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As we get back to our projects, novelists always face the same dilemma: How much should my character “lose” in the story? Writing Tip for Today: Let’s examine some ways that making your character lose is a winning strategy. Your Alter Ego Many of us give our characters the qualities we ourselves have or wish […]
Whether you write memoir, fiction or nonfiction, you need anecdotes and scenes to illustrate your point. How can you know which moment is the right one to depict? Writing Tip for Today: Here are some tips to help you choose compelling moments to illustrate: Gabrielle Rico The Gabrielle Rico method helps you to pinpoint a […]
Last post, we discussed how creating a passionate character helps readers engage. Today, we’ll talk about how conflict helps your characters move through their passions to achieve a goal. Writing Tip for Today: What are some ways to increase conflict in your characters? Pros and Cons If we call our character the protagonist, it […]
Writing conflict into your fiction may sound as simple as adding tension. Yet conflict and tension are not the same thing. Writing Tip for Today: How do conflict and tension differ, and how can we write better conflict into our stories? Conflict v. Tension Tension keeps readers wondering what will happens next. It’s that sense […]
Whether you’re writing fiction, memoir or nonfiction, your piece or book must tell a story. In nonfiction it might be a story about giving readers info or insights. In fiction and memoir, the story must have certain elements to succeed. Writing Tip for Today: Here are three story must-haves: The Arc In writing, we call […]
Writing fiction? You’ve no doubt heard that our fiction is usually autobiographical in some way. But those bits from real life must work for your story, not against it. Writing Tip for Today: Here are some tips for keeping those autobiographical bits helping, not hindering your fiction: Scene and Summary One of the fastest ways […]
When writing fiction, conflict is often at the top of the must-do list. Conflict makes us think of action: the bad guy chasing, the hero fighting his way out of a jam. Yet a quieter kind of conflict can create more tension that a space war scene. Writing Tip for Today: How can creating emotional […]
You craft your story or novel, paying special attention to developing your character. While this is great, the bottom line in fiction and memoir is that character does not drive a story. Conflict drives a story. Writing tip for Today: Let’s take a look at dramatic tension in fiction or memoir: What is Dramatic Tension? […]
Unforgettable stories and characters must be more than some quirky or autobiographical details. If you give your lead character the right kind of conflict, readers will stay glued to the page. Writing Tip for Today: Not all fictional conflict is created equal. Here are some tips for writing effective conflict: So What? In fiction we […]
Rewriting your scenes will require attention to each chapter’s ending scene. At the end of every chapter, you need your readers to turn the page. Reader engagement will be higher if your last scene in a chapter pulls readers to the next chapter. Writing Tip for Today: Let’s examine a few ways you can improve […]