vg_ford | (writing craft) Thoughts on writing

I know, I'm getting chatty lately. But I'm reading a great book on writing craft, and I thought I'd share some of the thoughts it's triggered.

The book is called How to Write Magical Words, by the Magical Words crew. The blog, btw, is a great resource for writers, and if you aren't reading it daily, shame on you. Go rectify that. I'll wait. (

davidbcoe is today's blogger, and his post on Time Management is awesome.)

Now, I read Magical Words pretty much daily, although I don't comment a lot. I bought the book at StellarCon and have been savoring it - it's a collection of the best essays from the blog, and includes some of the comments from the threads.

The one that got me thinking last night was an essay on character wants. Basically, it's making sure that your characters WANT something, even if (as they say) it's only a glass of water. And it isn't a hard concept, but for some reason, it blew a clear light in my head. That's exactly the problem I have been having with a few stories. What the heck does the character WANT? What haven't I given them? A few clues fell into place, and I think the writing will be a little smoother from here. I just wish I'd thought of that before.

So buy the book. It's worth it!!! And it's even available for the Kindle!!!