If you’re writing tight plots, beautiful prose, and engaging characters—and yet your stories still don’t feel as if they’re gelling, you may yet be missing what is arguably the single most important piece of your storytelling puzzle. Maybe your characters aren’t engaging, despite your best efforts. Or maybe they’re following transformative personal journeys, but those journeys always end up […]
November 15, 2016 by 342 Comments CharactersIt’s Here! My Brand-New Writing Book: Creating Character Arcs!
November 14, 2016 by 39 Comments Outlining Your NovelHow to Structure Your Story’s Outline (How to Outline for NaNoWriMo, Pt. 7)
Story outline and story structure—are they different terms describing the same thing? This is a question I frequently receive, and the answer is, “No, they’re completely different concepts and tools.” But learning how to structure your story’s outline is a crucial part of the preparation process. So what’s the difference between outlining and structuring? Outlining is a process, in […]
November 7, 2016 by 26 Comments Outlining Your Novel3 Tips for Weaving Together Your Story’s Pieces (How to Outline for NaNoWriMo, Pt. 6)
Figuring out how to outline a novel is not a linear process. Particularly in the early brainstorming stages, outlining is not a simple progression from Step A to Step B. Your brain is going to be bouncing all over the place: Step A makes you realize something about Step Z, which makes you realize something about […]
October 10, 2016 by 73 Comments Outlining Your NovelStart Your Outline With These 4 Questions (How to Outline for NaNoWriMo, Pt. 2)
“Where do you start your outline?” is a question I often receive. Now, if the obvious answer “start at the beginning” were, in fact, the right answer, no one would be asking this. The reason writers ask this question is because, when properly approached, outlines are anything but linear—which can make the “beginning” rather hard to identify. Whether you’re […]
November 16, 2014 by 52 Comments ThemeDon’t Know Your Story’s Theme? Take a Look at Your Character’s Arc
What separates a good story from a great one? We might throw out a lot of opinions, but mine is this: Your story’s theme is what will raise it above the pack, out of mere entertainment into something that sticks with readers, impacts their lives, and maybe even challenges them to grow. Awesomesauce!, you say. […]
October 12, 2014 by 82 Comments CharactersFAQ: How to Write Character Arcs in a Series
“How should I write character arcs in a series?” This is the question I’ve been getting probably more than any other of late. These days, more stories than not are told as part of multi-book series–everything from trilogies to thirty-plus installments with no intended end in sight. Up to now, I’ve been addressing character arcs primarily within […]
June 22, 2014 by 16 Comments CharactersHow to Write a Flat Character Arc, Pt. 3: The Third Act
The Third Act is where we find arguably the greatest similarities between the flat character arc and the positive change arc, since in both types of story the protagonist will have a full grasp on the Truth by this point. The primary difference, of course, is that the protagonist in a flat character arc will […]
June 15, 2014 by 25 Comments CharactersHow to Write a Flat Character Arc, Pt. 2: The Second Act
The Second Act is the beating heart of your story—and that’s just as true in a flat character arc as it is in a change arc. The Second Act is all about loosing the character into an unsettled world. He is forced to react to the major event at the First Plot Point and grapple […]
June 8, 2014 by 119 Comments CharactersHow to Write a Flat Character Arc, Pt. 1: The First Act
Next to the positive change arc, the flat character arc is the most popular storyline. Also called the “testing arc,” the flat arc is about a character who does not change. He already has the Truth figured out in the beginning of the story, and he uses that Truth to help him overcome various external […]
