How to pick character names
Navigating unintended comedy, using the power of nicknames, and seeking revenge on your enemies.
Writing craft
The 8-step character sketch — creating your story’s characters without getting lost
A step-by-step guide to sketching the people in your stories.
This scene’s action-reaction sequence makes it thrilling
How does cause and effect — or action and reaction — create page-turning fiction?
Write scenes that hook readers
Want to start writing a scene but don’t know where to start? This simple tip has helped me.
How to write endings that don’t suck — tangible techniques for a satisfying denouement
From mirroring to moralizing.
How the story catalyst blows up the ordinary world
What is the story catalyst? The catalyst is one of the most important moments in a traditional story. Also called the inciting incident, character opportunity, call to adventure, story event, or trigger, it’s the event in the main character’s life that pushes them into action. Importantly, it’s never happened to the main character before, and …
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When to show and when to tell — and give your reader autonomy
What’s the most common piece of feedback on fiction manuscripts, especially early drafts? It might be this: Show, don’t tell. Often writers apply telling when they should be showing. The result is that readers become bored with lack of engagement (more on engagement later). But it also often happens that writers show when they ought …
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How to pick a story’s point of view
Picking a point-of-view (POV) might be the most important decision for a story. You may default to first-person or third-person limited. After all, they are the POVs you most often see in fiction and maybe those are the ones you’re most comfortable with as a writer. Still, you need to understand the effect that all …
How to read like a writer (step 1 to becoming a master storyteller)
I’m often shocked to hear some novice writers say that they don’t read much. I heard this on Reddit recently (I’m paraphrasing): I want to be a writer, but I don’t like to read books — I prefer to play video games. Many video games can reveal storytelling technique. The same goes for screenplays and …
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