midwest-aftermath asked you:
What is the largest number of active characters you can include in a scene without confusing a reader? How do you keep the reader from being confused?
My dear midwest-aftermath,
Stories do not have occupancy limits imposed by some literary fire department. You can have as many characters in a scene as you want. You [...]

Yesterday, I had this question from bunn1:
So I am having trouble developing my male character, I have a name for him and he has a distinct personality. However, I want to introduce his appearance somehow. Should I be doing this when we first meet him? How do I do it in a way that isn’t [...]

bunn1 asked you:
So I am having trouble developing my male character, I have a name for him and he has a distinct personality. However, I want to introduce his appearance somehow. Should I be doing this when we first meet him? How do I do it in a way that isn’t horribly boring and longwinded, [...]

Today, Auntie MJ is answering TWO questions that are quite alike:
texarshead asked you:
Oh all-mighty MJ… “AHHHH!!!” *Panics* I keep getting NEW ideas and NEW plots to consider writing, but I’m already started on one I thought was amazing at first. Do you have any advice for sticking to an idea and keeping it interesting and [...]

chickswithcrossbows asked you:
Auntie MJ – Let’s talk about originality. Every time I come up with a plot or an element for a novel that I think is new and undone, it seems like within a week I stumble across at least one book (sometimes more) that have the same element/plot/thing I thought was totally new. [...]

daysofinspiration asked you:
Maureen, do you have any suggestions for what to do when inspiration hits at the wrong time? I block off time to write, but it’s when I’m not supposed to be writing, say when I’m studying for a test, that my best ideas hit me and I can’t focus on anything else until [...]

decodedjoy asked you:
Hi Auntie MJ, I have a question… How did you develop your writing “voice”? People say that the world needs more story tellers, but the world doesn’t need more people who merely try to copy other story tellers… right? As I aspire to be a writer, I sometimes worry that that’s what I’m [...]