The idea for this Writer's Workshop came to me on accident. I was answering a question about characterization (using my three-Aspect method, naturally), when I stumbled onto a characterization staple that I've essentially overlooked. It's also a common term that you may not really understand: "chemistry." Who better to talk about character chemistry than the writer with a major in chemistry? (It's true. Double major. Tell your friends.) So let's explore the chemistry of character interaction

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What an oddly appropriate topic for a post that's two weeks late. I'm sure literally every writer has been here at one point or another. Whether you've planned the entire story out or just write scene to scene, you've gotten to a point where you have no idea how to get from Point A to Point B. I mentioned once that, as soon as I could get Twilight and Jade on a train in "A Call to Vespers," I could write the next section. Now, oddly enough, in "Mother and Child" I'm having trouble getting

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Hey, everyone! 'Sbeen a while, huh? Here's something to talk about. When you write a story, you pick a Main Character to be the emotional focus of the story. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. But here's something else to think about: what makes the Main Character important to the story is that they are the only one with the power to reach the Goal. Makes sense, right? Even if they're not the one actively reaching for the Goal, it's their presence that makes it work out in the end. Let's

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Imagine you're on a gameshow. You're in this warehouse, and there are a bunch of suitcases suspended from the ceiling. One of those suitcases has $1,000,000 in it; the rest are all full of worthless paper. Ready, set, go! ...This isn't a very interesting game, is it? After all, what's stopping you from just walking leisurely from suitcase to suitcase, opening each case in turn, and eventually finding the right one? There's no tension, no stakes!

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Hey, everypony! I've got another idea for one of these. Let's talk about Goals some more!

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JIM MERCURIO'S SCREENWRITING WORKSHOPS
Pittsburgh, PA, USA, Sep. 13, 13-14, 13-15, or 13-17

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TL;DR: Some folks at fimfiction have again scraped together $785 $900 $1000 to give to any fimfiction writer who gets accepted this year at any of the most-prestigious American science fiction & fantasy writing workshops.

To quote from my 2013 post on the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writing Workshop:

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I've wanted to do this post for a while--a dig into Steadfast Characters and what makes them different from Changing Characters. However, I didn't quite know how to do it in a way that would feel different from all of my previous posts that have brushed against the concept. While I'd pushed this concept towards the back of the sock drawer that is my brain, another project came to me, which just so happened to tether nicely to the idea of explaining Steadfast Characters like I'd wanted. But

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Sooooo, I just learned The Black Library just put out an open call for submissions based on Games Workshop IP. 'Official' fanfic, basically.

And hey, I'm kind of good at fanfic.

The kicker is, I'm fairly certain they won't let me write Ciaphas Cain-- not right off the bat, at least. More's the pity. Still, Games Workshop's got a pretty deep sandbox to play in, so that's a plus.

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WARNING: You might have to experiment a bit at the target link to get the image shown large enough to easily read. It might even take a right click or two.

http://www.lit-hum.org/2012/04/emily-dickinson-attends-writing.html

Somehow, a friend thought I might find this both amusing and relevant.

Please note, though, that not all of the negative feedback I've ever received on a story was of this type. Not by far!

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The Collection containing every item shown in this video

I officially released a new group today called the Wordsmith Workshop!

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I just finished posting two minifics, We Only Live Twice and Moon Bright, over into my Horizontal Lines short-fiction collection. One's about Bon-Bond's unusual approach to romance, and the other's about the ground's-eye-view of Luna's reformation. You

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...and I don't know why. But the one last night was the strangest. Perhaps it's the stress (things have been very uncertain as of late, which is why I haven't been writing as much as I would like). Perhaps it's what I've been eating. Could exercise cause weird dreams?

Well, I just had the weirdest dream ever last night, and it didn't involve Goro from Mortal Kombat eating my pet hamster.

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