Writers have many options for ways to get their words seen by the world. They can write novels, short stories, novellas, articles, etc. One of those outlets is serial fiction. While some newspapers and magazines still publish serials, most serial fiction is published online. Let’s look at serials and how Read more…
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 are, the main types, and how to use them effectively 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 outlines ready. The problem wasn’t that they didn’t have ideas, 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 reveal or a twist, and how do writers pull them 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 going to face trials, and that will undoubtedly lead to 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 readers feel like they experience the world as if the 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 of the Selling Writer. Today I want to elaborate on 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 first found the tip and wrote it down. Unfortunately, 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 inciting incident happens around the 10% mark of the book. Read more…
Most people agree that stories are created with three key elements: character, setting, and plot. While there are endless resources on character and setting (worldbuilding), I’ve found that most sources skim over plot. I know, you’re probably saying, “But you did a whole bunch of posts on plot with the Read more…