If there’s a magic ingredient in writing, it’s story subtext. It’s actually not magic, of course, any more than any of the other demystified techniques of structure, theme, or character arc. But story subtext often seems like magic simply because, by its very nature, it is the execution of the unexplained. What is Subtext in Fiction? Subtext is […]
October 12, 2026 by 7 Comments Plotting Your NovelThe 5 Ingredients You Need to Write Subtext in Fiction
September 28, 2026 by 8 Comments CharactersCharacter Misdirection: How to Write False Allies and False Enemies
In childhood, stories are always about exactly what they appear: “See Spot. See Spot run.” But as we grow older and our life experiences deepen, so do our story experiences. What emerges is often a complex weave of subtext and misdirection. Life isn’t always as we perceive it on its surface—and even when it is, […]
September 14, 2026 by 5 Comments CharactersThe Impact Character: Why Every Character Arc Needs One
In a story, we can think of character arc as the “engine of change” that creates transformative movement in the plot. In real life, this change can be initiated in many different ways, but in a story, we often use specific levers—some symbolic and some practical—to create catalysts of change that make sense to readers. […]
August 31, 2026 by 6 Comments How to Become a Writer5 Ways to Identify Your Writing Weaknesses (and Become a Better Writer)
Let me ask you a question: If I ask you to identify your writing weaknesses for me, how does that make you feel about your writing right now? If you’re in one of those rarefied states of supreme satisfaction, I congratulate you. But after two decades of pursuing my own writing and hearing from countless […]
August 24, 2026 by 21 Comments CharactersGet Rid of On-the-Nose Dialogue: 3 Ways to Write Dialogue With Subtext
The qualities that most set apart “okay” writers from great writers are subtlety and subtext. This is true in every area of storytelling, from narrative to plotting to character development. But the lack of subtlety and subtext is perhaps nowhere more obvious than in dialogue. I’m talking, of course, about on-the-nose dialogue. On-the-nose dialogue is dialogue […]
August 10, 2026 by 13 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 15 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 20, 2026 by 22 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 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 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 […]
