Ever had a minor character steal the show and run away with your story? This scenario has its good points and its bad points (usually, it means a great minor character and a problematic plot), and it always leads writers right back to the all-important question of how to choose the right protagonist from the get-go. […]
November 4, 2016 by 141 Comments BackstoryThe Only Reason Your Story Should Have Flashbacks
Writers love their flashbacks. And with good reason. Flashbacks are a multi-functional technique for stepping outside your story’s timeline and sharing interesting and informative nuggets about your characters’ pasts. But just as they can be used to strengthen your story, they can even more easily cripple it. First things first: what is a flashback? A flashback […]
October 31, 2016 by 43 Comments Outlining Your Novel4 Ways to Write Backstory That Matters (How to Outline for NaNoWriMo, Pt. 5)
There are two equally vital parts to any story: the part you see and the part you don’t. The context and subtext. The story and the backstory. Whether you’re trying to figure out how to outline for NaNoWriMo (only one day away!) or just needing a game plan for your next work-in-progress, one of the most […]
September 9, 2016 by 84 Comments ForeshadowingThe Right Way and the Wrong Way to Foreshadow a Story
Part 11 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel Really, your job as an author can be summed up in one simple word: control. It is your responsibility to control readers’ experience of your story, to make them think and feel very specific things. One of the most important and powerful ways in which […]
September 2, 2016 by 88 Comments BackstoryThe #1 Key to Relatable Characters: Backstory
Part 10 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel Ever stop to think about why you enjoy backstory? I receive lots of questions from writers about backstory, most of it along the lines of: I love my backstory soooo much. How can I cram as much as possible of it into the main story? I […]
April 3, 2016 by 152 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 50: Info Dumps
On its most fundamental level, a novel is nothing more or less than the dissemination of information. As such, the writer who understands exactly how and where to share information is a writer who understands the most fundamental skill of storytelling. That’s why info dumps are such a big, bad deal. They’re peanut butter in […]
February 18, 2016 by 46 Comments CharactersWhy Cool Character Traits (Just for the Sake of Cool) Are Not Cool
We’re all looking for high-concept ideas for our stories and character traits these days. You need to come up with something unique that’s going to make your story stand out on the bookshelf. Plus, who among us doesn’t like a little extra “cool” in our stories–just because? But hold up right there. “Cool” for the sake of cool […]
January 29, 2016 by 102 Comments BackstoryThe #1 Problem With Backstory (and Its Simple Fix)
There’s a problem with backstory? Among writers that’s a rhetorical question. We all know there are lots of potential problems with backstory—everything from where to put it in the story to how much of it we should even be sharing with readers in the first place. But before you can start worrying about any of […]
April 26, 2015 by 119 Comments Beginning Your BookFind Out if Your Prologue Is Destroying Your Story’s Subtext
You hear it all the time: prologues are evil. (And writers everywhere commence howling.) Now I’ll grant that “evil” is a slight exaggeration. We might call them “dangerous” instead, except that word is pretty ironic, since one of the chief reasons a prologue is so dangerous is because it allows authors to play it waaaaay yonder […]
February 3, 2015 by 30 Comments BackstoryGive Me 3 Minutes and I’ll Give You a Better (and Darker) Backstory
This week’s video shows you how to approach a dark character backstory fearlessly—and make your story all the better for it. Video Transcript: Here’s something sad I’ve noticed about many writers—myself included: we talk a good talk about character backstory, but we don’t always back that up with a good walk. Mostly, what I mean […]
