WHY YOUR CHARACTERS SHOULD BE WALKING OXYMORONS
The other day, I was talking with some friends who moved into a new house a few months ago. Apparently the previous owners were quite...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jun 29, 20202 min read
RESCUE THE ROOMBA--NOT YOUR CHARACTERS
Not the Roomba in the story--its cousin, maybe? My landlord and landlady are letting me use their spare Roomba so I can keep the upstairs...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jun 25, 20202 min read
WE NOW RETURN TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BLOG POST
After yesterday's timeout-for-book-publication, today I'm going to keep my promise from Tuesday and talk about how we can use curiosity...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jun 16, 20202 min read
DON'T MISS THE MARK ON CHARACTERS' PROFICIENCY
I couldn't find a picture of recreational gun- shooting on Unsplash, so we have this picture instead. đ I'm finally officially out of my...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jun 11, 20202 min read
FORMULA FOR A SUPERHERO
I recently saw Avengers: Infinity War (I know, I know, I'm super behind). It reminded me that I have a few other Marvel movies to catch...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jun 2, 20202 min read
ANOTHER WAY TO USE THE PEOPLE CODE
In yesterday's email, we talked about using the test in The People Code to get to know our main characters better. I've also found that...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Jun 1, 20204 min read
WHAT COLORS ARE YOUR CHARACTERS?
I've mentioned The People Code in these posts before, but I don't think I've explained much about how we can use it to flesh out...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 29, 20203 min read
TRIGGER WARNINGS: YEA OR NAY?
It's funny how your opinions can change. A few years ago, I wholeheartedly believed that trigger warnings on content did more harm than...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 21, 20202 min read
4 TIPS FOR BUILDING A RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
Today is my sister and brother-in-law's fourth wedding anniversary. So naturally, relationships are on my mind today. Someone told me...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 14, 20202 min read
REVERSE! REVERSE!
I had an interesting experience a few years ago that taught me a lot about writing for an audience that may be hostile to what you're...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 4, 20203 min read
"YOU'VE TAKEN YOUR FIRST STEP INTO A LARGER WORLD"
Happy Star Wars Day! In honor of the occasion, I'm listening to the soundtracks in the background as I write this email. đŚ (Apparently...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
May 1, 20202 min read
TOO EASY?
Happy May Day! However, please don't celebrate it by getting yourself into a mayday situation. đ Speaking of mayday situations, I did...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 30, 20202 min read
ENGLISH VS. ENGLISH-MAJOR-ESE
A common reaction when someone slips into English-major-ese One of my favorite college professors essentially introduced herself on the...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 28, 20202 min read
"MAWWIAGE!" (AND OTHER VERBAL DIFFICULTIES)
My professional hero Blake Snyder gave me a rule that I've been having trouble implementing in my work: "In a good...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 23, 20201 min read
HOW WELL CAN YOU EXPECT YOUR BOOK TO SELL?
Last night, I was doing some research about how well sequel books sell compared to originals. There's a surprising lack of information...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 22, 20203 min read
PERFECTING PERSPECTIVE
You may have heard about the two students in Georgia who posted a racist video on TikTok (NOT. COOL.) and got expelled from school...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 17, 20203 min read
WHEN WHACKING CHARACTERS ON THE HEAD . . .
As you might have guessed by now, I may have done one or two silly things in my life. Thankfully, some of them have helped lead me to...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 16, 20203 min read
THE NOT-SO-USELESS SNOWSHOES
In college, I took an outdoor recreation class, which included a day of snowshoeing in the mountains near Provo, Utah. I had a ball and...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 14, 20203 min read
JUMPING THROUGH (MORE) HOOPS
As the weather has been getting warmer in Denver, I decided to buy a bike so I could check out the local trails and get some exercise...
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Candice Bellows, The Story Engineer
Apr 13, 20203 min read
SCARS
Update: My surgical scars as of August 2020 (ignore the patterning from my sock đ) The other day, my roommate "M" set up an Easter-egg...
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