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What’s the Difference between Plot and Story?

Man walking through a desert with text: How is Plot Different from Story?

When we first start off as writers, if someone asks us about our story, we might launch into an overview of our story’s plot. It’s easy to think the plot is what our story is about. But with few exceptions, story isn’t the same as plot.

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May 3, 2016

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What Goes into Building a Movie in Our Mind?

Movie screen in front of seats with text: The Difficulty of Creating Movies in Our Mind

Sometimes as authors, we struggle to create a well-rounded world or characters that feel so real to readers that they experience a movie in their mind. Stories that feel like we can crawl in and inhabit them are often lauded as special, but why is it so hard to succeed in that goal?

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April 28, 2016

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Brain Science: How Do You Imagine?

Theater curtain opening to reveal text: Featuring... Your Imagination

Aphantasia is the term for when someone can’t imagine something in their mind–“mind blindness” or not having a “mind’s eye.” As writers, this perspective not only gives us all sorts of story and character ideas, but it can also raise many questions about the concept of imagination itself.

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April 26, 2016

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Subtext: Creating Layered Characters

Reflections on a water surface with text: Getting Under the Surface of Our Characters

I’ve written many times about how much I love subtext, the stuff that happens between the lines. Subtext lurks in many aspects of our stories and helps immerse readers and add realism and tension. In addition, subtext can help us build layered characters.

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April 21, 2016

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What Helps You BE a Writer?

Underside view of bridge pilings with text: What Enables You to Write?

The journey to writing is filled with many obstacles, yet something keeps us going. Maybe if we understand what’s been most helpful for us becoming and/or remaining a writer—not including writing skill—we’ll be better prepared to face our obstacles now and into the future.

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April 19, 2016

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Writing Building Blocks: Paragraph Breaks & Voice

Close up of a keyboard's Enter key with text: Paragraphs Are about Voice?

From school, we’re probably all familiar with using topic sentences to break ideas into paragraphs in non-fiction, but the rules are different for fiction. Choosing where to put paragraph breaks is one of the most voice-dependent decisions we can make as writers.

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April 12, 2016

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Does Missing a Deadline Make Us Unprofessional?

Confident woman with text: Do We Have a Professional Reputation?

As writers, we face deadlines and commitments every time we turn around. So we’re likely to be familiar with the pressure of deadlines and the expectation of meeting our commitments. But what happens when we can’t meet them? How bad is it for us and our reputation?

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April 5, 2016

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