Today I want to talk about promises and payoffs in a story. I’ve talked around these concepts a few times, but I realized I haven’t actually dug into them by themselves. So, we’re going to discuss what promises and payoffs Read more…
I did a post a while back on the truth about writer’s block, the mental block when writers don’t know what to write. Recently, I was talking with some writers about being stuck and not writing, even though they had Read more…
There are two ways to get in front of agents and editors about your book: a query or a pitch. I’ve already discussed query letters so today we’re going to focus on pitches. Let’s start with what a pitch entails, Read more…
Some terms I got mixed up when I first started studying writing were the phrases plot reveal and plot twist. They both mean new information is given, and they generally shock or awe the audience. But what exactly is a Read more…
It’s time for another post in my Character Under a Microscope series where I discuss the nitty gritty details of character development. Today, I want to focus in on something that everyone experiences—stress! In a good story, your characters are Read more…
Throughout the last few years, I kept hearing the about Deep Point of View, otherwise called Immersive POV. This has nothing to do with first, second, or third person pronouns in your narration. It’s the idea that you write so Read more…
I recently had the opportunity to be on a podcast (more about that at the end). Now, I’m a typical introverted writer who doesn’t talk much so I did a massive amount of research on how to be a good Read more…
A while back I wrote a post on the two functions of scenes: action and reaction. Since writing that post, I found the origin on this concept called Scene-Sequel. It was developed by Dwight V. Swain in his book Techniques Read more…
The other day, I was flipping through one of my notebooks where I’ve written down author tips. I came across a page that made me stop and go, “Wow, this is awesome!” Which is probably what I thought when I Read more…
After I changed your thinking about plot last week by stating it is NOT story structure, I want to discuss how to merge the two. Plot isn’t like story structures where you know basically where things should happen, like the Read more…