Writing Fiction

From Christine:

I start with people/characters I know, making word sketches. I consider settings with which I am familiar. Then I consider what I want to say about our world – my beliefs, my joys, my sorrows. Next I create a crisis that will reflect this theme, and this will be the hinge of the plotline. Everything before will lead to the crisis, and everything after will be the denouement, epilogue, resolution. With this general outline, I begin to pull my characters through the story, and as they grow the story will change and mature. All the while I’m honing in on detail and pace. And all the while I’m reading good writing, immersing myself in the best of fiction. Ah, such a joy!
Christine Sunderland
http://ChristineSunderland.com