Posts Tagged With: writing

Persistence = magic for plots, characters, memoirs

Posted on August 12, 2026 by christinedesmetauthor

Persistence is something writers need, but think about your characters as well.

Often our more interesting—especially bestselling—novels and memoirs are about persistence and its role in resolving a conflict or rising to a new level of accomplishment, or learning the harder, best lesson.

Examples? If the writer Larry McMurtry and the cowboy characters in LONESOME DOVE weren’t persistent in a huge way, we may not have had the Pulitzer winner that the book became. You need persistence to survive a dusty, multi-state cattle drive.

I recently read THE ASTRAL LIBRARY by Kate Quinn, a bestseller about a young woman with everything going wrong in her life right down to a stolen bank account—until she entered a library within a library. The magical world tested her and taught her how to be persistent against adversity.

Persistence teaches or uncovers lessons. Your character should grow smarter as your manuscript moves along. Take stock: What has your protagonist (or you in your memoir) learned after every 30 or so pages? Make a list. Do you need to revise? At least think about things?

I often mention the memoir HOW TO CATCH A MOLE by Marc Hamer. It’s a superb example of questioning persistence in your life. How long do you fight against the moles? How long do you do anything before you change?

To persist is to refuse to give up UNTIL you learn something, get better, discover the secrets.

To persist is to prevail. How do your character prevail? Does each chapter build? Or, have you accidently let your character take too long of a rest? Get them back into persisting if you want to sell and find your magic.

Why does “persistence” work so well with characterizations and plotting?

Because it flows through an entire story (if you want to win over readers).

Persistence works, too, because it questions your character: When is it time to change? Or quit? Or get stronger and smarter? How? Get better or not? Why?

Persistence is hard for writers and your character to sustain over the course of a novel, screenplay, story, poetry collection, etc. There are rewards for your endurance—even if it takes years for that project to get out there.

At an annual writing retreat with former novel class participants, each writer has shown PERSISTENCE. I’m in awe. These writers have been together since 2012. They started with no publications. Now they have at least two novels each published (with one almost published) with a mix of major publishers and great independent publishers, with more novels and nonfiction works coming.

Do you have a character you can’t sell or get right? A manuscript not doing so well?

Lay out “persistence” on a plot grid. How does the character (or you in the memoir) embrace and show persistence through Acts 1, 2, 3?

Writers at my retreat persist in meeting yearly, staying in touch, and supporting each other throughout the year. They persist in attending conferences and online workshops. They persist in revising multiple times.

Persistence creates magic.

Persistence is that “long-haul stuff,” but worth it.

It opens doors, just as it does in THE ASTRAL LIBRARY and HOW TO CATCH A MOLE and LONESOME DOVE…and your writing project.

“Spice” in your work really matters

Posted on June 11, 2026 by christinedesmetauthor

Add “spice,” please, to whatever you’re writing, for sales and your own satisfaction.

When is your writing and work enough? Done? For character and plot? For editing?

I sometimes read published books where the character doesn’t seem to express much beyond what they want in the moment. I don’t know much about them after I’ve read the book or pages of a manuscript. The plot is linear: get something or someone. The plot gets repetitive with one action after another of equal value.

What’s wrong with a book like that? Spice is missing, and it’s so easy to develop!

Spice can also refer to punctuation, which has to be correct. Don’t let people whisper “this novel needed another draft and editor.”

Of course in our unpublished manuscript we get the luxury of typos for a while. Now let’s think ahead to story pride, sales and good reviews.

Solutions to “thinness” of plot and editing seem apparent, such as “hire somebody” or “go over it one more time.” Those are options, but there is one other option: HIRE YOURSELF. Please don’t be so eager and anxiety-ridden about time passing in your life that you must rush to publish.

Consider that you are an expert at many things. Take pride in that.

You have talent and time—at any age! For extra pride, focus on being a “spice expert.” Spice is about adding texture.

I usually step back and look at my own work to add texture to scenes, and that exercise works with clients or students.

If you’re at a loss about this, look for ONE to THREE fascinating facts about something you mention on page one or page 20 and 50. Did we learn anything? Did you add any fun item? Go back and add something interesting. Keep it short.

Insert information to not just pique our interest but to show what your character cares about, what knowledge they might have to rely on to solve the plot or problems at hand or coming at them in the next 50 pages.

Bestselling authors set up scenes early with spice and at major plot point areas for plot possibilities and character enhancement. A character goes into the scene with a goal, meets with conflict, and ends with any form of cliffhanger. That pattern is basic stuff; now add one interesting “spice” element. Don’t rush to publish just because you have formula in place. Add the spice.

Is there a fact that might help? That’s spice.

A reaction that is personal to the character (or you in memoir)?

A color or temperature or other five-senses fact that might help give this scene texture?

An interesting or even goofy secondary character to help add spice?

Is there an object that could be noted or used? (Plumb your life!)

Is there a background fact to come into play to support character action or decision? (Use your background!)

What about a location detail that matters more than you think at first?

