But the more I thought about it ... and the more we went back through ALL the movies and stories with great mentors ... the more the concept grew on me. Because it can result in such a great character. Quirky. Odd. Grumpy. Jaded. Enthusiastic. Young. Old. Same Sex. Love Interest. The mentor can have ulterior-motives and ultimately be a game-changer in the entire course of the novel based on how he chooses to educate the MC, and at what point he divulges important information.
So I've spent the past day thinking about a mentor character. And I think I'm going to go with it. Actually I may just go with two!
And in case you were wondering ... here's a great list of mentors in novels and movies, past and present:
Harry Potter: Dumbledore
Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi
The Hunger Games: Haymitch
Lord of the Rings: Gandalf
The Matrix: The Oracle
The Karate Kid: Mr. Miyagi
The Lion King: Rafiki
Paranormalcy: Raquel
Divergent: Four
Just look at Number 1. “If you write every day, you get better at writing every day.” Well, this is true and fairly obvious. BUT… I have heard so many successful writers say that they DON’T write every day because it doesn’t fit into their lives. Some take all day on Saturday to work. Some work every other day.
Which is really about Number 3, “Get a writing routine, and stick with it.” I just wrote to Nikki and Lisa today to tell them I needed a new routine now that my local coffee shop is closing an hour earlier. BUT… we can’t be so stuck that when something interrupts us, we can’t write.
Look at Number 8, “There doesn’t always have to be a moral to the story.” Here one just screaming for a caveat! I’ve heard so many opinions on this that I can only say, “It’s a personal choice.” While a heavy handed moral is NEVER recommended, I’ve heard critiques about stories being “pointless.”
I have certainly embraced Number 11, “Don’t settle on just one style. Try something new!” BUT… once you’re an established author, you have the question of branding and how far is too far from your known style?
So, I suppose most of these “rules” are great advice as long as you leave room for the exception. What do you think? Do you agree with these rules? Which one seems the most important?

I loved that every scene was unique and added to the intensity of the main character's journey. Honor doesn't just take a roadtrip. She roadtrips in an ancient Impala with engine trouble. She sees the stars fade into morning from the bottom of a spring in the middle of the desert. Jessi didn't use any "filler" scenes or characters. Every setting and person has a personality. Nobody is just sitting around and talking. They're reaching life-changing conclusions at the apex of the earth's magnetic pull.
As a reader, I love that Jessi found these cool places and crafted such poignant moments. Sure, we like to read about real life. But wouldn't it be nice if our real lives were this special?
My take away as writer is to stretch and make every scene something new--a place or a feeling that the reader hasn't heard a million times before. Make the book an escape, even if it is a contemporary novel.
Well done, Jessi. Thanks for letting me follow Honor's journey. :)
I told you last week about my epic illness that required not-so-epic reading. This week was more about recovering my life after weeks of being checked out.
Playing catch up on my manuscript proved the most daunting task since I’d lost my forward momentum. I fell into all the usual first draft traps, generally trying to follow every rule ever known to writing-man therefore miraculously producing a perfect draft in one shot. [pause for laughter]
So I gave myself a pep talk. If I needed it, AGAIN, I bet someone else out there probably needs it, too.
Picture my kitchen.
We live in a shoebox of a house with a non-type-A man (read “messy”), two kittens that love to get into everything (read “messier”), and two young children (read “disaster”). Now remember that I didn’t pick up, wash, or clean for two weeks. It was ridiculous. When I’d finally stepped in to clean, I threw away trash, cleared counters, and washed dishes.
What would you have told me if I’d stopped in the middle of all that to take a toothbrush to the grout on the counter? You’d have told me that grout is really not my priority right now and to get back to scrubbing crusted food off of pans.
When I finished that, I looked at the kitchen with everything put away, felt accomplished, and went to work on the Mt. Everest pile of laundry. A few days later, with the stuff cleared, grime on my counters really stuck out, so I scrubbed them because now it made sense.
After a few more days, I may decide the pots and pans need reorganizing and do that. (Although, it’s not likely!)
You see where I’m going with this, right? Sure you need to avoid passive voice and adverbs. Sure you shouldn’t overuse your favorite words. But mostly, in your first draft, you SHOULD get the words on the paper. ANY words so you can scrub them clean later.
Sometimes, you need to slow yourself down to appreciate the details:
My plan is to read the entire manuscript aloud, which will hopefully force me to find repeated words, clunky phrases, and typos. Given my past read aloud experiences, I know I can read about 20 pages an hour. With luck, I'll be able to get through several chapters a night.
Want convincing that you should join me in this reading adventure? Here's a list of read-aloud-pros from Men with Pens and from UNC's Writing Center. And of course, I've posted about this before, too.
Do any of you have tips for putting that last sparkling shine on your manuscript?
I wanted the love story to be easy.
And then I remembered that in novels, nothing can ever be easy. You have to continue to throw everything at your main character, making things more and more difficult - forcing them to make decisions, experience change, make realizations and to grow.
So now I'm trying to come up with ideas to throw a wrench in their relationship-building:
- Rules from TPTB world that says cannot be together.
- He has a girlfriend back home.
- Something in his past keeps him from getting serious.
- He lies to her to protect her, but she gets upset and doesn't trust him.