Anne Woodland

       As I mentioned very briefly a few posts ago, I find it very frustrating when the love interests in a story have very poor communication from the get go.  I don't understand how these relationships actually develop and are maintained if the beginning stages are already so full of miscommunications and an inability to clarify things! The start of the relationship is the easiest part! You're just getting to know each other and if you're compatible; there's not a great deal of emotional investment. There's no sunk cost fallacy to contend with. So why would you continue to pursue a dynamic that is already dysfunctional? It makes no sense to me.        Honestly, I feel like a lot of this stems from a pervasive mentality that physical and sexual attraction are some of the most important considerations going into a relationship, when really they shouldn't be. I'm attracted to my husband, but a huge part of that is due to his personality, and h...

       I read a lot, and since around 2014 the majority of what I've read has been in Ebook form. The great thing about the explosion of Ebooks and other forms of digital publication is that it's made getting your work seen a lot more accessible to writers. There are a number of authors who self-publish whose work I actively anticipate. In fact, I would say my current favorites publish this way.      However, I do think one problem that isn't properly recognized about self-publishing is that you don't always get as many eyes on your work in the early stages, which can lead to pitfalls like pattern writing. What do I mean by that? Well, I have examples.       There are two different writer's who've done fairytale retellings, which is a genre I really enjoy, particularly if they're doing one of the lesser known fairytales. After I read the first book by each of the authors, I quickly purchased their next one... and it was basically th...

      Good storytelling requires two things: firstly, you need the audience to be interested in the story you're telling. Secondly, you have to keep them interested. The particulars on how to do so vary a bit genre to genre.  However, one of the most effective ways to lose an audience's interest is to tell them things you aren't showing them.      What do I mean by that? Well, for example, say I'm watching a movie and five or ten minutes in the main character is described as "caring too much", but everything I've been shown about this character makes them seem flighty, immature, attention seeking, and a bit self-righteous. Now as an audience member, I'm immediately distrustful of anything I'm told going forward. Admittedly, Edger Allan Poe does an amazing job using the "tell something not shown" concept rather ironically in "Tell Tale Heart", so it is possible to tell a compelling narrative like that, but only if you're tryi...