People say setting, character, and plot are the three main aspects of stories, but I want to point out the ugly stepsister in the corner. Exposition. It gets a bad reputation in the writing world, and that’s because most don’t do it the right. Exposition is the explanations inserted into Read more
The basic triad of writing a tale is setting, character, and plot. Without all of these you cannot write a complete story. The point is to transport readers to another world and make them fall in love with it. Each part of the triad has a job to fulfill so Read more
Already we’ve covered character voice and narrator voice, and now it’s time for the last post of the series—writer’s voice. This is the voice that is woven throughout your entire collection of writings. It’s the voice that publishers and agents are mentioning when they say they want a writer with Read more
Last week I went over creating distinct character voices for your story, and now we will look at narrator voice. This one is not often addressed since it can be a combination of character voice and writer voice, but there are many facets to it that I think deserve attention. Read more
If I had to name one topic about writing that is the most mentioned and the least quantifiable, it’s voice. Publishers want a unique writer voice. Agents look for distinct character voices. Readers dislike reading abrasive narrator voices. On an on, everyone talks about voice; however, very few people can Read more
Guess what? It’s time to hit on my favorite topic again. Conflict! I’ve already covered types of conflict such as man verses man, man verses nature, etc. This post is going to cover the idea of layering conflict. Life is not simple. Every day we play multiple roles in society Read more
I’m working on editing my manuscript, and part of that is eliminating excess words. These fluff words can usually be deleted or replaced with fewer but more descriptive words. By eliminating them, you cut down your word count and make the text clearer. Below is a list of words I Read more
Fight scenes are something a lot of authors struggle with in their books. Most of us are not professional fighters, but the good new is you don’t have to be to write a good fight scene. The best fights have a few action sequences sandwiched between sensory details and internal Read more
In most books, someone dies. Unfortunately, it’s usually obvious who will be the victim. Authors know they need to have some sort of death in their stories, but they may not put a lot of effort into developing that death. It may sound odd, but there is an art to Read more
I recently finished reading a fabulous book and was left with a mind-blowing question about the writing. How did the author write a plot that ended so badly but left me feeling satisfied? There was no doubt that what could go wrong did go wrong in this book, but I Read more