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Showing posts with the label Writing Description of Characters

A Happy Halloween Gothtail (cocktail!)

You may remember our delicious Scottish-themed cocktail: Caledon , which we shared on Christmas Eve in 2024. This remains one of our most popular blog posts, so we thought we would share another one for you on this All Hallow's Eve! With that in mind, I am pleased to introduce you to: The Raighvan Park , inspired by Judith Crow's novella, The Folly at Raighvan Park, which you can find here . Here are your step by step instructions for creating this gothic beverage (have we just invented the gothtail ?!) It's deliciously dark, as you might expect, with a hint of the upper-class style of the novella. You will need: 1. Port  2. Patron Xo Cafe (you could use any other coffee liqueur) 3. Soda water with lime 4. Ginger ale 5. Pepsi Max 6. Liquorice Time to put them all together... 1. Pour one shot of coffee liqueur into a large wine glass. 2. Add one shot of port. Remember, a gothic gentleman loves his port! 3. Now onto the non-alcoholic additions... include two shots of soda wat...

When The Inspiration Runs Out - an #AuthorOfTheWeek blog

During my #AuthorOfTheWeek interview, I mentioned (amongst a lot  of other things) that the lockdown has challenged my focus with writing. I've begun several things which have been fated to end up on the back-burner or just completely discarded. My #AuthorOfTheWeek interview! The truth is, when all those other things I'm mentioned so far this week fail to inspire me, there's one last-ditch attempt I have of getting writing. And that rests with a very significant group of people: my characters. I have a terrible - but incredibly rewarding - habit of allowing my characters the gift of Free Will. Sometimes they resist, sometimes they run wild, and then on other occasions they actually dictate the next development. I have utmost respect for each one of them, goodies and baddies, men and women, human and inhuman. Why? Because when I've completely run out of steam, they're the ones who make the story their own. I've had some great feedback on my characters,...

NANOWRIMO - Characters' Appearance

Saturday 2 nd November 2019 – Characters: Part One – Appearance This is a tricky one!   To make your characters entirely believable, your reader wants to see beyond the physical exterior.   But, all the same, you as the writer need to consider what your characters look like.   It can be slightly awkward when a character’s hair colour suddenly changes, or they mysteriously grow a foot taller in two weeks. Photo by Tayla Walsh, Pexels Not many of us notice the colour of someone’s eyes the first time we meet them.   Instead, we usually see their face as a whole and associate a certain emotion with them.   People might have strict, pointy features , or perhaps a sullen frown or laughing eyes .   These descriptions are a lot closer to what we experience when we meet someone, a sense you want your readers to have.   They don’t want to imagine they're looking at a photograph, they want to encounter your characters as an equal. There ar...