How To Write A Redemption Arc
When you arc a character, you take them from one mental state to another, and you let your audience in on that journey. This could be from weak to strong,…
How To Write Magical Schools In Urban Fantasy
Urban fantasy is a genre where fantasy creations, such as witches and monsters, exist within our normal mundane world. Sometimes these magical creatures are known about, such as in The…
How To Follow Your Story Not Your Plot
Planning your story well can make the writing process easier. You won't wander off on side adventures or get muddled as you build to the climax because you've already decided…
How To Use The Advice Of Write Drunk And Edit Sober
If you've been exploring different kinds of writing advice, you'll no doubt have come across the advice to write drunk and edit sober. It's given regularly, and often in a…
How To Write A Successful Protagonist Partnership
On The Table Read, “The Best Book Reader Magazine in the UK“, author JJ Barnes describes what a Protagonist Partnership is, what they do for your story, and how to…
Top Ways To Build An Emotional Bond With Your Audience
On The Table Read, “The Best Book Reader Magazine in the UK“, author JJ Barnes shares her tips for how to build an emotional bond with your audience so they…
Top Reasons Why Your Audience Will Love A Character Who Will Risk It All
To make sure your audience is fully invested in seeing if your Protagonist gets what they want, you need to show them why it matters. In this piece, I'll explain…
Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Write An Expert Protagonist
Your Protagonist is the main person in your story. You will spend the majority of the time riding on their shoulders and seeing events through their eyes. In this post…
How To Control Your Story Pace
The pace of your story is how quickly it moves from one plot point to another, and is controlled by the details between the plot points. A slower paced story…
Reasons Why Moral Purity Can Break Your Characters
To keep your audience caring about your Protagonist, the temptation will be to make them morally pure. I'll be talking you through moral purity, and alternatives that might work better.
How To Write A Dystopian Story
Dystopian fiction deals with a future where the world has been changed, and not for the better. They are entertaining because they're high drama, and they're important because they can…
Why Killing Henchmen Can Make Your Hero Unlikeable
The problem with henchmen is that if you're writing a hero who is intended to be morally pure, you can't have just slaughter the henchmen. I'll be talking about the…
How To Write Perspective Hopping
When you're writing your story, it's a good idea to write from the perspective of one of the characters. It allows your story to feel more real and personal to…
How To Write Cosmic Narcissism
The belief that in a Universe so huge, so vast and undiscovered, that some huge power would choose to change and shape the world to tell your story is cosmic…
How To Write A Conflict Engine For An Episodic Story
For a successful series, you need more than just the long form conflict. Something needs to happen each episode to tell a short mini story, a mini conflict. For this,…