Backstory: Avoid Info Dumping by Making It Essential: Part 2 — Guest: Kris Kennedy
A character’s false belief is central to a story’s internal arc, and the defining moment in a character’s backstory is key to creating that false belief.
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Backstory: Avoid Info Dumping by Making It Essential: Part 1 — Guest: Kris Kennedy
Backstory helps readers connect to our characters and provides context for their actions, but how can we make it compelling and avoid boring information dumps?
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How Can We Make Scenes Feel Stronger with Sequels?
Is a scene’s sequel—the reaction to a scene’s events—part of the scene? Or are they ever independent (and if so, how do we make them stronger)?
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“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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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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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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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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Story Planning: Leaving Our Options Open
How detailed is too detailed when it comes to planning our story? What can we can learn about leaving our options open as we draft our story?
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How Pacing Helps Readers Care about Our Characters
I never watched Game of Thrones but this past season is an excellent example of how pacing can affect character arcs and readers’ relationships to our characters.
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Pitching Our Story: Insights from Movie Trailers
When pitching our story, we might struggle with figuring out which elements to focus on. How do we decide what to emphasize in our pitch?
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