Louise Titchener, Maude Wood

The Protagonist’s Pal

Louise Titchener

Is your protagonist a surly recluse, a man or woman of few words, a guy with a drinking problem and an attitude? That describes a lot of lead characters in mystery novels. Still, like the rest of us, your antisocial hero /heroine needs somebody to talk to.

Invariably, students in my novel writing courses wanted to open their first chapters with detailed biographys and lengthy physical descriptions of their protagonist. It’s tempting. Once you’ve got all...

Fishing for a story

What is creativity? The ancient Greeks believed that artists channeled their music, dance, poetry etc. from the gods. Sometimes it feels that way. Sometimes it feels more like going fishing in an empty pool.

I don’t know the process that musicians, dancers and poets go through to do their work. I do know that writing a novel, at least in the beginning, can be a struggle. Facing that blank first page is daunting.

As I picture the vacant computer screen after I’ve...

What I Learned From Writing Romance

By Louise Titchener (romance written under pen name Maude Wood)

No matter what the genre, a bit of sexual tension can perk up your storytelling. Years ago I wrote romance novels. This is what that experience taught me. Love is a lot more interesting when it’s all about the conflict.

Readers are surprised when I tell them that a romance is a love story. But not all love stories are romances. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a love story. The conflict in that...