Janet Fox

We Can Change the World*

Last week I wrote about how artists struggle to work in the face of something terrible like this global pandemic. This week I want to write about a broader artistic issue. And don’t worry, I’ll get back to the minutiae of craft soon! But the world feels too…big right now. So please forgive my “big”… Read more »

Out of Balance

When things are so out of balance, what happens to creativity? And what is the role of the artist? On the Edge of Nowhere Nothing like this pandemic has happened in our lifetime. In our country, 9-11 is the closest we can come to such social upheaval, or New Orleans after Katrina in the way… Read more »

What’s At Stake?

Continuing the posts from a month or so back, when the world was a different place. But I still want to write, and share craft, so here you go. Finally, a great story – and a great character – need stakes. Stakes are raised through adding tension at both a macro and a micro level…. Read more »

Post The Apocalypse

These are tough times. Not happy times. We worry for ourselves, our loved ones, the world. It feels like yesterday, the anticipation of baseball. The blossoms on the cherry trees, the joy of being together outside, at parties. It feels like a million years ago. We are all trying to do our part, and I’ve… Read more »

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming…

Edited to add: check out the links in the comments. We’re updating regularly! And if you are an author or illustrator looking to add to this list, please do comment or contact me. Thanks! Wow. What a world. I don’t know about you, but things are changing in my domain at a rapid clip. With… Read more »

Driving Toward The End

This is the fourth post in my series on character. The External Goal We need to see your character’s internal desire explicit on the page, but your character also needs something driving her forward in the plot, and this is her external goal. The internal desire and external goal are related, of course, but they… Read more »

Desire

This post covers the third in my series on character. Desire. That kinda grabs your attention, doesn’t it? Back when I was an MFA student at Vermont College, faculty member and writer Louise Hawes gave a lecture with that title, and her evocative enunciation of the word desire sticks with me today. As does her… Read more »

Voice: It’s Not (All) About The Music

The title of this post is a little deceptive. There is a musicality to great writing, isn’t there? Words that soar and sing. Sentences that ebb and flow. Paragraphs that lead you in one direction and then plop you down in a foreign land. A beautifully written book is “word music”. But that’s not all…. Read more »

Backstory: What Your Character Knows

Backstory. The first of five important character elements… An Example of Backstory When I was about five, my parents took me and my sister to Daytona Beach, Florida. Those were the days when you could drive a car right across the sand to the waterfront (I know, right?) It was, I’m pretty sure, my first… Read more »

She, He, They: The Character-Driven Story

As I stated in my last post, I believe that all (good) stories are character-driven. Let’s discuss. At The Heart of All Stories When you pick up a novel, how long does it take before you commit to reading it all the way through? I’m no longer feeling that I have to slog through something… Read more »