by Sarah "Sally" Hamer

What do virtues and vices have to do with plot? Actually, I think they have everything to do with it. At least, if you believe that character arc and plot are similar.

Just like humans, characters have character traits.

by Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Are you in the throes of NaNoWriMo? Of course, it has just started at the time you'll be reading this, but early days are often the most important, because how you handle them makes a huge difference as to how far you get.… Read the post

by Sarah "Sally" Hamer

For most of my writing career, I have been called the "Fifty-page Wonder" by my critique group because I could come up with a story idea, flesh out the main two or three characters, and pull fifty pages out of my hat with relative ease.… Read the post

by Sarah Sally Hamer

We all want to know our characters better, to make them ‘jump off the page’ or be ‘less like cardboard.’ But it’s not as easy as it sounds. After all, our characters ‘talk’ to US. How is it possible they don’t also come alive for our readers?… Read the post

by Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Most writers have heard of the Hero’s Journey; a basic structure of how stories have been told from the beginning of storytelling. We always start with a protagonist, whether a hero or a heroine, who has some sort of a quest, and has to learn lessons, gain allies, create enemies, and fight a huge battle at the end.… Read the post