A Gathering of Story Nerds: You decide what it means to be a writer.
A common writing term explored in many workshops in that a character needs agency. A character’s agency is a concept that is easy to understand – whose story is it, after all? I’m beginning to think there’s more to agency than just character. I’m beginning to think it is as much about the writer (me) as it is about the character. After finishing a novel, one of the most asked questions writers ask themselves is “what happens now”? Whether it’s about submitting to agents, or to self-publish, writing to trends or looking for reviews. How many rejections must one receive before giving up? Am I good enough to succeed? “What happens next” is at once a confrontation with change, fear of that change, and a worry that it won’t ever change. Being an old duck has taught me two things: 1. I can’t control what’s beyond my control. 2. All I can do is waddle forward. It taught me a third lesson, too, probably the most important lesson of all: Write what you love. Write y...
