Writers Digest has been a  constant source of good information at every stage of my writing career. I subscribe to the magazine, rss and I buy the special issues that come out throughout the year, most recently the How to Find an Agent issue. This prompt came from a Writers Digest's Tip of the Day, a great email to subscribe to.

When Things Aren't Going Well
Source: Page After Page by Heather Sellers

It's easy to be calm and strong when things are going well. When you are resting and exercising, your writing life is easy. It's when things are hard that we forget all our tools. I want you to rewrite a scene. Literally. I want you to take a conflict, one that you obsessed on, blew out of proportion, talked about a lot. Something at work, or in your family or friendships—not life or death—but an irritation you spent too much time on. (It should be easy to think of one because we all do this too many times each week, giving minor irritations—at the grocery store, in traffic, waiting in line longer than we deemed appropriate—way too much power over our imaginations).

I want you to rewrite the scene, actually putting pen to paper. Write yourself, your character, with your head in the clouds, the art space, the spiritual center. In the writing, react as your best possible self. Write the scene. Take all the drama out.

I'd love to read what you come up with. Email me a shortish work and I'll take a look at it for you and provide feedback.

This was an intriguing article I found at Suite101.com from May 5, 2008 by Anita Riggio. 
Click here for the full article.

Keep in mind when you read this that you're not limited to this list. That may sound obvious to any but the most novice writer, but some folks take things WAY too literally. Take the time Riggio says to take with the questions below, but if another question arises, don't hesitate to answer other questions. I'm sure the author didn't intend this to be the definitive list of questions for learning more about backstories. So don't limit yourself. Outside of not getting anything written, you really can't delve into your backstory too much. The more you get into the skin of each of your characters, the more you can walk around in the places they walk around in, the more you can talk just like them, the more convincing your story is. More about this in an upcoming post I've been considering having to do with the crossover between acting and writing.

Now for the article:

How much about your characters do you really know? Small details might seem superfluous even irrelevant to the story you intend to write, but the smallest detail informs the bigger picture. The more you know about your characters, the better you’ll create believable characters who live and breathe on the page and in their own fictional world.

Take time to answer each of these questions candidly and deeply. Expand your responses to include other questions that may arise.

1. What do you know about this character now that s/he doesn’t yet know?
2. What is this character’s greatest flaw?
3. What do you know about this character that s/he would never admit?
4. What is this character’s greatest asset?
5. If this character could choose a different identity, who would s/he be?
6. What music does this character sing to when no one else is around?
7. In what or whom does this character have the greatest faith?
8. What is this character’s favorite movie?
9. Does this character have a favorite article of clothing? Favorite shoes?
10. Does this character have a vice? Name it.
11. Name this character’s favorite person (living or dead).
12. What is this character’s secret wish?
13. What is this character’s proudest achievement?
14. Describe this character’s most embarrassing moment.
15. What is this character’s deepest regret?
16. What is this character’s greatest fear?
17. Describe this character’s most devastating moment.
18. What is this character’s greatest achievement?
19. What is this character’s greatest hope?
20. Does this character have an obsession? Name it.
21. What is this character’s greatest disappointment?
22. What is this character’s worst nightmare?
23. Whom does this character most wish to please? Why?
24. Describe this character’s mother.
25. Describe this character’s father.
26. If s/he had to choose, with whom would this character prefer to live?
27. Where does this character fall in birth order? What effect does this have?
28. Describe this character’s siblings or other close relatives.
29. Describe this character’s bedroom. Include three cherished items.
30. What is this character’s birth date? How does this character manifest traits of his/her astrological sign?
31. If this character had to live in seclusion for six months, what six items would s/he bring?
32. Why is this character angry?
33. What calms this character?
34. Describe a recurring dream or nightmare this character might have.
35. List the choices (not circumstances) that led this character to his/her current predicament.
36. List the circumstances over which this character has no control.
37. What wakes this character in the middle of the night?
38. How would a stranger describe this character?
39. What does this character resolve to do differently every morning?
40. Who depends on this character? Why?
41. If this character knew s/he had exactly one month to live, what would s/he do?
42. How would a dear friend or relative describe this character?
43. What is this character’s most noticeable physical attribute?
44. What is this character hiding from him/herself?
45. Write one additional thing about your character.

Photo is of Degas' Nude Scratching Her Back

It's hard to believe it's already the 8th month of 2010. Staying busy really keeps the time sprinting by. Below are a couple updates, the titles for which can be applied to writing or underwear. Please enjoy them and the giant underwear rug I found a picture of.

Guilty of Stuffing.

The stuffy my regular work hours into Monday through Thursday so I can have a (mostly) full day of writing on Friday in addition to a typical writing block Saturday morning is working out wonderfully. It's not easy getting all 40 hours in a 4-day window, but it's definitely been worth it. Now, I find I am way more focused at work. And, therefore, my work -- web design, for those of you who didn't know it -- was tighter overall. Distractions seem less powerful since their effect is magnified. If I give in to one, it could mean the difference between making and not making my goal for the day. Before, a distraction would only make it to where I had some hours to recoup on the weekend or elsewhere. Also, there's the obvious benefit of having a whole (mostly) uninterrupted day to write. Without looking, I want to say I started this experiment about this time last month. Last Tuesday's critique of Forever By His Side's third chapter showed that the extra time really paid off. For the first time in a long time, most of the critiques reinforced that I was finally heading in the right direction. The flow of action was smoother. There were fewer dumb proofreading errors -- probably my greatest flaw as a writer. And the voice worked for the first time since I started writing the actual story. This success has heartened me to continue pushing myself to get those hours in.

Change is Good.

Next, I've been working on my site. I was introduced to an app -- new to me at the time -- on Facebook called NetworkedBlogs. I registered my blog and immediately got networked to others' blogs. Also immediately, I discovered that my blog is different than many other blogs. And, I fear, mostliy in a bad way. Where my blog is very much like a journal -- which is how is started out -- other blogs tend to have more interesting content outside of the lives and goings on of the writer him/herself. I also realized I didn't know what my blog was about. I started out assuming that my blog would be about me, but I found when I really looked at it, my blog is about better writing. My journey toward it and my desire to bring others along for the ride. Therefore, over the weekend, I changed the header. Not exactly big news but after having the same look for quite a while, any change seemed pretty drastic to me. The other benefit of changing the header to the larger "Better Writing" was that on NetworkedBlogs, the blogs are listed with tiny thumbnails and I needed something that could effectively be ready from a distance.

So welcome to August. This month, I'm going to begin to share more writing-related findings that come from other authors or other sources on the Internet and elsewhere. I'll keep posting my writing-related ramblings but I think adding in the other will add overall interest.