Category: Writing Tips

How to Make Boring Story Parts Exciting

Your scene before and your scene after are sweat-inducing, ear-wringing, eye-popping pieces that keep your audience glued to the page. But this little scene in between…well, there is just absolutely nothing happening. It’s dull. Sleep-inducing. It would make a dog with rabies put on his pyjamas.

Can't Keep Up? 7 Brilliant Ways To Finish Your Story

Today we have a special treat from Dr John Yeoman, PhD Creative Writing. He’s going to give us some ways to tackle one of the biggest problems plaguing writers—the inability to finish what we start. *gets popcorn* Take it away, John! *** Do you live in a world of unfinished stories? Across the year, you’ve …

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Three Ways To Add the Sizzle to Fiction That's Fizzled

No protagonist can rise to become a hero by avoidance. Any plot that simply involves a character trying to stay away from something is only partway there.

Trouble With Your Plot? Three Reasons to Kill Your Little Darlings

As writers, we are at risk of falling in love with our own cleverness. The “cool” idea, the super amazing mind-blowing twist at the end. We get so caught up in how smart we are that we fail to see that we are our own worst enemy.

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 …

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