Writing Nuggets for December

As promised, I'm posting links that I think will take you to interesting and useful places. These all seem to revolve around character this time. I've already blogged here about how important character is, so my focus this month shouldn't be too surprising.

Character Emotion - how much is too much?
http://romanceuniversity.org/2010/12/17/ask-an-editor-adding-emotion/comment-page-1/#comment-9598

An interesting way to measure character motivation and growth

http://writersdigest.com/article/motivate-your-characters-like-a-pro 

If you're like me, you don't find those character charts very useful. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that think you should know what each character's favorite color is. On the other hand, these nine questions will lead to interesting insights into your characters.

http://www.writersdigest.com/article/9-questions-to-ask-your-main-character/ 

This is a little harder to get to because you have to be a member of Savvy Authors. Basic membership is free however, and this article describing a technique for deepening character point of view is worth every penny. ;) I turned a critique buddy onto it (hi Joey) and her writing jumped several levels almost instantly.

http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?413-Blowing-The-Scene-Apart-A-New-Technique-With-Many-Uses

If you visit any of the sites and find them useful, I'd love it if you came back and wrote a testimonial to help guide others.