Mastodon
Close

editing

The Most Important Question in Storytelling: “Why?”

Question mark on white background with text: Character Motivations: Give Me a "Why?"

A common problem—even in traditionally published books—is Missing Motivations. A character’s goal can feel irrelevant if readers don’t understand why they have that goal. Or a character might seem stupid or unlikable if readers don’t know why they’re acting a certain way.

Pin It

January 26, 2017

Read More

Help! What If I Can’t Find Beta Readers?

Magnifying glass over a blank page with text: Can't Find Beta Readers?

Every writer struggles to get their thoughts on the page and make their ideas make sense to others. The typical advice for how to resolve that issue is to use beta readers, but what if we can’t find beta readers? What can we do?

Pin It

January 17, 2017

Read More

How to Make Our Story Feel Meaningful

Three Sister mountain formation with text: Strengthening Our Story's Echoes

Story is different from plot, but sometimes we can have lots of plot ideas, and we might not be sure if—or how—we can pull those together into something that feels like a story. Let’s get some tips…

Pin It

January 12, 2017

Read More

Overwhelmed by a Huge Revision?

Apple on books with text: Deepen Your Craft with Resident Writing Coach Jami Gold (at Writers Helping Writers)

Many big-picture elements are related: A problem in one area of our story often weakens other areas. Luckily, if we understand those relationships, we’ll better see how fixing one aspect will strengthen the others, making our revisions easier and more efficient.

Pin It

December 13, 2016

Read More

5 Ways to Discover & Develop Our Voice

Microphone against a blank wall with text: Strengthening Your Voice

Many people have tried to identify what goes into creating our voice, but it’s a hard thing to define. We often just know it when we see it. Voice is personal—not just for writers, but also for readers. Yet we can identify—and strengthen—the 5 elements that go into our voice.

Pin It

December 8, 2016

Read More