Scene conflict is what keeps your story running, chapter after chapter, page after page. Conflict is the heart of each scene, and each of those scenes is one of the dozens of tiny engines keeping your plot moving forward—and your readers glued to the page. It’s helpful to think of scene conflict as not so much […]
February 13, 2017 by 70 Comments Structuring Your Novel8 Ways to Troubleshoot a Scene–and 5 Ways Make It Fabulous
So there I was: sitting at my desk, notebook in front of me—and absolutely no words staring back at me. The problem? I knew what needed to happen in this scene, but now that the time had come to write it, it seemed flat as a roadkill raccoon. It was clearly time to troubleshoot a […]
February 10, 2017 by 99 Comments Plotting Your NovelHow to Write a Story Without a Plot (and Why You Shouldn’t)
Can you write a story without a plot? Ultimately, that depends entirely on your definition of a story. There are quite a few people who would argue for plot-less variations, but I’m not one of them. When I talk about story, I’m talking about plot. Why? Because it’s the most intuitive entry point to a […]
January 9, 2017 by 50 Comments Plotting Your NovelTop 10 Ways to Rivet Readers with Plot Reveals
Today, I’m going to show you how to make stuff happen in your story. Duh, right? What could be easier? You put characters on the page, they dance around, stuff happens. Mission accomplished. Except if you’re not using plot reveals to execute all this happenin’ stuff, your readers may end up bored anyway. What are plot reveals? […]
December 12, 2016 by 75 Comments Structuring Your NovelA New Way to Think About Scene Structure
Stories live and die on their scene structure. A great plot—even a well-structured great plot—won’t be able to stand if its individual scenes are floundering with no clear sense of purpose and direction in the overall story. Dwight V. Swain engineered the classic approach to scene structure, which breaks down each scene into integers of […]
December 5, 2016 by 115 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes, Pt. 54: Story Events That Don’t Move the Plot
One of your chief jobs as a writer is to come up with story events—stuff that happens in your story. Coming up with these exciting elements is likely why you started writing in the first place. Like C.S. Lewis, you were zapped with the electrifying image of a faun carrying packages and an umbrella through the snow—and […]
November 28, 2016 by 56 Comments Outlining Your NovelHow to Write a Scene Outline You Can Use (How to Outline for NaNoWriMo, Pt. 9)
When most people ask “how to outline a novel,” what they’re really asking is “how to write a scene outline.” But here’s the thing: writing a good scene outline should be the last thing you do in your outlining process—which brings us to the ninth and final part in our two-month exploration of how to outline […]
September 26, 2016 by 95 Comments Chapter Breaks7 Questions You Have About Scenes vs. Chapters
A chapter is a chapter and a scene is a scene. Or are they? What’s the differences between scenes vs. chapters? Are they ever the same thing? Must a chapter always be a complete scene? Or must a scene always be a chapter? What about scene breaks and chapter breaks? Is there a difference? These […]
August 5, 2016 by 69 Comments Structuring Your NovelHow to Get the Most Out of Your Sequel Scenes
Part 8 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel Sometimes just the mention of “sequel scenes” makes writers cross their eyes. Isn’t a sequel, you know, a followup to your first book? What does it have to do with individual scenes? The answers to these questions are important, because the sequel makes up […]
June 3, 2016 by 42 Comments Plotting Your Novel3 Resources You Need to Unlock Fascinating Character Goals
Arguably, the single most important decision you can make in any story is that of character goals. What do your characters want and how will they go about trying to get it? This is the whole theory of story all in a nutshell. I receive many questions from writers who are struggling with plot problems. Easily […]
