So much of how we engage with our writing is bound up with the disciplines, good and bad, we apply to ourselves, and how we feel about ourselves as writers. In this episode I tackle these issues, together with the thorny subject of dealing with our own inner critic, with speaker writer and marathon runner, Cami Ostman.
"It's a performance, not a reading", so says audio narration expert Sean Pratt. Sean has 30 years experience as an actor and voice-over artist, and in 22 years as an audiobook narrator, he has worked on close to 1,000 projects. In this episode, he lifts the lid on the audiobook business and gives us writers some expert tips on speaking well at public events, including book readings. He also tells us what an author needs to know if they decide to narrate their own book. ...
It's no surprise that many of the principles that we use to develop our lead characters also apply to our supporting cast. The critical objectives with our supporting characters are the same, we need to create characters with a strong, believable essence, and clear goals and motivation, and then we need to deploy them effectively to support both the main characters and the story. We can do this by ensuring these characters have a strong backstory, even if they have just a walk on part, and we can draw on a range of sources including our imagination, caricature, and people we know in real life to build the composite character for our story. ...
How should we present characters from a range of different backgrounds in our work? How can we portray these characters with integrity and respect, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation and ability? And how can we navigate this issue with confidence, especially if we come from a group that is perceived to be privileged? Most us will need to present characters in our work who are not like us in some which is socially determined as important. So for example differences in race, and gender, and sexual orientation are currently determined by society as important. Dealing with these differences is the critical cultural issue for writers today, and to help us tackle it, I've invited the writer and journalist Nisi Shawl (www.nisishawl.com), and the writer, composer and musician Daniel José Older (www.danieljoseolder.net), to join me on the Creative Writer's Toolbelt. This conversation is essential listening for anyone who is serious about dealing successfully with the challenge of 'writing the other'. ...
