Beyond mere backdrop, story settings are what allow authors to orchestrate meaningful connections among characters. Settings should serve as more than just scenery. They should provide characters with compelling reasons to share the stage with one another. Accomplishing this in a story requires understanding how to strategically choose story settings as meeting grounds that amplify […]
March 18, 2024 by 18 Comments Beginning Your BookChecklist for Beginning Your Story: Introducing Your Characters
Hello, everyone, and welcome! Today, we’re going to be talking about beginnings and specifically about how to introduce your characters in the beginning of your story, how to hook readers with your character, and how to set up all the important parts of your character’s development and arc that will happen in the rest of […]
May 30, 2022 by 31 Comments Beginning Your BookUnderstanding the Normal World of a Story’s First Act
No matter their genre or focus, stories are about something happening—a shift in the status quo. Where the characters begin is not where they end. This may refer to their literal physical surroundings, or to a more metaphorical state of being—or, very possibly, to both. Whatever the case, it is important for authors to understand […]
January 2, 2017 by 89 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 55: Beginning Your Story Too Late
Story beginnings are fraught with important decisions. But perhaps none of those decisions is more important than the question of when to begin your story. Too early or too late—either one can prevent readers from engaging with the story and obsessively reading on to find out what happens. Perhaps the more common mistake is beginning your story […]
June 14, 2015 by 106 Comments Structuring Your NovelNever Confuse the Key Event and the First Plot Point in Your Book Again!
Maybe you’ve heard of the Key Event as part of story structure. Maybe you haven’t. If you haven’t, then you just might belong to the less confused of the two parties. One of the questions I get most often about the Key Event is: What the heck is it?! The first time I heard about the […]
July 13, 2014 by 100 Comments CharactersHow to Write a Negative Character Arc, Pt. 1: The First Act
Who in heaven’s name would want to write a negative character arc? Well, how about Shakespeare, Dostoevksy, Faulkner, and Flaubert? Just to name a few small-time wordsmiths you may have heard tell of. Everybody likes a happy ending, but, let’s face it, not all stories have happy endings. Negative change arcs won’t give readers the warm […]
March 16, 2014 by 65 Comments CharactersCreating Stunning Character Arcs, Pt. 6: The Normal World
Who wants to read about a boring old Normal World? The Lost World? Sure! The Exciting, Unusual, Exotic, and Absolutely Thrilling World? You betcha. But the Normal World? Isn’t that a pretty lame way to begin a story? Nope. Not if you want your character’s change arc to make sense, it isn’t. Last week, we learned […]
September 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment Structuring Your Novel5 Misconceptions About Your Story’s Normal World
Today, I’m guest posting on Kristen Lamb’s blog, with a post on “5 Misconceptions About Your Story’s Normal World.” Here’s an excerpt: Writers sometime balk at the idea of beginning with the story’s Normal World. Isn’t that kind of starting before the story? Won’t readers be bored if they have to wade through all that […]
January 18, 2013 by 19 Comments Structuring Your Novel5 Elements of Story Structure
A few years ago, on the West Side of Manhattan, a rusting hulk of elevated railroad tracks metamorphosed into a promenade called High Line Park. Its transformation soon turned the Meatpacking District, through which it passes, into one of the hottest neighborhoods in New York. If you go visit the park, you’ll see a relatively new hotel called The Standard, […]
October 27, 2010 by 16 Comments Beginning Your BookThe Best Way to Make Use of Your Story’s Normal World
Writers can’t afford to waste readers’ time or test their patience by meandering about in their opening scenes. At first glance, this would seem to mean you have to get right to the point of the story. You might feel compelled to open your story right at the moment when your character’s world is changed […]
