Mastodon
Close

cause and effect

How Do Pantsers Develop Characters?

Lens refracting a face in multiple images with text: Discovering Our Characters

Plotters might find any kind of pantsing hard to understand, but even pantsers can struggle with pantsing our characters’ development, as that process comes with a different set of problems from developing our plots.

Pin It

January 29, 2019

Read More

Make Characters Unique with Layering

Poster for Spider-Verse movie with text: Making Our Characters Unique

Somewhere along our learning curve as writers, we’re likely to come across the skill of layering. Layering can help us create unique characters, no matter how stereotypical or tropey they might be on the surface.

Pin It

January 10, 2019

Read More

How to Save a Broken Story

Scattered pieces of a watch with text: How Can We Fix a Broken Story?

A truly broken story is one where the pieces of the story don’t come together in a coherent whole. But if we’re willing to put in the work, virtually any story can be saved. Then question then is: What steps should we take to fix a broken story?

Pin It

September 27, 2018

Read More

What Does It Mean to Create Layered Characters?

Slice of onion with text: Revealing Layers of Our Characters

In the writing world, we’ve probably heard the advice to create layers in our stories and characters. But the word layers can refer to many different aspects of writing, so let’s take a deeper look at one aspect of layering: character layers.

Pin It

September 4, 2018

Read More

Showing vs. Telling: The Power of Context

Man's head down on a table with text: Sleepy? Or Depressed? Showing Needs Context

The implication of the advice to “show, don’t tell” is that showing is “better” than telling when our story actually needs both. Let’s explore what “show, don’t tell” really means when it comes to storytelling.

Pin It

August 16, 2018

Read More

Thursday Thoughts: How to Find & Fix Plot Holes

A post by Claire Bradshaw over at Writer’s Edit ties in with our recent topic of plot holes, which can sneak into our character development and worldbuilding. Claire shares tips for finding all types of plot holes, as well as a step-by-step process for how to fix any we find.

Pin It

June 14, 2018

Read More