Conflict and tension can be difficult to create and maintain. You don’t need an all-powerful super villain to oppose your character, but you do need some sort of believable conflict […]
Plot
Anything having to do with your story’s plot
Cut to the Chase
Ever pick up what looks like a good read, only to drop it after the first couple of pages? You’ve probably encountered a weak opening – something even an experienced writer […]
Hillerman Convention: Day 1
Thursday is the Pre-Converence Conference. Today we learned The Anatomy of Engaging Stories (Bill O’Hanlon) Elements of an Engaging Story: Characters – must engage the reader; the reader must […]
Guest Post: Subject is Variable – Character is Everything
Today’s guest lecturer is Amanda Rosenblatt: When writing anything, whether it is an OpEd blog, a creative short story, or a fact sheet, the character put into the text is […]
Catch ‘Em Quick
Writing a catchy first paragraph is a must for every writer, but especially for fiction writers. If the reader isn’t hooked in the first paragraph, sometimes the first two or […]
What is a Scene?
Many writers, especially new writers, have trouble with scenes. They can picture the beginning of their story and the end, but what comes between gets a little hazy. The key […]
Plot or Character Driven?
Are you a plot-driven or character-driven writer? By this I mean what sorts of stories do you typically write? It all depends on what sorts of questions you ask. Do […]
Action: The Fight Scene
Writing an action scene isn’t as easy as it sounds sometimes. Take the fight scene, for example. It’s not enough to write “He punched the man in the face.” Your […]
Writing Good Action Scenes
Good actions scenes can be tricky. You want to show enough of the action to give a vivid image, but not get bogged down in description. To start with, you […]
Story/Character Arc
The arc of a story is the overall plot of the whole thing – from exposition to denouement. The character arc is how the character changes within that story. Your […]