Not every scene will be loaded with answers to those questions. Please don’t load us down. “Spice” is about creating highs and lows, intriguing facts, the galloping feel of a good novel and YOUR OWN STYLE!

Consider: As we walk away after reading your manuscript, what are you known for? How did you give us fun or memorable information or attitude?

Start with a simple task: What’s the true SPICE in your first few pages or within a key, memorable scene anywhere? Can you add something? Even an interesting word that matters to character or plot?

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes | Tags: writing | Leave a comment

Technique to please readers: “Delight”

Posted on April 6, 2026 by christinedesmetauthor

When a writer I’m working with (including myself!) gets bogged down, I often suggest they step back and do this:

DELIGHT readers.

Why care about that? Too often we get mired in “seriousness.” We worry about plotting, or plotting dire deeds and cliffhangers, maybe murder, or a sad person moving to a small town to start over, war, galaxies torn apart, romance not working, and so on. Memoirs also might bog down.

Stories are serious, but readers also need relief amid the seriousness.

“Delight” is subjective, of course.

Delight operates in all genres, though.

Giving a character a moment of delight can “illuminate” your character in a way that makes them memorable, a much talked-about character.

Delight means to give joy or pleasure. Even for a moment. We sometimes describe the feeling as “delicious.”

For a project that’s not working to your satisfaction, look for your “delight quotient.” It operates in EVERY GENRE or type of story, novels, memoir, scripts, etc.

What can help a reader ENJOY your first page? Scene? Chapter? The other pages?

Delight can surprise you. Know your genre. Delight might be a bloody fight or a quiet kiss, depending on genre.

Many authors bring animals into a manuscript to provide delight. Cute children and lovable older characters also get hauled into usage, and that’s okay because readers “delight” in those things if not overdrawn to the point of clichéd. Strive for originality to deliver “delight.”

A fun word or phrase can deliver delight. Most of us might recall a movie’s tough Indiana Jones saying “I hate snakes” after he encounters the huge pit of snakes.

Being able to IDENTIFY with “delight” makes it work for readers.

Delight is a feeling and a reaction, therefore often based on what YOU have experienced. Trust yourself and include it.

Will every reader “get it”? Maybe not and that doesn’t always matter. You’ll find your readers if you do a good job satisfying the overall need for “Emotion and Entertainment” in any writing project.

Delight can be contagious even when we have not shared the same experience. I don’t play major-league baseball but when a player hits a grand slam and jumps up and down like a little kid, I also experience the feeling of delight.

Delight with earned success is a common reaction no matter the subject. We enjoy watching someone in a first recital, and we clap heartily at a graduation. I also cheer after I finish writing a good chapter or scene.

A “reversal” of fortune can delight readers, too.

Delight need not be funny.

Delight readers with daring danger. Car chases and going into dark caves often do it for readers.

Appeal to our five senses. Hearing a baby’s giggle delights us, for example. Spotting a rainbow makes us pause and point it out. A tasty, unique description of eating chocolate cake can delight readers.

Being original instead of clichéd will bring delight, almost guaranteed.

Delighting readers is a seduction. What does your reader like? Give it to them!

Caution: Over-doing anything can kill the feeling of delight, though that depends on genre sometimes.

“Delight” usually needs a spotlight and simplicity. Piling on actions, objects, characters, and sensory images in a short space can overwhelm readers and not feel delightful at all.

How would your character experience true delight? Have you shown the readers that on the page? Where? Soon enough?

Give your readers the OPPORTUNITY to feel delight. Reward will follow.

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes | Tags: writing | Leave a comment

Mistakes bother you—but create EXCELLENT plots

Posted on March 11, 2026 by christinedesmetauthor

If you look up “mistakes in writing” or similar wording you’ll find hundreds of articles about how to avoid mistakes such as a meandering plot, or too many long paragraphs, or how to delete clutter, and so on.

Now consider how mistakes create the best characters and plots.

Mistakes are handy as part of plot action and characterization. If you can’t figure out how to start your book, or how to conjure the next chapter or scene, have your character make a mistake.

The mistake should have a good measure of consequence.

Characters might have a good plot goal, but if they come off bland, consider having your character make a big—even huge—mistake.

In my March 2026 emailed newsletter I reviewed the great novel I See You’ve Called in Dead by John Kenney. It’s about an obituary writer who makes small mistakes that lead him into a big mistake—he accidentally publishes an obit about himself. Everybody thinks he’s dead. From there, chaos ensues; he makes other mistakes.

The big mistake creates the novel’s Inciting Incident.

Mistakes create mysteries, scenes, plots, reversals of fortune.

Mistakes create funny and serious issues that pull in readers. How will the character get out of the mistake? In Kenney’s novel it’s not easy. A mere apology won’t cut it with his editor and fellow journalists and even some friends. Life changes in big, serious ways.

Mistakes compel the character TO DO SOMETHING.

That’s the trick with using mistakes to create plot and character: the mistake has to be serious enough to make the character REACT.

