Pace Your Mystery, Sustain Tension
Every story requires the writer to pay attention to pacing, but none more than the mystery novel. Your literary novel might get away with...
How to Create Multi-Layered Characters
In a guest post on C.S. Lakin's blog, Nina Schuyler examines a recent short story by ZZ Packer to show how to create nuanced...
The Best Characters are Problematic
One of the key tenets of fiction is that your characters must be well-rounded. Your protagonists must have strengths and flaws. Your villains should...
Let Your Story Tell You What It’s About
Many writers don't fret about theme. They might have a basic idea about moral, but rarely delve into the meatier element of theme, preferring...
Tie Setting to Character to Create an Immersive Experience
In a new post, Mary Carroll Moore offers advice for creating settings that allow your readers to get lost in your story world. "I...
How Side Quests and Subplots Can Beef Up Your Story
Side quests aren't just for D&D or WOW - in a post on Well-Storied, Kristen Kieffer says that add-on goals or other distractions from...
Why Do Readers Love a Mystery?
We've said it recently: Every story has an element of mystery. In a recent interview with the Creative Penn podcast, Jonah Lehrer discusses his...
Genre is a Distinction Without a Distinction
What's in a genre? Are Fahrenheit 451 and Slaughterhouse 5 science fiction novels, because they involve a dystopian future and time travel, respectively? Or...
Know Your Enemy…and Beat the Crap Out of It
Writing fight scenes between two human characters is difficult enough. We've all marveled at the way action movie protagonists can take massive amounts of...
Tips on Recovering from a Writing Break
Lately we've shared advice on determining when it's time to take a break from your writing and what you can do with that time...
