Arlene Hittle

Tag: first

  • The what, the why & the why not

    I spent some time this weekend looking through Debra Dixon’s infamous “Goal, Motivation and Conflict,” in case you couldn’t tell. The goal, of course, is “what.” Motivation is the “why.” And conflict is the “why not.” Your character wants _______ because ______ but ________. It seems so easy. Yet when I tried to put the […]

  • Definitely more work than I thought

    Got my critique back this afternoon, and I was right: The manuscript definitely needs some help. I’m not going to lie: It was a bit unnerving to see all that “red ink” on my pages. But it was also edifying, because she said a lot of the same things I’ve been thinking. Just the other […]

  • Excited for my meeting

    The next meeting of my RWA chapter, Northern Arizona Romance Writers of America, is on Saturday, and I can’t wait. We’re going to have a guest speaker, Linda Style, talk to us about layering stories and subplots. It should be interesting. It will pose a challenge for my diet, because restaurant meals always do. But […]

  • Now I’m committed

    This time, the check for the Golden Heart contest really is in the mail. I dropped it in the mailbox this afternoon. As I told the Boyfriend, that means I’m really committed. I must whip Brad & Erin’s story into shape. It needs to be the best story it can be, because if I’m going […]