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The Bleeding Persona
As I was re-reading a chapter to tighten the dialogue, remove extra adverbs, and other general cleanup, I noticed something surprising. Which feels weird to state, considering I was reading my own writing.
A character’s backstory, hinted at within the chapter, shared a few beats with the protagonist’s. This had happened happened organically in the writing session, without me setting out to write it that way.
Now I’m left wondering, is this diegetic? Is the protagonist attracting like-minded individuals, or the character exposing this specific aspect of their story to build rapport?
Or is it writerly, my own subconscious creating an echo of the protagonist, or part of his persona bleeding into other characters?
I’ll let you know if I ever find out.
Other posts
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I’ll Cash Her Check In The Morning
Does Silent Season Michael strive to show empathy to his targets because he’s channeling Josh Hartnett’s character from Sin City? Is there a difference?
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On The Ethical Use of AI
At its worst, AI enables view farmers to make the world a worse place for everyone. At its best, it enables honest people to work harder.
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The Trouble With Excerpts
With the book done, and editing well on the way, it’s smooth sailing from here. Find excerpts, post them to social media, and watch that following grow. Right? Well, do I have a plot twist for you. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been staring at my manuscript, trying to find some excerpts to…
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Very Meta
“Now you’re ready for battle, noble warrior,” she said, entering the makeshift shower. “I’ll clean myself under the waterfall. And then I will show you the secrets of my tribe. Terms and conditions apply.” I was reviewing a scene that had strong sexual undertones. Yes, the book contains sex scenes, as does the world. In…
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Everything dimmed
I waited to be almost 40 before starting my first novel. Having written novellas, stage plays, and short essays before, I thought I realized how daunting the scope of a full novel would be. I, in fact had no idea, I just thought I did. Still, I waited for the right time, when I’d have…
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Piece of Cake
(And other famous last words) I started writing The Silent Season from one idea that I found interesting: what if someone really enjoyed killing? Popular culture has a bunch of such characters, but one thing they all seem to have in common is some psychological condition that enables that. But what if that wasn’t the…
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Quotes
I spent half of a day procrastinating with WordPress tweaks instead of editing the book. “Let it breathe,” I told myself. Finally, my technical skills prevailed, and I was able to get my way. On The Silent Season page, you’ll now find random quotes from the book, chosen at random from a curated pool, freshly…
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The Bleeding Persona
As I was re-reading a chapter to tighten the dialogue, remove extra adverbs, and other general cleanup, I noticed something surprising. Which feels weird to state, considering I was reading my own writing. A character’s backstory, hinted at within the chapter, shared a few beats with the protagonist’s. This had happened happened organically in the…