This is K.M. Island, and you are listening to the 36th episode of the Word Play

podcast. The great thing about the research phase of writing is that it's

the easiest to take on the go. Just tuck your book under your arm and head out the door. Years

ago I was given a set of nifty bookmarks. Somebody had the brilliant realization that books and

writing utensils just obviously go together. So they invented a flat pin that you can stick between

the pages. It marks your place when you're not reading. Trans transforms into a pin when you need to take notes,

and is slender enough not to bulge the covers.

It's even got a hook at the top to slide over the page and hold it in place.

I slip a piece of note paper inside the front cover and I'm all set to turn my afternoon

at the hairdresser into a productive research session. By the way, I wish I could share the

brand of the bookmarks, but unfortunately I threw the package away long ago.

Don't forget to take a peek at the new video series on my blog.

The latest episode, Character Competition, Saint or Sinner, takes a look at the two main characters in

Alexander Dumas's The Last Cavalier, and explains why perfect characters simply aren't

interesting.

You can watch the video on my blog at wordplay-K-M-Y-L-A-N-D dot blog spot.

New videos are posted every Wednesday. Meanwhile, enjoy this week's podcast. Plot versus character. Which is more important?

Authors debate plot versus character as if the two are gladiators waging war on the sands of the

Coliseum in some winner-take-all death battle.

Both sides of the debate claim a definitive superiority for their chosen gladiator.

And for the most part, the battle splits nicely down the lines of literary and commercial fiction.

The commercialists placing the emphasis on plot in the interest of producing page-turners,

...