A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

What’s next? I started this blog in January of 2013 to share my journey as a writer. Sharing my own research about crafting a novel, including my readers in both my victories and mistakes along the way, I hope I have ultimately encouraged people who have a strong desire to put on paper the stories floating about in their heads. Some of my readers have connected with me through this blog and asked questions about blogging and the behind the scenes pieces of publishing. I have answered each of those requests to the best of my ability and with the notion that I do not have all the answers. A friend recently “caught up” on reading some of my back posts and told me the ones she found most helpful in writing her first novel. I started thinking about that. What has been the most helpful to new writers? Writers in the process? Readers? Below is a partial list of posts by category. [You can click on any topic to review that post, if you like.] Here is the real question: What has ...

an·tag·o·nist anˈtaɡənəst/ noun: a person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something; an adversary. Me:   Ethan, tell us a little about yourself. Ethan: Oh, well…uh, I’m 34 years old. Married. I have two great kids, Robbie and Drew and I’m a sales rep for a fixture company. Me: Fixture company? Ethan: You know, faucets for your bathroom and kitchen and so forth. We are pretty high end. I handle commercial accounts. Hotels and office buildings and such. I have a huge account pending now with a resort developer. Huge. Me: That’s great. And you work out of Cincinnati? Ethan: Our home office is in St. Louis, but I work here, yeah. Me: Well, as you know, I’m writing a novel and created your mom as my main character. You emerge as the antagonist and I wanted to get your view on that. Ethan: Antagonist? Me? You’ve got to be kidding! I love my mom. I’ve done everything for her since Dad died. What gives you the right to call me an antag...

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to rethink my characters. I want my characters to have “attitude” and “spunk.” I want my protagonist to demonstrate a strength she didn’t even know she had in her. "A strong antagonist makes a strong protagonist" Janice Hardy Today I want to address the antagonist. I like the idea of my antagonist having some sort of past that will explain his actions. I don’t want to excuse bad behavior but I do want to understand why the character who seemingly stands in the way of my protagonist does what he does. The antagonist has some purpose in mind, right? I know an antagonist could be inherently mean or selfish. In my current work, however, I think the antagonist honestly thinks what he is doing is in the best interest of the protagonist.   It is Dottie’s son. I began by trying to see his perspective. We often view the antagonist as evil or at least a very dark character. They are often viewed as the villain. Of course ther...