When you sit down to write, are you making papier-mâché or sculpture? Why do you prefer that approach? What do you struggle with, and how do you overcome those challenges?
In Blanca & Roja, Anna-Marie McLemore blends familiar fairytales The Swan Princess and Snow White and Rose Red into a rich, luxurious story of friendship, love and self-acceptance that is told with her signature style of magical realism.
Every member of your supporting cast brings a lifetime’s worth of experiences, values, quirks, and perspectives to the table, and the more you can honor that by fully developing every character, the richer your story will become.
Maybe it’s about a new perspective or using a different part of your brain. Maybe it really is just about opening yourself up to play—after all, when we take our work too seriously, we can quickly give ourselves tunnel vision.
Are there any items in your fictional world that are so charged, so laden with meaning, that they’re impacting the environment and/or the characters’ behavior?
In fiction, our most riveting stories are built on conflicts where all parties are equally convicted of their own, opposing beliefs. And each party stands in the way of the others’ objectives.
Sometimes we just need a little help from fate to see our stories all the way through. And that’s ok. But there are more effective ways to set up those coincidences than dropping them in right at the critical moment.
