Deep, Deeper, Deepest

 by Charlotte Bennardo

The theme is deeper....

Makes me think of

Photo by Blaque X: https://www.pexels.com/photo/underwater-photography-of-deep-sea-932638/

Oceans. I'm a water person; I love swimming, the beach, my pool. Besides a good swim, I love to snorkel (haven't learned to scuba-yet). I love going deeper, seeing what fish and plants and coral and other treasures are down there just waiting to be found. 

Writing is kind of like swimming. You can stay on the surface, seeing what's right there, your story's basics. But a writer needs to write more than what's apparent in front of the character. We need to go deeper into characters, plot, sub-plots, conflicts, themes. It's not enough to present a storyline with characters doing things. What needs to be deeper:

• what are the reasons for the conflicts  
• what traits, both minor and major, do the characters (main and secondary) have that affect the story
• how does a detailed setting affect the mood, the plot, the climax
• how do secondary characters affect the plot , the main character and the conflicts
• is the research deep enough so that there are no glaring errors or impossibilities, even if your work is fiction
• have you paid attention to the minor details, like timelines, in your editing

I could find more ways to go deeper, but you have the idea. 

So don't just skim the surface-

Photo by Karola Siimson: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-riding-jet-ski-704213/

Go deeper. 

Charlotte writes MG, YA, NA, and adult novels in sci fi, fantasy, contemporary, and paranormal genres. She is the author of the award-winning middle grade Evolution Revolution trilogy, Simple Machines, Simple Plans, and Simple Lessons. She co-authored the YA novels Blonde OPS, Sirenz, and Sirenz Back in Fashion. She has two short stories in the Beware the Little White Rabbit (Alice through the Wormhole) and Scare Me to Sleep (Faces in the Wood) anthologies. Having finished her MFA, she's applying what she learned and is working on several children's and adult novels, along with some short stories. She lives in NJ with her family and her floofy cat. When they trimmed the backyard tree, the crazy squirrel couple had to move out, but she is happy to report she has a new squirrel tenant along with a rabbit (Bad Bunny).