I often talk about cohesion and resonance as being two of the most important qualities of great stories. Many factors are involved in achieving these effects, but one of the subtlest and yet most powerful is found within the structure of story itself. This is the hidden “circle” of story structure, in which all the important […]
August 6, 2018 by 67 Comments Theme4 Ways to Choose a Better Theme for Your Book
Part 20 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel Writers often have a complicated relationship with theme. We love it. It loves us back. But reaching a harmonious happily-ever-after with theme sometimes turns into as much of a soap opera as a long-running CW drama. Just writing a story that has a theme is […]
February 26, 2018 by 79 Comments ProseDon’t Write Scenes–Write Images
When you think about it, the transformative power of the written word is no less phenomenal than the technological miracles of computers, televisions, and smarts phones. Both are alchemy. Technology uses wires and circuits to turn code into the wonder of light and color. Writing does exactly the same thing. Little black squiggles on the […]
August 11, 2017 by 17 Comments Narrative10 Steps to Perfecting Your Writing Style
“I always have a point of view. It may not be right, but it’s my own.”—Baz Luhrmann Four years ago, I watched Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby on the big cinema screen. As the film ended after 143 minutes, a long silence settled over the auditorium. It was a silence I had never experienced before, almost a […]
July 1, 2015 by 43 Comments NarrativeWant to Level Up Your Fiction? Take the “Dramatic Irony” Challenge!
There’s good fiction and there’s good fiction. There are stories that get the job done and entertain readers. And then there are stories that take everything to a new level. Naturally, we’d all like our own stories to be part of that second category! And how do we do that? One of the subtlest ways […]
April 22, 2015 by 34 Comments DialogueAn Easy Way to Immediately Improve Your Character’s Action Beats
This week’s video shows you how to take your dialogue’s action beats upon a notch by focusing on symbolism and subtext. Video Transcript: A novel cannot live on dialogue alone. Dialogue may be the most fun part to write; it may be the most fun part to read. But you can’t build a whole story […]
August 21, 2014 by 3 Comments NarrativeWeather—It’s What Stories Are Really All About
Today, I’m guest posting over on The Writer’s Alley, with the post “Weather–It’s What Stories Are Really All About.” Here’s an excerpt: When I think of weather in stories, I inevitably think of the Peanuts comic strip with Snoopy chugging along at his typewriter, wringing out his famous opening line, “It was a dark and stormy […]
July 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment NarrativeYour Scene’s Not Working? Maybe the Lighting Is Wrong
Today, I’m guest posting over on The Write Conversation, with the post “Your Scene’s Not Working? Maybe the Lighting Is Wrong?.” Here’s an excerpt: Of all the many story aspects authors have to keep track of, why in heaven’s name should lighting be up there at the top of our list? That’s something movie directors have […]
July 28, 2014 by Leave a Comment Theme5 Important Ways to Use Symbolism in Your Story
Today, I’m guest posting over on Storyfix, with the post “5 Important Ways to Use Symbolism in Your Story.” Here’s an excerpt: Symbolism can sometimes be a tough concept for authors to get their heads around. How do we come up with the right symbols in the first place? What should they be symbolic of? And how do […]
June 6, 2014 by 40 Comments Writer's Help5 Basic Literary Devices That Will Deepen Your Fiction
We all know the basic elements of stories. First you have your characters, then you have places for those characters to go, and then you have things for the characters to do. Now let’s take a deeper look. How can you add depth to your characters, settings, and events? The answer is simple: develop literary […]
