Interested in writing a story with a spiral structure? Learn what makes one successful.
The perceived freedom of the spiral structure is what attracts many writers. But as Jane Alison reveals, rule following leads to a successful one.
Drafting and Revision Strategies
The role anxiety plays in our lives and how to show it in your book
There are two ways we cope with anxiety—worry and avoidance. Your job is to figure out how you’ll reveal this in your manuscript.
To move your story forward, think about oppositions.
Often, change happens in opposition. When we understand the things working in opposition in our stories, we can use them to maintain our story’s tension.
Create symmetrical scenes to strengthen your story arc.
Jane Alison encourages us to envision our writing not as a tsunami of story, but instead as a series of smaller waves that propel your story arc forward.
Need a new character development technique? Consider the Big Five Personality Test.
When building our characters we sometimes hack away at attributes, hoping to unearth something that will engage readers. Instead, do this.
Want to build great characters? These four qualities are essential.
So much of character development is about the push and pull between what our characters want and their biggest flaws.
To create a strong opening, identify your SUCK.
Strong beginnings have common attributes that can be boiled down to one word–they all SUCK.
To crush your first draft, you’ll need these skills.
Baking a pie while blindfolded is a lot like writing a first draft. It’s messy, and even when you’re not sure what you’re doing, you must trust the process.
To write well, you must commit to multiple drafts. Allison K. William’s new book Seven Drafts will show you how to capitalize on each one.
For the past six months, I’ve told you and every writer I know to buy Allison’s new book Seven Drafts. Now you finally can.
All stories contain a certain architecture. To understand your story, learn how to “beat it out.”
In Save the Cat! Blake Snyder discusses the three-act structure and shares his invaluable beat sheet where he maps out the moments every story needs.
Heroes are only as strong as their urges. Learn what can make a good protagonist great.
A market-tested logline proves you have a story, but the hero is what makes the story work better. Once you know who this person is, go primal.
Too Much Plot or Character Arc? Rebalance Your Writing by Doing This.
Great stories swing from both poles. Focus too much on plot, and your story will feel superficial. Hang everything on the inward journey, and we’ll wonder what’s causing your character’s turmoil.
Using Donald Maass’s Inner, Outer, and Other Modes Will Help You Crack the Code on Writing about Emotions
Donald Maass says, “Action is an opportunity for us to feel something, not a cause of feeling something.”
Two Ways to Strengthen the Cause-and-Effect Chain in Your Manuscript
To develop an invisible magnetic river you need a strong narrative arc, a powerful universal, and a continuous cause-and-effect chain that runs through your manuscript.
The Three Kinds of Clay Needed to Sustain a Writing Practice
Of course, we need to amass words on the page, but what other resources must we stockpile? How do they help us shape the material we gather into something beautiful?
Dialogue Lab Two: The Power of Subtext
Great dialogue contains two messages–the one shared through direct dialogue and the unspoken or hidden message revealed through characters’ body language and facial expressions. We call that unspoken message subtext.
Dialogue Lab One: Dialect versus Diction
Dialogue is the lifeblood of any scene. When executed effectively, it catapults the reader into the heart of a story.
Four Backstory Traps and How to Escape Them
There are four backstory traps writers frequently fall into. Understanding them will help you escape them.
Seven Steps for Managing Feedback on Your Work in Progress
Receiving feedback can feel exhilarating. But as we prepare for revision, most writers wrestle with the same question: where do I begin?
Heart Speak, The Writing Advice Column # 4: Escaping the Forest of Endless Revision
I’m currently in the forest of revision times infinity. Can you help me find a way out?