Tuesday's Inspiration - Based on a quote from Richard Lockridge

"To write a good mystery novel you must write a good novel."  I think this applies to any kind of novel you sit down to write. We've all read books that are great for a single read but not so many that make you want to return and read it again.

In writing the first thing is the characters. They must be those who manage to make the reader believe they are real people not just characters stamped out to fit the story. I've had some successes and some failures when creating characters. I'm sure we all have. I often wonder why one character grabs readers and why others don't.

The scenes need to be those that draw the reader in. When I'm writing there are times when I completely re-write what was a nice scene but it wasn't a gripping scene. Not that it bored me, but it didn't make me sit up and laugh, shout or even scream. There have also been scenes that really are boring and hopefully those don't get by my editorial eye.

A writer needs to be both a story teller and a critic. For one's own work that is hard but it's something that needs to be developed. Also needs to be turned off and turned on. Hard but necessary.