The process of writing original stories is shrouded in mystery. Occasionally, as part of my daily Writing Question of the Day (#WQOTD) on Twitter and Facebook, I’ll ask, “What makes your story original?” It’s a question that tends to get fewer responses than normal, and the responses I do receive are often nebulous or downright uncertain. […]
August 10, 2015 by 33 Comments Prose4 Methods to Invigorate Your Prose With Surprising Sentences
Good storytelling is all about the big pieces: structure, character, theme. But good writing? That’s much more intricate, much more intimate. Good writing is about creating purposeful and interesting prose. Creating prose of that caliber starts with the mechanics of grammar and spelling. But any middle-schooler is supposed to be able to do that. The art of […]
October 31, 2012 by 19 Comments Plotting Your NovelAre You Skimming Your Story’s Potential?
It’s not enough to write a story that just covers its bases. By that I mean a story that essentially works—it’s properly structured, the prose is professional, and it possesses all the working pieces (plot, character, etc.). You can check all the boxes on your story checklist and still end up with a story that […]
August 26, 2012 by 42 Comments Plotting Your Novel5 Ways You’re Blocking Readers From Suspension of Disbelief
Unlike non-fiction or memoir, the whole point of fiction is that it isn’t true. Or rather, that’s half the point. The other half is that this untruth is constructed in the pattern of truth, in order to shine a light on the reality of our lives. As per Picasso: Art is the lie that tells the truth. Readers […]
May 15, 2011 by 62 Comments Writing LifeThe Secret Ingredient of Original Stories
With all the new books published in the last year alone, you kind of have to wonder if maybe everything there is to be said has already been said. With so many new books churning out every day, surely every idea has been done to death. What room is left for original stories? You may […]
January 23, 2011 by 65 Comments Researching Your Novel5 Reasons to Read the Same Type of Stories You Write
Aside from writing itself, reading is the single most important element in a healthy writing life. As Natalie Goldberg and Stephen King, respectively, point out: If you read good books, when you write, good books will come out of you. If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time or the […]
December 15, 2010 by 26 Comments Writing InspirationHow to Flip Clichés on Their Heads
Originality is hard work—mostly because there’s nothing new under the sun—and it’s difficult to make something out of nothing. But here’s a nifty trick for taking seemingly worn-out ideas and turning them on their heads to create something fresh and vibrant. In a nutshell, all this trick involves is grabbing a cliché, acknowledging it’s a […]
August 8, 2010 by 42 Comments Characters5 Steps to Writing Minor Characters That Dazzle
In writing minor characters, authors must provide the color and conflict that fill the protagonist’s worlds. Because minor characters aren’t always confined to the necessities of a character arc or the demands of the plot, they often have the opportunity to be some of the most exciting personalities on the page. In my own stories, […]
April 25, 2010 by 63 Comments Editing Your Novel10 Ways to Write Skinny Sentences
If brevity is the soul of wit, then economy is the energy of prose. Let’s hear it for skinny sentences! Don’t get me wrong: I love complex, twisty, beautiful sentences. As Aleksandar Hemon pointed out in an interview with The Writer magazine: I like to push language toward poetry, to activate the dormant possibilities inherent in it. […]
April 18, 2010 by 29 Comments Characters3 Ways to Make Character Stereotypes Work in Your Story
Character stereotypes are bad, right? They’re clichéd stock characters that rob your story of originality and immediacy. Readers realize they’ve read about these characters in dozens of other stories, lose interest, and cast the book aside. Right? True enough, so far. However, what authors often fail to realize is that character stereotypes can be successfully applied in […]
