Tag: generating dramatic tension

Secret-Keepers: Generate Page-Turning, Nerve-Shredding Tension

secret-keepers, lies, fiction, Kristen Lamb, writing tips

Secret-keepers have what it takes to be legendary storytellers. Stories aren’t solely about pretty writing, glorious description, or witty banter. Excellent stories are about one thing and one thing only….CONFLICT. Want to know the secret ingredient that turns responsible adult readers into reckless maniacs willing to stay up until DAWN to finish a book…on a …

Continue reading

Embrace the Inner Psychopath: Great Authors Will Even Kill Christmas

Embrace the inner psychopath. If I could only teach ONE ‘trick’ for writing great stories, it would be this: The moral codes that make us excellent citizens make us terrible writers. We have to remember the rules change when dealing in the realms of imagination. Fiction is NOT life, rather it is an imitation of life. …

Continue reading

Lies & Secrets—The Lifeblood of Great Fiction

It’s tempting for us to create “perfect” protagonists and “pure evil” antagonists, but that’s the stuff of cartoons, not great fiction. Every strength has an array of corresponding weaknesses, and when we understand these soft spots, generating conflict becomes easier. Understanding character arc becomes simpler. Plotting will fall into place with far less effort. All …

Continue reading

The Truly Dramatic Plot—Shakespeare, Instagram, & Why Macbeth is STILL Awesome

I love to think of myself as an author, blogger, warrior princess in my own mind and? TALENT SCOUT! I also love collecting talented people, which recently my attorneys informed me this is technically called “kidnapping” and is a “felony.”

Generating Page-Turning Momentum—Characters & The Wound

Wounds drive how we perceive our world, what we believe we want, and how we will (or won’t) interact with others. This is critical for generating story tension and character arc.