What Makes Your Villain Tick?
Villains are the heroes in their own stories, but how can a writer create an antagonist that readers will both empathize with and hate?...
Five Paths to Your Protagonist’s Inner Conflict
In an article on Writers Helping Writers, Angela Ackerman offers advice for uncovering your character's inner conflict, as opposed to their outer conflict. "The...
Bad Artists Copy. Great Artists Steal.
In a post on CrimeReads, Mary Robinette Kowal shares how The Thin Man movie series inspired her latest novel. And by inspired, she means...
Seven Ways to Show Not Tell
Writers are always told to "show, don't tell" but what is it and how can you find it in your writing? In a post on...
What is the Bookend Technique?
A post on Industrial Scripts examines the bookend technique and how it has been used effectively in celebrated screenplays. While focusing on film, the...
Writing Lessons from Dar Williams
In a post on Writer Unboxed, Kathryn Craft shares writing lessons from celebrated singer-songwriter Dar Williams. "Because songwriting is a shorter form, we wordy novelists...
Is Your Protagonist Making Active Choices?
In a new post, Janice Hardy says that an unmotivated character might be the reason your story starts to sag in the middle. "Readers...
Unlock Your Story’s Beating Heart
In a post on Writers in the Storm, Sandy Vaile asks if your story has a beating heart. "It’s the vision that keeps all...
Use Emotion to Connect Your Reader to Difficult Material
In a new post, Mary Carroll Moore says that a strong emotional core can help you write "tough" material at either end of the...
Your Characters Need to Fail
In a post on Writers Helping Writers, Becca Puglisi says that failure is an important component of your character's narrative arc. "Failure is the...
