Here’s a little-known secret about stories: they’re about what your characters do. Okay, so maybe it’s not so little known. I mean, duh, right? Your characters do something, and then they do something else—and, presto, you have a plot! And yet, writers often spend a lot of time describing what their characters aren’t doing. It’s true […]
April 17, 2013 by 15 Comments NarrativeWhat to Know About Using Stream of Consciousness in a Story
Stream of consciousness is the term applied to a form of narrative found in deep POVs. It allows authors to delve deeper into their narrators’ minds than just about any other technique. Stream of consciousness indicates a progression of internal narrative that tries to mimic real-life thought patterns: rapid-fire delivery, jumps in association and logic, […]
April 3, 2013 by 23 Comments Narrative5 Signs Your Book Is Too Long
I love long books. Those big fat hardbacks that are too heavy to even hang onto and you just have to let ’em flop open in your lap? Yum. There is something so delicious about being immersed in an amazing story and knowing you have three hundred pages still to go before you reach the […]
July 11, 2012 by 18 Comments NarrativeHave You Set the Right Tone for Your Story?
Tone is one of those things, along with author “voice,” that can be difficult for us get our heads around since to some extent it just happens. But tone, even more than voice, is something we can—and should—deliberately consider and plan for the good of our stories. Think of tone as sort of like a […]
June 6, 2012 by 23 Comments CharactersSigns Your Story Has Too Many Characters
Characters are what it’s all about. That’s why we read; that’s why we write. And as we’re writing, we’re often bombarded by interesting people who are all clamoring to be a part of our story world. And who are we—humble writers that we are—to deny these characters their chance at a colorful life, right? So […]
May 30, 2012 by 16 Comments CharactersWould Your Story Benefit From a Distant Narrator?
One of the reasons readers love books is because books allow us to not just observe characters, but to get inside their heads and see how they tick. This is the reason for the modern popularity of what’s known as the “deep,” “tight,” or “close” POV, in which the narrative itself, whether it’s told in […]
March 7, 2012 by 18 Comments NarrativeAre You Giving Readers the Tools to Understand Your Story?
One of the reasons story beginnings are so tricky is the sheer volume of information the author has to share with readers, just to make sure readers understand what’s going on. This grows all the more true when your story is presenting unusual or unexpected characters or settings. The trick is sharing the information without […]
February 10, 2012 by 28 Comments NarrativeThe Value of Good Customer Service
This post is by Carrie Spencer. Hi all! My name is Carrie and I’m a customer-service-aholic. Yes, I just made that word up. I’ve been in the restaurant business for twenty-two years as a bartender, a waitress, and a manager—occasionally all at the same time. In order to be successful in the restaurant business, you […]
February 1, 2012 by 72 Comments NarrativeDon’t Even Think About Using First-Person Unless…
First-person is a popular narrative perspective, among both authors and readers, since it allows the narrating character to directly address readers by funneling the entire story through the narrator’s head, using the pronoun “I”—as in, “I went dragon slaying that fateful day”—versus the third-person pronouns—as in, “she went dragon slaying that fateful day.” First-person POVs […]
November 6, 2011 by 23 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Giving Readers the Wrong Impression of Your Characters
The wrong choice of just a single word can be enough to give readers a completely different (and from the writer’s viewpoint, wrong) perspective of a character. Even though writers often see our characters in crisp, glorious, mega-wattage detail, we sometimes struggle to share those details with readers. We want readers to see our characters […]
