Because all your characters come from just one person—namely you—it can often be challenging to make them all sound like unique people in their own right. This is a challenge that reaches far beyond dialogue and personality quirks, especially when you’re utilizing more than one narrator. So how do you create a different voice for […]
October 24, 2010 by 27 Comments NarrativeUse Motion to Spice up Your Scenes
Ever had one of those days when you sit down at your computer, only to find your character twiddling his thumbs? I was having one of those days last week. Chapter seven of my work-in-progress features all kinds of exciting conflict, including a long-awaited confrontation between two friends-turned-enemies. I got to introduce a fabulous new […]
October 20, 2010 by 21 Comments CharactersKeep Unlikable Characters From Alienating Readers
Because a strong character arc often requires a deep change of personality in the main character, writers are sometimes forced to begin their stories from the rather compromising basis of a main character who is less than likable. In some instances—redemption stories and their ilk, in particular—the main character starts out being a real jerk. […]
October 10, 2010 by 17 Comments Dialogue6 Ways You Can Use Dialogue in Your Story
Dialogue is one of the hardest-working components in fiction—but only if you take full advantage of it. It’s easy enough to make your characters talk to each other and even relatively easy enough to make what they say interesting to readers. But if interesting is the only burden your dialogue is carrying, it’s not doing […]
September 1, 2010 by 21 Comments NarrativeHow to Write Compelling Narrative
Modern authors are taught the only way to keep readers’ attention is keep the writing action-oriented. You must show not tell, dramatize your scenes, and keep characters doing and talking and in the moment every step of the way. These so-called rules are prevalent for good reason. Readers read because they want to see the […]
August 25, 2010 by 21 Comments Prose3 (Brief) Benefits of Writing With Brevity
Ernest Hemingway is famed for his sparse prose. Love his style or hate it, the man knew how to say what needed saying in the fewest words possible. In reading his World War I tragedy A Farewell to Arms, I was able to study the three main benefits of writing with brevity. The 3 Main […]
August 11, 2010 by 42 Comments Plotting Your NovelHow to Spot and Leave Out the Parts That Bore Readers
Skipping the parts that bore readers should be a no-brainer. And yet this a surprisingly common pitfall. Why? To some extent, writers struggle with know what will bore readers—mostly, because we don’t all agree on what is boring. Lengthy battle scenes turn some readers off, long descriptions are dreaded by most, and I even ran across one reader […]
July 28, 2010 by 28 Comments CharactersHow Much Screen Time Should Your Give Your Antagonist’s POV?
With literature so rich in fascinating bad guys—everyone from Hannibal Lecter to Captain Hook—it’s important to consider how much time you should actually give your antagonist’s POV. Occasionally, there comes a story in which the antagonist is more interesting than the protagonist. However, as a general rule, it’s accepted, and even expected, that the antagonist will […]
June 16, 2010 by 40 Comments DialogueInfo Dumps Don’t Belong in Dialogue
Dialogue is such a handy little technique that we sometimes try to force it to carry more of a load than it should. One of the loads dialogue should never have to bear is the weight of info dumps. When characters start telling each other things they already know, just to keep the poor ignorant […]
December 14, 2009 by 10 Comments NarrativeWhat Every Writer Needs to Know About Finding Your Writing Voice
Voice is one of the most ambiguous, confusing, and highly sought after elements of writing. “How do go about finding your voice?” is a common question of young writers. It’s one even experienced authors aren’t always quite sure how to answer. Everyone seems to have his own opinion on just what voice is. Is it our […]
