In the mood for a free online writing conference this week? I’d love to recommend one I’m excited to be part of! The WorldShift Summit for Speculative Fiction Writers officially begins today, and I’m delighted to be returning as one of this year’s featured speakers. After participating in the inaugural conference last year, I can […]
August 10, 2026 by 11 Comments PodcastHow to Pitch Your Novel: The Difference Between Your Story’s Hook and Heart
Quick! You’ve got less than a minute to convince me your story is worth my time. What do you tell me? You’ve got to pique my curiosity with mystery and potential, while still conveying the bulk of the plot, theme, and general tone. “No problem!” you say. But when you sit down to actually figure […]
August 3, 2026 by 12 Comments CharactersThe Lie the Character Believes: A Deeper Look at Consciousness and Character Arc
For years, in my book Creating Character Arcs and elsewhere, I’ve taught the Lie the Character Believes as the central premise of character arc. The Lie the Character Believes is the limited perspective that prevents characters from embracing the thematic Truth until the events of the story force them to grow. In a Positive Change […]
July 27, 2026 by 24 Comments UncategorizedWhy Honesty Makes Flawed Characters More Likable
A flawed character becomes likable when audiences trust the character’s honesty more than they judge the character’s mistakes. Memorable characters come in many shades—everything from Heathcliff’s murderous manipulation to Steve Rogers’s aw-shucks idealism. Sometimes, the not-so-likable characters end up being all the more interesting and enduring for their inner darkness. But, generally speaking, most authors […]
July 20, 2026 by 20 Comments Novel EndingsThe Psychology of Story Endings (+5 Tips to Write a Truly Satisfying Ending)
What is a story? One easy answer is that it is a narrative composed of a beginning, middle, and ending. Today, we’re talking about how to write satisfying endings, but allow me a quick rabbit trail: A while back, someone asked me to write a post about why the Second Act was even a thing. […]
July 13, 2026 by 21 Comments Point of ViewWhy Multiple POVs Can Make Readers Love Your Characters More
Multiple POVs—should you use them or should you not? That’s a question with huge implications for your story. It will influence everything from structure to pacing to character arcs. Most importantly, it will have a huge influence on your readers’ experience of the story—for better or worse. More genre books than not use multiple POVs to […]
July 6, 2026 by 24 Comments How to Become a WriterWhy We Need Heroic Stories: The Courage We Borrow From Fiction
A hill I will die on: we need heroic stories. That may seem super obvious. After all, the word “hero” has become all but synonymous with “protagonist.” They are not, however, the same thing. A protagonist is the structural driver of the plot (just as the antagonist is the structural obstacle to that driving momentum). […]
June 29, 2026 by 17 Comments Writing LifeThe Four Seasons of Writing: How Authors Can Build a Burnout-Free Writing Routine
Note From KMW: Over the years, I’ve learned there is a difference between cultivating discipline as a writer and forcing it. Like many writers (especially those of us who came of age during the early years of the indie boom), I spent much of my career believing success required constant hustle. Push harder. Write faster. […]
June 22, 2026 by 2 Comments CharactersWriting Masterclass: Alchemizing Plot, Character, & Theme for Powerful Fiction
Truly resonant stories give us the feeling that nothing about them is accidental. The plot, character arc, theme, symbolism, and even the setting all belong to the same deeper pattern. Everything connects. This is what I’ll be exploring in my Story School class Alchemizing Plot, Character, and Theme, which originally premiered during last year’s WorldShift […]
June 15, 2026 by 5 Comments PodcastHow to Write Mythic Fiction: 7 Practices to Reconnect With the Lost Art of Mythmaking
What is mythic fiction, and how can we write it? Earlier this month, I shared a post about how to write mythic fiction, in which I discussed the difference between adapting inherited myths (i.e., just retelling the old symbolic stories over and over in “new” ways) versus creating our own myths. My suggestion was that […]
