The Three Act Structure is the concept that each story can be broken into three main parts: Act I, Act II, and Act III. In Act I, we see the characters in their normal lives. Act II is when something changes their status quo and they run into problem after Read more
One of the most common debates in the writing world is about pantsers verses plotters. Though these two types of writers are treated like an either/or option, it really is more of a sliding scale measurement for writing methods. Still, knowing which way you swing will help you with your Read more
One of the biggest struggles writers have with characters is portraying their emotions. It’s the issue of “show, don’t tell” again. While most writers get the hang of showing the character’s emotions rather than telling them, it can be hard to not repeat yourself. My goal for this post is Read more
Some writers start a book without knowing any of the details, and others have a meticulous outline of the story before they sit down to write. I fall somewhere in the middle. For my characters, I like to have some details preplanned. My reasoning for this is twofold. One, I Read more
There are two types of conflict in every story: internal and external. Both are necessary to make a good and relatable story, but usually a book will focus on one type of conflict over the others. Below is an explanation of each and examples for practical application. I know it Read more
Although writing on a typewriter or with a pen is still an option, the easiest way to write is on a computer program. Why am I pointing this out? Because even though it’s the easiest way, it still has its difficulties. There are three different programs I have heard writers Read more
When you’re developing characters, it’s important to make them relatable and believable—which means they must have weaknesses. Even superman, with his larger-than-life superpowers and upstanding character, has weaknesses. If he didn’t, people would get bored with his story really fast. There are two main categories for character weaknesses: flaws and Read more
Writing short stories is a great way to play around with your writing. You can try different genres, a new style, or just write something to take a break from your current novel. These stories can be submitted to contests or to anthologies or magazines for publication. Please note that Read more
We’ve covered first person and third person omniscient POVs; now it’s time for third person limited narration. This is narrating a story in third person but limiting it to only one perspective at a time. When you’re in a person’s viewpoint, you can only tell what that person sees, does, Read more
Last week we discussed first person POV, and this week we are going to focus on third person omniscient narration. This is when you narrate a story from an outside perspective as if you’re watching a play on stage. It’s a bit like playing god. You can jump to any Read more