Story Problems? Check Your Structure
It’s time for another post as a Resident Writing Coach over at Writers Helping Writers, where we’re digging into how story structure problems can cause surprising issues.
4 Tips for Creating the Right Impression of Our Characters
Last time, we discussed how to introduce our characters. Now, here are 4 tips for ensuring we’re giving readers the right impressions of our characters.
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Making a Good First Impression with Our Characters
It’s time for another post as a Resident Writing Coach over at Writers Helping Writers, where we’re exploring how to introduce our characters to readers.
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What’s the Difference Between an Inciting Incident and a First Plot Point?
To get from our opening pages to the rest of our story, can an Inciting Incident story beat help us? How is that beat different from the First Plot Point?
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What Are Your Favorite Writing-Related Resources?
As part of last week’s giveaway, I added several suggestions to the Writing Craft Master Lists, but before I announce the winner, let’s share our favorite writing resources.
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Antagonists: The End-All-Be-All of Our Story — Guest: Kristen Lamb
Over the past couple of weeks, Kristen Lamb has been kind enough to let me share her insights on antagonists: what they are, why they help define our story, how to strengthen them, etc. Today, we’re exploring how antagonists create our story from beginning to end.
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One Simple Trick to Avoid an Opening Page Infodump
It’s hard to get our opening pages just right because we have to grab readers’ attention, introduce our characters and the story world, hint at a problem, etc. With everything we want to get across to the reader, we might dump too much information. How can we avoid info dumping or confusing readers at the beginning of our story?
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Story Beginnings: Creating the Right First Impression — Guest: Shaila Patel
No matter how much we try different approaches, we often struggle with our story’s first pages. That’s why I’m always on the lookout for new ways of thinking about that critical opening page. Today Shaila Patel shares her insights on the right mix of elements for creating a great first impression.
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Are You Ready for NaNoWriMo?
It’s almost time for NaNoWriMo, and if you’re anything like me, you might be freaking out a little as November nears. So here are several quick links to posts helping us plan, start, and get unstuck with our story.
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Story Beginnings: Do You Have Context?
Story beginnings are difficult to get right. We have to introduce the characters, the story, the setting, the protagonist’s longing, and show an immediate obstacle that creates a near-term goal. At the same time, we have to avoid confusing readers, and for that, we need context.
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