension, so:
Fourth Dimension
The Fourth Dimension
Into the, From the, Out of the, Attack of the. (last one was a joke).

Brainstorming:

An Uneasy Homecoming.
After the Happy Ending.
The Missing Years.
Breaking apart.

Ooooh. I like The Time Stealer! But I’m also wondering, since this is meant to be a trilogy or a series, could you have two titles – one for the trilogy and one for each book. So it could be The Time Stealer Trilogy. The individual titles could possibly be linked in some way. Like the chess theme that runs through the titles of the books in…[Read more]

Same moment. Same reaction, Sea!

Excellent, Richard.

That should be IT didn’t disappoint!

Logged into the Den and saw that you’d written another of your fascinating blogs, Richard, so I went and made myself a cup of tea and settled down for a good read. I didn’t disappoint. Fascinating story and I must confess to having damp eyes at the end. You’ve got a real knack of telling these tales in an interesting and moving way. Thanks Jane