After a mistake, the character should engage in a plan to FIX things (or AVOID things for a time). That plan is the PLOT. (See how the mistake may write the novel for you?)

A good character also has some level of remorse.

Mistakes make good characters reach out for help, and reach more deeply within themselves.

Starting with a BIG MISTAKE automatically leads the character (and the writer) into finding the FATAL FLAW of the character (usually by the Midpoint Crisis).

Any character that makes a big mistake ultimately has to ask: Why? Why did I do that? Those questions bring in other characters, actions, and plot turns.

Working with a MISTAKE might help you write your entire novel or short story. Perhaps you’ve been stalled. Or you’ve started with actions that don’t matter. Now introduce a mistake and watch what unfolds.

Can a series of small mistakes work the same way? Anything is possible. Creativity is boundless. The danger with “many small mistakes” is that “sameness” will come into the prose, a predictability. Vary the heft of the mistakes so readers feel SURPRISE.

Make your character’s big mistake or a series of small mistakes (your creative choice of course) DRIVE their change and growth:

Why did the mistake happen?

What is it your character didn’t know about themself?

What are they learning from that mistake?

If you haven’t used mistakes in a concerted way, don’t make the mistake of ignoring the fine tool of “MAKING A MISTAKE.”

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes | Tags: creative-writing, writing, writing-tips | Leave a comment

Land and soil—your sure-fire way to pull in readers

Posted on January 8, 2026 by christinedesmetauthor

Land speaks to our heart, our emotions. Soil itself crushed in hands or felt by bare feet speaks volumes to a character’s soul.

If you’re not getting traction with your novel or other project, look at your setting. It may offer you gifts.

Do you have the usual house, apartment, café, bakery, coffee shop, mountain cabin, or romantic cove?

We writers so easily construct those things but forget we exist in and on a landscape, on landforms, on soil that has history and a sense of magic with it.

Author and college instructor James W. Hall and his students analyzed bestselling books. Many centered around “land”:

Capturing land and lost Eden.
Fresh beginnings in virginal wilderness.
Struggling to return to the land.
A contaminated land.

We humans care deeply about land and soil, even specific types of soil and landforms. But do your character care? What is that relationship? Readers care.

Recall the importance of land in Gone With the Wind, and Pulitzer winner Lonesome Dove—about the last great cattle drive. More recently James and Demon Copperhead showed characters wrestling with difficult relationships with land they worked on or wanted to run from.

There are several popular mystery/suspense series that feature tracking dogs and rangers at national parks. They explore mysterious and interesting landforms. They give us facts about soil, the history of mountains, the plants and animals living there and such. Readers love learning, but this goes beyond that. We feel something special about the mountain itself, the soil itself. Wise writers bring that into the equation to please readers (including agents, editors, publishers, reviewers).

Land can have barriers—a river your character needs to cross and can’t but thought was beautiful just yesterday. Do a “setup” for that “payoff.”

Land and soil can provide a big moment in your plot paradigm/diagram. Consider the Midpoint Crisis literal landmark in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, by William Goldman. Outlaws climb a mountain, struggling against loose soil and rocks, barely ahead of the posse. Robert Redford and Paul Newman arrive at a cliff—high above a river. Their choice: surrender or chance jumping several hundred feet into the river, which will probably kill them.

Characters working land are considered noble. We love a farmer trying their best. Stories of the Dust Bowl or disasters with land break our heart. If you have a character beta readers or agents aren’t liking, get that character’s hands dirty.

Land and soil matter to readers because our lives depend on healthy, fruitful land. This is elemental stuff.

Around the world readers have land and soil in common. This aspect can expand your readership perhaps.

When writing about land and soil, be specific. What kind is it? Name? Texture? Landforms came about how? Different soils have names.

Soil and terrain resonate with readers. Wine and cheese from different world regions or the next county taste differently because of “terroir” or “gout de terroir,” a French term for the taste of the soil.

In memoirs, read Marc Hamer’s bestseller How to Catch a Mole and subsequent memoirs about tending a rich woman’s garden called Spring Rain and Seed to Dust. Working in soil became a metaphor for the man’s ups and downs in life.

Sometimes a novel can be just about the suspense of a landform. Consider the volcano in the famous Robert Harris novel, Pompeii. The geologist—who knew the “personality” of the soil and landform—couldn’t convince others of what was unfolding.

Popular nonfiction journalism books tackle “land” a lot, such as Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

Classic, older regional books have loyal readership, too, and will give you ideas, such as The Land Remembers by Ben Logan.

Soil reacts to how we treat it; experts consider soil “alive.” Soil is truly a “character.”

Did you know every U.S. state and territory has an “official soil”? Lists and info about soil anywhere in the world are online.

So, instead of your cop meeting somebody at the clichéd coffee shop, what if they meet in the city park where the cop volunteers to weed flowers with children, get their hand dirty? What do they name their soil? Find in the soil?

What do YOU love about land and soil? Use that to enhance plot, characters, setting, and your unique voice.

Categories: Quick and Easy Writing Fixes | Tags: Books, fiction, nature, writing | Leave a comment