One of the single most important decisions in storytelling is one you make every day, maybe even several times a day. It all comes to: how to write scenes that matter to your story. Imagine your story as a line of dominoes and each individual scene as a single domino. If you expect your line […]
February 28, 2010 by 59 Comments Writing InspirationHow Writers Can Stop Procrastinating With One Simple Habit
“How writers can stop procrastinating” isn’t just a question of the writing life. Sometimes it’s the question. After all, if you’re not writing, then all the other good writing habits and knowledge you’ve collected are just going to sit in the back of your brain collecting dust. Fortunately, there’s a simple fix. Tell me if this sounds […]
February 24, 2010 by 35 Comments Characters3 Tips for How to Write a Bad Guy Who Transforms Your Story
Since the whole point of a bad guy is that he’s bad, you’re first thought may be to make your antagonist as despicable as possible. But stop right there. Let me show you how to write a bad guy who’s all the more interesting for not going completely over the Dark Side How to Write a […]
February 17, 2010 by 37 Comments CharactersWhat Steve McQueen Can Teach You About How to Write Characters
One of the best ways to learn how to write characters that live and breathe in their own right is to study the great actors. How are they infusing life in their characters? What are they doing in their performances that transforms seemingly mundane roles into unforgettable personalities? The 1960 western The Magnificent Seven is […]
February 14, 2010 by 24 Comments Editing Your NovelKnow Your Own Story: Write a Novel Manifesto
You need a novel manifesto. Why? Because you’re never going to be completely objective about your stories. Trust me. You’re just too emotionally involved, too attached to your characters, too excited about your plot twists, too tickled by your snarky dialogue. And the only thing wrong with any of that is that it can make you lose sight […]
February 10, 2010 by 19 Comments Novel EndingsHow to Write an Epilogue That Works: 5 Tips
Want to learn how to write an epilogue that works? First, you need to understand why so many epilogues don’t work. How Not to Write an Epilogue Epilogues, like prologues, are, by their very definition, extraneous. As a result, they’re often unnecessary. Too many epilogues are self-indulgent happily-ever-afters by authors who want to make sure the reader […]
February 7, 2010 by 43 Comments Plotting Your NovelPlot vs. Character: Which Is More Important?
Authors debate plot vs. character, as if the two were 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 […]
February 3, 2010 by 35 Comments CharactersThe Key to Writing Larger-Than-Life Characters
Because readers live vicariously through fictional characters, they like larger-than-life characters: people who are better and stronger and smarter than the average Joe. (Hence the current popularity of the superhero genre.) If you want readers to love your characters and the stories they populate, it only makes sense you should make your characters the best they can be at […]
January 31, 2010 by 54 Comments Story Settings4 Setting Questions That Will Deepen Your Characters
In the best of stories, setting is an inherent key, not just in bringing to life the scenery, but in helping you deepen your characters. As such, it isn’t something any author can afford to overlook. Answer the following setting questions to find the weak points in your setting construction and help you use it to […]
January 27, 2010 by 73 Comments Description2 Important Tricks for Making Your Prose Sing
Words are the building blocks of our craft, and yet the way words are put together is a facets of storytelling writers often overlook in our mad dash to perfect plot, character, dialogue, and POV. Learning From the Masters of Prose: Frances Mayes But when a book as luscious as Frances Mayes’s Bella Tuscany falls into your […]
