Plotting Against Your Characters
“What’s the worst thing I can do to this character?” It seems like a terrible question to ask, but it might be the one that takes your story to the next level.
“What’s the worst thing I can do to this character?” It seems like a terrible question to ask, but it might be the one that takes your story to the next level.
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some writers hesitate to talk about plot because they believe it equates to preplanning their stories. For the organic or seat-of-the-pants writer, pre-planning simply doesn’t work for the way story unfolds in…
You have to know the rules about structure to make informed choices when writing your story. Use this outline from Kristin Wolden Nitz as a starting point.
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > One of the hardest parts of creating a strong plot that grabs the reader is knowing where to start. If you start too soon, you risk boring the reader with a lot…
Before you plunge into writing the first chapter or outlining the plot, consider taking some time to put your basic premise through a stress test.
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Many writers struggle early in their writing journal when they try to sort out the difference between plot and theme. In fact, the two work in tandem to create a story but…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Because many of the books I write are created based on specs crafted by the publisher, I sometimes have to write about places I’ve never visited. This can make it difficult to…
What is a Worldbuilding Bible? Do you need one? Find out all the answers in part 4 of our Worldbuilding writing series from Kristin J. Dawson.
In part 3 of our Worldbuilding series, discover 9 mistakes to avoid as you build and populate the world of your novel. Don’t miss these valuable tips!
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > For movies and television shows, a huge amount of time is put into set dressing, adding all the tiny details that make the world you see on the screen feel real. Set…
Welcome to part 2 of our Worldbuilding series where dig even deeper into your new world and what it should include and what you can leave out.
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Worldbuilding isn’t just for fantasy writers. Every character lives somewhere and travels through the world. When you think about the floor plan for a character’s home or school, you’re worldbuilding. When you…
Worldbuilding is usually associated with speculative fiction writers, but even historical, memoir, and romance authors must create a world for their characters.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > My hands are cracking from washing them so often these days. Yours too? How about, in addition to tending to your hands with soap and water, writing a poem to and for and about them, those prehensile and…
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The architect Suchi Reddy said, “We build our lives from our bodies. Then we build the next layer and the next layer—our home, our towns, our cities, our villages, our world.” Do you see your body that way,…
Poetry has an intense flavor that prose generally doesn’t manage, and that intensity can make poetry valuable for a number of reasons in your writing.
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > List poems have an off-hand quality, as though they’re not even poems but casual jottings like a grocery or birthday list. That makes them particularly accessible and welcoming for readers to enter, and their unassuming quality keeps them…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Poetry, like any art form, is improved with practice. The more you do it, the better you’ll become at it. But there is something very special about poetry: the more you practice…