Creating scene structure is a key writing skill. Great scenes go a long way toward great storytelling; weak scenes result in weak storytelling. Unfortunately, many writers often struggle with vague, sometimes contradictory approaches to writing scenes. A scene should be a complete narrative unit. It should involve a relatively small number of primary characters—except when […]
February 3, 2020 by 33 Comments Structuring Your Novel6 Steps to Create Realistic (and Powerful) Scene Dilemmas
Scenes are the building blocks of your story. As go your scenes, so goes your story. If the scenes present a solid chain of deliberate structure, that’s what your story will be. But if too many scenes lack focus or dramatic impetus, so will the story. Every aspect of scene structure is important. Any aspect […]
October 14, 2019 by 53 Comments Plotting Your NovelThis Is How to Transform Info Dumps Into Exciting Plot Reveals
Clues, mysteries, plot reveals, and plot twists—these are some of a writer’s stock tricks for hooking readers page after page. But as important as these tricks are, when they’re asked to bear the load of being the main attraction for readers, they too often turn into boring info dumps. Imagine you’re reading a story in […]
February 4, 2019 by 122 Comments Point of View10 Advantages of Writing a Single-POV Story (What I Learned Writing Wayfarer)
Multiple-POV story versus single-POV story? Which is the right choice for you? The answer depends on many factors, since every story is different. Knowing which approach to POV to choose isn’t difficult once you know how to choose. My just-released historical-superhero/gaslamp-fantasy novel Wayfarer was the first ever single-POV story I’ve written. For years now, I’ve consistently been minimizing the […]
November 19, 2018 by 73 Comments Structuring Your NovelHow to Choose Your Story’s Plot Points
You’ve got a story, and you’ve got characters who are doing stuff in that story. That means you’ve got a plot. But how do you know if you’ve got your characters doing the right stuff at the right time? At first glance, this seems intuitive. Story is (or should be) a chain of causes and effects. Something […]
October 29, 2018 by 103 Comments Plotting Your Novel5 Lessons From a Lost Novel
Mistakes are unavoidable. To fear them is to fear life itself. To try to eliminate them is to waste life in a futile struggle against reality. I daresay no one has more opportunities to learn these truths than does a writer. As writers, our lives are a never-ending litany of mistakes. Certainly mine has been […]
October 1, 2018 by 48 Comments Structuring Your NovelStory Structure Q&A: 6 Outstanding Questions About Structure
Being a good writer is all about being a good learner—having a wide-open mind that’s always looking for the next question. I think you guys must all be good writers, because you know how to ask some good questions! Today, I want to share a story structure Q&A, featuring six thought-provoking emails I’ve received. Story structure […]
September 3, 2018 by 77 Comments Writing LifeDo You Have Sloppy Writing Habits? (And 4 Things to Do About It)
The question I want to ask today is whether sloppy writing habits are a deterrent to success, a natural and unavoidable part of the creative process, both, or neither. I’ve never met the writer (myself included) who didn’t suffer from sloppy writing habits. These habits fall into a number of categories—everything from sloppy handwriting to […]
February 12, 2018 by 52 Comments ThemeCohesion and Resonance! Cohesion and Resonance! Cohesion and Resonance!
So many pieces have to come together to create skillful fiction that it’s almost disingenuous to suggest there are only one or two that make or break the story. But turns out: it’s true. And if my marquee-style post title wasn’t enough to give it away, let me spell it out: for a story to work, […]
October 30, 2017 by 45 Comments Writer's HelpThe Great Novel-Writing Checklist (Just in Time for NaNoWriMo!)
I adore lists. They bring order to the chaos of my brain and allow me to rest in the knowledge that even if I don’t remember everything I have to do, the list remembers [spoken in an epic Jeremy Irons bass]. This is why today I’m going to share you with you my ultimate novel-writing checklist—and […]
