What is writing but choosing the right words in the right sentences in the right paragraphs in the right pages in the right chapters? But even though words and sentences are the smallest of integers within our storytelling, they’re actually one of the most complex. How do you choose the right sentences? Is it a process […]
November 6, 2017 by 73 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 63: Purple Prose
Words, glorious words! Fellow logophiles, were we not initially drawn to writing because of our sesquipedal amours? We love words. We love big words, arcane words, chewy words, beautiful words. We love combinations of words that are bold, poetic, eloquent, and sometimes even showy. So it’s little wonder many of us risk creating purple prose. […]
September 29, 2017 by 30 Comments Characters4 Ways to Amplify Your Characters’ Subtext
The magic ingredient in fiction is subtext. In part, it is magic because of the dynamic reaction it creates in readers: their sudden ability to become an intelligent participant in interpreting the story. But also, it is magic because, like any good trick, it can be difficult for authors to interpret exactly how to execute it. Nowhere […]
August 11, 2017 by 17 Comments Narrative10 Steps to Perfecting Your Writing Style
“I always have a point of view. It may not be right, but it’s my own.”—Baz Luhrmann Four years ago, I watched Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby on the big cinema screen. As the film ended after 143 minutes, a long silence settled over the auditorium. It was a silence I had never experienced before, almost a […]
August 4, 2017 by 27 Comments NarrativeHow to Write Your Characters’ Actions with Clarity
Have you ever tried to watch an old film? Not a digitally remastered edition or a corrected copy, but a genuinely old film, silent and sepia-toned. Some frames are misplaced or backwards. Some aren’t there at all. You can follow the action well enough, filling in the gaps where they appear—but that doesn’t mean you […]
July 17, 2017 by 42 Comments NarrativeWriting Voice: 6 Things You Need to Know to Improve It
Writing a book isn’t just a discovery of the story, it’s also a discovery of yourself. Who are you, really? The answers you find appearing on the screen with each word you type can be surprising. And nowhere is the truth about an author revealed more unequivocally than when you open your literary mouth, loosen […]
June 30, 2017 by 33 Comments Point of View6 Questions to Help You Choose the Right POV
Stories are defined by their narrators. Narrating characters implicitly tell us whose story this is. More than that, they determine which facets of plot and theme will be emphasized. How do they do this? By also determining which elements will be eliminated or sidelined. In short, figuring out how to choose the right POV for your […]
May 5, 2017 by 68 Comments NarrativeHow to Write in an Authentic Historical Voice
Let’s say you’re writing a book set in the 14th Century. Naturally, as a diligent and conscientious writer, you want to do your research and write with an authentic historical voice. In fact, you’re so good and so authentic that what you end up with is something like this: Whilom, as olde stories tellen us, ther […]
April 24, 2017 by 58 Comments Description3 Ways to Make Your Writing More Visual
Written fiction is comparatively unique among art forms. Why? Because it isn’t visual. Unlike theater, dance, painting, sculpture, and photography, writing offers no inherent visual images. And yet, as any reader can tell you, reading a good story is a tremendously visual experience. This means you, as the writer, bear an important responsibility to make […]
February 20, 2017 by 73 Comments NarrativeLearn How to Pace Your Story (and Mind-Control Your Readers) in Just 8 Steps
Writing is really all about mind control. Seriously, think about it. You put words on paper, and if you do it right, you suddenly have the ability to control how people respond to what you’ve written. Of course, “doing it right” is the whole challenge of writing, and when it comes to this mind-control gig, […]
