Do You Trust Your Reader?
You might be forgiven if you find the act of writing requires you to walk a number of tightropes. Characters need to be consistent...
How to Create an Antihero Who Isn’t a Sociopath
We love our antiheroes but they are challenging to write well. There's a fine line between antihero and villain that is crossed on a...
Bringing Life to Supporting Characters
During an interview with DIY MFA, writer Sacha Black discusses how to handle supporting characters, including:
The main types of supporting characters and what...
To Create Real Characters, Treat Them Like Real People
Characters, of course, are the heart of your story. Even if you tried to write a story without characters, you'd have a narrator, someone...
Think Small When Writing Short
In a post on the Killzone blog, Elaine Viets offers two suggestions for getting unstuck in your short story: think small and think twisted.
When...
How to Use Big Historical Events as Backdrop in Your Fiction
Historical novels present a special challenge to writers, from the amount of research required to knowing which details are needed to create an immersive...
Let Dialogue Do Your Heavy Character Lifting
"All talk responds to a need, engages a purpose and performs an action. No matter how seemingly vague or airy a speech may be,...
A Better Way to Describe Which Way the Wind Blows
In a post on Tosaylib, Hiuyan Lam suggests ways to describe wind, including its force, how it feels, and how it behaves.
Aligning Magic and Technology
In their latest podcast, the Writing Excuses hosts say that magic and technology are more closely related than we acknowledge. In this episode, they examine...
In Romance, Too Much is Too Much
This editor admits to not being a fan of most romantic subplots. They often feel like distractions from the main plot or afterthoughts added...
