Make Inciting Incidents Happen Sooner
Forget the old ‘rules:’ make inciting incidents happen sooner. The same conclusion I reached over a year ago came from
how-to
The Badly-Plotted Deus Ex
How many stories fall into the badly-plotted Deus Ex Machina ending? A miraculous resolution to a seemingly doom-laden ending, the
How to Escalate a Series
It’s a common writing challenge: how to escalate a series. How do you create a bigger ‘bang’ for books two,
Mix Short and Long sentences
Apparently authors are supposed to mix short and long sentences to captivate the audience. Recently, a writing tool accused me
Wrestling with Book Categories
Right now I’m wrestling with book categories; where do my books fit in the melee of marketing? Who are they
Cross-country Travel in Fiction
Chase, quest, military campaign; suddenly you’re an expert in cross-country travel in fiction. Listen to the audio version on our
Enter Late and Leave Early
Valuable writing advice: enter late and leave early. It applies to scenes, chapters and whole stories. You’re welcome. You want
How Many Orphaned Protagonists?
Ever thought how many orphaned protagonists there are in fiction? Why are there so many? Is it a staple, a
Baiting the Character Hook
Can you draw readers in without baiting the character hook? Genre and plot mean nothing if there isn’t a compelling
A Protagonist with no Backstory
Can you defy convention and write a protagonist with no backstory? I started a new project to explore just that.