A friend introduced me to the idea of honesty in writing. To be perfectly “honest”, at first I didn’t know what he meant. He suggested that it was about simply saying what you mean and not trying to be too pretentious or clever. The discussion arose around the writing of Salley Vickers, whom I haven’t read. Apparently her work is straightforward, enjoyable, and accessible, yet sophisticated at the same time.

I've been struggle with one of my primary characters in the Gate. From feedback I received when I posted the first chapters over at Critique Circle, I knew I had to flesh out my character more. For several months I have been trying to get to get to the bottom of the character using character templates, questionnaires, and the like. But nothing would get to the bottom of this character for me. That is until I discovered certain very useful archetypes that deal with underlying motivations.