Slasher Movies Have More to Say Than You Think
In an essay for Lit Hub, Samantha Allen makes the case for the literary merits of slasher movies. Allen notes that the 1974 film...
Self-Editing: Does it Work?
Editing your own manuscript is tough. It's hard to spot weaknesses and omissions. If we recognized them, we wouldn't have put them there in...
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...
Hold Back Information to Create a Sense of Mystery
Every story has a bit of mystery to it. Readers want to know more about a character, how they'll solve a problem, what drives...
There’s More to Strong Women than Magic Bracelets
The Catch-22 with creating "strong female characters" is that readers find them either unrelatable or unrealistic. You might love your heroine for being assertive,...
Drive Your Plot by Putting Your Characters on the Road
In a post on Writer Unboxed, Tom Bentley says that the simplest way to create narrative drive is to show your characters in physical...
Prompt: The Life of Mary Norman
During an interview with the Write the Book podcast, Wendy Sanford suggests reading about the life of Mary Norman, a woman who lead the...
Don’t Let Your Story Run Out of Gas at the End
We read lots of advice for writers about cutting the flab from their stories, but we don't often hear about those times when you...
Use Symbolism to Deepen Your Story
We (mostly) all hated it as kids, but as writers, we better understand how symbolism helps us add layers to our story and convey...
Use Surprise to Create Micro-Tension
C.S. Lakin offers another articles about micro-tension, the small details that create an underlying sense that something is wrong, letting your reader know that...
