If one of your goals as a writer is to be read, then sooner or later you will have to deal with negative reviews of your book. This could be as simple as a family member or beta reader telling you (tactfully or not) they didn’t like the book. Or it could be as painful […]
October 31, 2022 by 47 Comments CharactersTop 14 Tips and Tools for Creating Unique Character Voices
Voice in fiction is crucial—but also elusive. First, writers must consider their own authorial voices, then the story’s specific narrative voice, and last but certainly not least character voices. In fact, if you’re writing fiction, the most important voices on the page technically aren’t yours, but your characters’. All of ’em. And they all need […]
October 24, 2022 by 11 Comments Story SettingsHow Writers Can Infuse Mood in Story Settings
Note From KMW: Mood will influence every moment of your story. It will create (and be created by) your story’s tone. It will determine the nuances of your story’s narrative voice. And it will help create both pacing and foreshadowing, by guiding readers to experience and anticipate what you want them to. Naturally, this only works when […]
October 17, 2022 by 21 Comments Characters9 Negative Character Arcs in the Enneagram
The Enneagram personality theory is a wonderful tool for writers. Beneath the surface of the system’s nine types, you can find development guides that include all the working parts of solid transformational character arcs. Last week, we discussed the positive character arcs in the Enneagram. Today, we’re going to look at the flipside: nine negative […]
October 14, 2022 by Leave a Comment NewsCheck Out the NaNoWriMo Writing Bundle
This month, I’m participating with Humble Bundle in a special book promotion themed around National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo). Here’s how it works. I’m offering my five most popular writing guides (listed below) in a bundle that also includes nine books from other authors. You can choose from three different bundle sizes, each including […]
October 10, 2022 by 53 Comments Characters9 Positive Character Arcs in the Enneagram
Character arcs aren’t just the stuff of good fiction. They’re also the essence of all personal growth and transformation. Little wonder, then, that some of the best shortcuts writers can find for identifying the most powerful character-arc options are those found in personal development tools such as the Enneagram. These days, most of us are […]
October 3, 2022 by 15 Comments Novel EndingsHow to Pull Off a Plot Twist
Readers love a well done plot twist. They like to have the rug skillfully pulled out from under their feet at the last minute in a way that changes everything they understood about the story, while simultaneously making them see everything with perfect clarity. One of my favorite romance authors, Kristen Heitzmann, gives us some clues […]
September 26, 2022 by 20 Comments Chapter BreaksHow to Use Chapter Cliffhangers in Your Fiction
We all want to write stories that keep readers turning pages into the wee hours of the morning. We want readers to reach the end of a chapter and be gripped with an undeniable need to keep reading. We want to them take a look at the clock and promise themselves, Just one more chapter—and then […]
September 19, 2022 by 277 Comments NewsWhat Do You Want Me to Write About?
Hey, everybody! I can’t believe we’re almost into the final quarter of 2022. As I’m starting to think about what I want to share on the blog next year, I thought I’d take the opportunity to ask you—since many of my best post ideas come from questions here in the Wordplayer community. So… What would […]
September 12, 2022 by 37 Comments CharactersConflict + Choices = Character Agency
Note From KMW: Character agency is a hot topic these days, but truly it was always an important topic for writers. Why? Because a character (particularly a protagonist) with no agency is a character who isn’t likely to be very interesting. More than that, a character with little to no agency won’t be able to generate […]
