We might define your story’s tone as its attitude. More than that, it’s a guide for audiences to help them determine their own attitudes while engaging with your story. Tone tells audiences how to experience the events unfolding on the page. As such, you have to set your story’s tone right from the beginning. Is […]
May 5, 2025 by 17 Comments DescriptionWant to Write Better Action Scenes? Cut This One Thing
If you want to write better action scenes, the key isn’t just what you include—it’s what you leave out. Nothing kills momentum faster than a poorly timed info dump or an overstuffed description that stops the action in its tracks. Pacing is everything, and knowing how to control it can mean the difference between a […]
July 17, 2023 by 14 Comments ForeshadowingHow to Use Misdirection in Your Story for Greater Impact
[Just a short post today, so I can put some energy into a super-secret project I can’t wait to share with you all. Hint? It has to do with two of my favorite things: dreamzoning and archetypal character arcs. Stay tuned! I hope to do the big reveal no later than October.] At first glance, […]
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 […]
August 15, 2022 by 57 Comments CharactersHow to Write Emotional Scenes (Without Making Them Cringey)
Learning how to write emotional scenes is one of the single most important feats any writer must rise to. We want fiction to make us feel something. I’m not talking just a little twinge of satisfaction here or there. I’m talking full-on emotional experiences: tears, laughter, cheers, even rage on occasion. Scenes in which characters […]
June 24, 2019 by 50 Comments NarrativeCritique: 4 Ways to Write Gripping Internal Narrative
The old joke about how “the book was better than the movie” is a reflection of several attributes written fiction offers over visual fiction. One of the main ones is the ability to get inside characters’ heads via internal narrative. Narrative, by its very nature, is narrated by someone. Usually, that someone is the protagonist. […]
May 6, 2019 by 85 Comments NarrativeCritique: 8 Quick Tips for Show, Don’t Tell
The key to immersive story experiences is convincing readers they’re right there with characters. They’re smelling the ash in the air, tasting the rain, feeling the churning gut, seeing all the same colors, hearing all the same notes. When narrative writing accomplishes that level of verisimilitude, it has the ability to move readers beyond their […]
February 4, 2019 by 122 Comments Point of View10 Advantages of Writing a Single-POV Story (What I Learned Writing Wayfarer)
Multiple-POV story versus single-POV story? Which is the right choice for you? The answer depends on many factors, since every story is different. Knowing which approach to POV to choose isn’t difficult once you know how to choose. My just-released historical-superhero/gaslamp-fantasy novel Wayfarer was the first ever single-POV story I’ve written. For years now, I’ve consistently been minimizing the […]
September 24, 2018 by 74 Comments Narrative3 Tips for Improving Show, Don’t Tell
When looking for a new book to read, there are a couple quick tests I do to determine whether it seems like I can trust the author to know what they’re doing all book long. The first and most important of these tests usually requires just a quick glance across the first page to see […]
March 12, 2018 by 43 Comments Editing Your NovelHow to Spot and Avoid Self-Indulgent Writing
As writers, we have the opportunity to live lives of creativity, in which we get to craft whole worlds that conform to our every whim. Whether you’re writing your first book or your thirtieth, it’s always going to be a heady experience. But this comes with certain inherent pitfalls. Sometimes all this power can go […]
