Write well. Write often. Edit wisely.
Plot, one of the most important elements of fiction, is all about what happens to characters. Plot is concerned with story events and character reaction to those events. A look at plot basics.
Old-West lawmen had codes that governed their behaviors. Your characters should have codes as well. Codes that dictate what they’ll do and codes that you’ll make them break as you as raise the stakes in their stories. Explore the character’s code and options for breaking it or holding tight to its standards.
The use of subtext can add depth to and increase conflict in your fiction. Check out the uses of subtext, the hidden element of fiction.
The wrong viewpoint character could send your story in the wrong direction; the right viewpoint character could make your story. Learn what you should consider in choosing viewpoint characters.
Continue reading Viewpoint Character and the Need to Choose Wisely »
Fiction characters both on screen and on the page require lives of volatility and change and conflict. They need anything but peace. They need events intruding and messing up their plans. They need other characters to challenge them, to put obstacles in their paths. They need confrontation and trials. And they need to take risks.
Fiction can become real for readers. A look at how The Princess Bride combined narration with showing and captured not only a little boy’s attention, but the attention of a wide audience.
Continue reading The Princess Bride—Storytelling Done Right »
Writers only have a few pages to ensnare readers. Learn why yawns and a description of the weather are not effective story hooks.
An ending that doesn’t pay off for the reader, that doesn’t meet genre expectation or satisfy reader anticipation, is a problem ending. A bad ending can turn off readers. Deliver a payoff instead of an ending that disappoints.
Because they’re so simple, so common, we overlook some words when we write. Instead, an examination of such words could easily ramp up our writing. The word “it” is one such word. Understand the reasons for reducing the overuse of “it.”
Lyricism and poetry can change the common into the extraordinary. Explore ways of adding a dash of poetry to your fiction.
Continue reading Add Poetry to Your Prose—Write with Flair »
The reader will focus on what stands out. Turn the reader's attention where you want it to go.
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Write well. Write often. Edit wisely.
