“A Leap of Faith” in Fiction and in Life
Near the end of a story the protagonist often takes “a leap of faith.” How can we make our protagonist’s leap feel earned and strengthen our story’s theme?
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Can Common Writing Advice Be Wrong?
There’s no “one right way” in writing, so how should we approach writing advice if even the most frequently shared advice is often wrong?
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Story Tropes: Making Them Resonate
Tropes are often seen as lazy writing, but they can be good for our story. How can we make tropes meaningful and not cliché?
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What’s the Right Way to Include Multiple POVs? — Guest: Kassandra Lamb
Some stories benefit from multiple points of view, but only if we follow a few do’s and don’ts. Here’s how to write multiple POVs right.
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Character Descriptions: Avoiding the Boring Stuff — Guest: Angela Ackerman
Character descriptions are often necessary in a story, but can be boring. Here’s Angela Ackerman’s 7 tips for how we can keep our character descriptions from slowing our story.
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Do Our Stories Need More Conflict?
Out in the world, conflict is usually considered a bad thing, but our stories need it. How much conflict does our story need and how can we add more?
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Story and Character Goals: Can There Be Too Many?
There are many types of goals we have to juggle when writing, and conflict between our storytelling goals can make that juggling act more difficult.
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What Does “Plot Reveals Character” Mean?
We might have heard that the purpose of the plot is to reveal character. What does that mean and how can understanding it help our storytelling?
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Conflicts and Goals: How Do They Work in Romance?
In talking about active vs. passive goals, the concept gets even more complicated if we’re writing multiple-protagonist stories like romance.
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Can Passive Goals Ever Be Good for Our Story?
Our characters don’t want to change, so they often start with passive internal goals. How we can make those passive goals work for us and our story?
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