How To Start A Story
When you first start writing your story, and you're introducing your characters, it can be easy to feel stalled. There will be lots of world to explore and lots of…
Why Your Story Needs Foreshadowing And How To Write It
Foreshadowing is the technique of hinting to your audience where your story is going, without actually telling them. It works to make your story flow and feel planned and prepared,…
Top Reasons To Kill Your Character’s Parents
If you want to write books for children or young adults, killing your character's parents is a common trope you might want to replicate. I'm writing about why it happens,…
How To Write Entertaining World Building
World Building is the technique of telling your readers what world your story is set in, whether the laws of nature match ours, whether there is magical lore they need…
How To Write Likeable Characters
Your Protagonist, the main character, of your story usually need to be likeable. I say usually, because having a Protagonist who is unlikeable happens occasionally and it can work, but…
How To Write A Conflict Lock
One of the key ingredients to a successful story is for your characters to be well motivated. Your Protagonist, your main character, wants something and is motivated enough to after…
How To Track Your Continuity
Your story "continuity" is making sure that from one scene to another, nothing changes about the people or the environment they're in, that wasn't intended to change and tracked by…
Top Reasons To Stop Writing Gender Stereotypes Into Your Story Now
I've written before about how powerful fiction is, and how we can use our stories to do good in the world. Today I'm writing specifically about how we can use…
How To Write A Good Prose To Dialogue Ratio?
If your book is too dialogue heavy, it can read like a script. You don't get to know the environment your characters are in, or connect with their interiority in…
How To Successfully Write Death And Resurrection
The resurrection of characters that have died can be a dramatic game changer that enhances your story, however, if used too easily and without careful construction, it can have the…
How To Write Characters Transitioning From Enemies To Friends Or Lovers
Characters that start out as enemies, and through the course of the story turn into friends or lovers is quite a popular trope, and because it's popular it's used a…
Make Your Character Motivation Understandable So Your Story Makes Sense
I've written before about how your Protagonist and your Antagonist both have to be motivated to go after what it is they want, but it's important to remember that your…
How To Stop Coincidences From Ruining Your Story
A coincidence in a story is an event that happens that has no foreshadowing and no intent, it wasn't something the character looked for or is a consequence of previous…
How To Create A Feeling Of Suspense In Your Story
If you are writing a scary story, or a thriller or a mystery, suspense is one of the key things you need to make your story appealing to your audience.…
How To Use Time-Locks To Write High Stakes Drama
A "time-lock" is best to use in your story when you've established who your Protagonist and Antagonist are, you've pitted them against each other, but your story lacks pressure and…