Comments on: Embrace the Inner Psychopath: Great Authors Will Even Kill Christmas

By: Beth Brubaker

Beth Brubaker — Sat, 05 Jan 2019 00:15:29 +0000

In reply to Kristen Lamb. Ogres have layers...and those layers definitely make us better writers!

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Fri, 04 Jan 2019 13:57:37 +0000

In reply to Beth Brubaker. Hey, I say that bluntness is my super power. Sometimes we all need an ogre. My "ogre" mentors made me cry...but they also made me a heck of a lot better writer. ((HUGS)) And I took it as a compliment, LOL.

By: Top Picks Thursday! For Writers & Readers 12-20-2018 | The Author Chronicles

Thu, 20 Dec 2018 18:00:53 +0000

[…] Kathleen McCleary writes about navigating families in fiction. Kristen Lamb advises authors to make life really hard for their characters, and Janice Hardy shares two questions to ask for stronger character goals and […]

By: Beth Brubaker

Beth Brubaker — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 17:02:10 +0000

Now I know why I need to take apart my story and do a complete rebuild. I am simply not crazy enough as a writer.

Maybe because my life has been crazy enough that I created a world where most people get along (at least everyone doesn’t live in Candyland…whew!), but I still need a lot more crazy- er, I mean chaos in my stories.

It’s not that I’m not imaginative enough- I have no problem planning for my husbands’ funeral the moment he’s running late (down the the menu for the repast afterward), but I just didn’t think that would be good enough in a story!

Even if my story has to do with magical characters that are near-perfect concerning training. Ugh.

Thank you for all you do to point out WHY my stories probably aren’t as exciting as I try to make them. Sometimes you need an ogre to pee on your head when you get too bogged down in the details.

I just realized I compared you to an ogre. The only reason I’m not deleting that comparison is that you might LIKE that. So in it stays. 😉

You know I love you and your insights, so take it as a compliment. Being an ogre isn’t always a bad thing!

Now I have a book I need to tear apart and redo. Bless you!

By: Julie Glover

Julie Glover — Mon, 17 Dec 2018 18:04:55 +0000

Nearly 26 years of marriage, and I wasn’t sure if I could go on recently when I said to my husband, “Can you believe that 62% of people don’t think that Die Hard is a Christmas movie?” And he said, “It’s not.” SHOCK! GASP! Noooooo! #TheHorror Lol. Of course, it’s a Christmas movie!

But as for my favorite Christmas story, that would likely be A Charlie Brown Christmas. And it being Charlie Brown, EVERYTHING GOES WRONG. He can’t even get a decent tree. I never realized how mean Charles Schulz could be, but it turns out he knew how to tell a great story and get us rooting for the underdog.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 17:09:20 +0000

All time favorite movie, Christmas and otherwise, is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Poor George Bailey just can’t catch a break. Appreciate your thoughts. I do think we can go too far with this. My husband routinely groans at stuff like you pointed out in Lethal Weapon and Die Hard (though not those particular movies) when it’s just too unrealistic.

By: Tiffany Dickinson

Tiffany Dickinson — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 03:50:14 +0000

Love, love, love all the movie refs and funnies. But, really thanks for reminding me to make life HARD for my protagonist. Merry Christmas.

By: Kristen Lamb

Kristen Lamb — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 13:57:54 +0000

In reply to Sasha Kildare. Well, the holidays are a sacred cow. Many of us (wrongly) believe everything should be perfect and nothing go wrong even though, technically, the days were picked rather arbitrarily. For me (since I can't speak for anyone else), I find myself saying things like, 'Oh no! She passed away. And right at CHRISTMAS. How awful.'Like people don't die 365 days a year? And anyway, it being a sacred cow where we believe nothing should go wrong, it's a prime target for fiction commercial AND literary. It's a soft spot ripe to be punched.

By: Joy Lennick

Joy Lennick — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 09:35:03 +0000

Oh Kristen, You are AMAZING. I loved that article and agree with you wholeheartedly, BUT…I am that age when I daren’t cough too much at funerals,and have written (not bad, indifferent, quite good…) ‘stuff’for years. Went through the Catholic/Chapel/Jewish mills…so was a ‘goody-two-shoes’ until I grew up (whenever that was…) If! Anyway, I wanted everything to be kosher; to please people and not upset the cliched apple cart so wrote ‘sweet’ tales and some poems you’d throw up over…It’s only in the last fifteen years that I fully realised that one should swear when needed and tell unpalatable truths and tousle the cute child’s hair a bit… It was very liberating I can tell you. I’ve had several things published over the years and particularly enjoy writing in a humorous vein. I’m working (slowly) on, possibly, my last book and it’s a meatier story. I’m hoping it’ll be all the better due to your excellent advice (Readers please wear flame-proof suits…)

By: Sasha Kildare

Sasha Kildare — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 04:00:27 +0000

Without conflict, there is no story. Without conflict, there is no way to create climax or resolution.

Christmas as a theme is ripe for conflict. Two lovers with different religions, one doesn’t celebrate Xmas. No money for Christmas. Thought an engagement ring would be for Xmas, but no…. and on and on. It has become such a commercial and sentimental behemoth…