Book Review

Just before the NaNoWriMo Kick Off party I attended on 27 October 2013, I checked out Barnes and Noble, the brick and mortar store.  I got "Writer's Guide to Character Traits" 2nd ed.by Linda N. Edelstein, PH.D.  I've been perusing it for the past few days.  I found it to be informative and helpful in thinking over characters.  Definitely remains a staple in my repertoire of useful info.  "All this information is not a substitute for your imagination, but a way to inspire your mind." *Intro p 1.  Definitely can help to guide a character's life over a period of time.  Particularly those who plan serials or are world building.

On Page 3, she gives some hints for using the book in developing characters.  And this is what I found fascinating.  During my research for several of my books, I was looking for this particular kind of information.  While I have led a rich and varied life, I don't have the experience for quite of few of the characters that I was writing about.  This has come in handy for me, already.  Reading over some of the traits has solved a dilemma with the main characters in my books.  I felt there was something missing.  Voila!  There was.  I have been going back over the books I was going to self publish.  Tweaking here and there.

Of course, finding this book almost on the eve of NaNoWriMo presented a bit of a quandary.  How can I be editing and revising in the middle of the most exciting month of the year for me?  Light bulb clicked.  I only have to write 1667 words per day.  Thus I can keep my inner critic happy and distracted by checking out the other books. In particular, the three I had ready for publishing, okay, okay, self publishing.  The ones you've undoubtedly seen in the sidebar of my blogs, posted on my pages at Google and Facebook.  The very ones you've been wondering when you'll ever get to read, the ones you've probably given up on.

What stopped me in the midst of my mad dash to self publish was this:  "What about sex? How are you handling that?" from a concerned grandparent, parent, foster care type person.  Well, I assured her it wasn't in the triple x category.  That I showed that topic along the lines of our traditional outlook.  Whereupon I received "the look."  I realized I had been happily writing characters lives along our traditions and there was a skewed outlook on our traditions.  I put everything on the back burner for a bit whilst I figured out things.

Thus, my happiness at finding a book that had most of what I needed in one place.  And I can proceed with solving those plot points I had been unhappy with and get on with the business of self publishing my books.