Craft Articles
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Recent Posts
Why Most Writing Rules Can Be Broken
Almost every writing “rule” can be broken. I offer three meta-principles for why that is and some thoughts on how we should approach the rules if they can be broken.
Tools for Big Picture Editing of Your Novel
The mountain of editing/revision can be daunting, particularly for long-form stories. Here are four tools you can use to gain perspective of the big picture.
Dramatic Prognosis: a tool for designing strong plots and improving weak ones
The dramatic prognosis is the calculation the audience makes about the hero’s chances of reaching the goal. You can examine the dramatic prognosis within your story in the planning stage or in the revision stage; it may be helpful in highlighting where the story is lacking.
What Is a Beat, Anyway?
If you read about writing craft, you’re going to come across the word “beat” on occasion. But this is a term that even within the realm of creative writing has at least three different meanings. Let’s break them down here.
What Does the Inciting Incident Actually Do?
The inciting incident is often misunderstood. Even seasoned writers sometimes make claims that there can be multiple inciting incidents or that it can occur before the story even begins. But I would argue that most of those claims are rooted in a misunderstanding of the role the inciting incident plays within a story.
The Essentials of Orienting Your Reader
In film, orientation is almost immediate. In prose, oreintation requires ink. Here are some guidelines for what orientation the reader needs.
More Articles
– Novel Structure: An Aggregate Paradigm
– A Compendium of Novel Structure Resources
– Escalating Complications
– Why the Hero’s Journey Might Not Be Right for Your Story
– The Two Roles of the Story Beginning
– How to Create a Moving Character Arc
– Use Beats to Move Characters within Scenes
– Earning Story Events
– The Case for Pantsing
– Freytag’s Pyramid
– Turning Points within Scenes
– How a Scene List Can Help Your Revision
– Stretch Tension to Maximize Suspense
– The Key to Reader Engagement
– How to Create Story Momentum
– Story Momentum Mastery Course
– 3 Techniques for Creating Tension
– The Tension Lab Course
– Creating Romantic/Sexual Tension Course
– Escalating Complications
– The Problem with Show, Don’t Tell: Hyperdetailing
– Urgent Story Questions
– Conflict ≠ Tension
– Subjective Conflict (within readers)
– How to Write Compelling Action
– Theme is Not Optional
– Earning Story Events
– Captivating Protagonists: The Essentials
– Triangulate Dialogue
– 4 Common Failures in Story Cause/Effect
– Stretch Tension to Maximize Suspense
– Should You Use Synonyms for Said?
– Formatting Character Thoughts
– Scene vs. Summary
– 12 Ways to Be an Invisible Writer
– Sentiment vs. Sentimentality
– The Gold Standard Scene Course (free)
– The Tension Lab Course
– Creating Romantic/Sexual Tension Course
– Use Beats to Move Characters within Scenes
– The Problem with Show, Don’t Tell: Hyperdetailing
– Psychic Distance: Narrative Distance from Character
– The Pitfalls of Emotional Body Language
– Subjective Conflict (within readers)
– How to Write Realizations, Epiphanies, and Moments of Clarity
– Using Objects to Create More Powerful Stories
– How to Write Compelling Action
– Exposition in Dialogue
– Turning Points within Scenes
– The Two Essentials of Compelling Dialogue
– 10 Lessons from “Cat Person” on Character Interiority
– Author, Narrator, Character
– Action vs. Information: Convey Info without Stalling the Story
– Juggle External Action and Interiority
– Scene vs. Summary
– Time Digression in Narration
– Page-level Storytelling: Four Ways to Break Down Your Narration
– The True Source of Voice
– The Problem with Show, Don’t Tell: Hyperdetailing
– Psychic Distance: Narrative Distance from Character
– 5 Ways to Express Emotion
– How to Write Realizations, Epiphanies, and Moments of Clarity
– To Filter or Not to Filter
– Story Grammar: Distinguish between Descriptive and Prescriptive Story Advice
– Story Consumption: How to Read like a Writer
– Approaching the Workshop
– Dealing with Rejection and Criticism
– Revision for Haters
– Finding Readers to Help You
– The Case for Pantsing
– How Your Attitude and Approach Toward Habits Can Revitalize Your Writing
– How to Write While You’re Freaking Out
– Two Conflicts: Problems vs. Obstacles
– Author, Narrator, Character
– Why You Need Strong Antagonists in Your Story
– Common Problems in Manuscripts
– The Key to Reader Engagement
– The True Source of Strong Voice
– 3 Techniques for Creating Tension
– 4 Common Failures in Story Cause/Effect
– The 5 Key Elements of Story Course (free)
– Scene vs. Summary
– 12 Ways to Be an Invisible Writer
– Character Arcs
– Beats within Scenes
– Urgent Story Questions
– Conflict ≠ Tension
– Using Objects to Create More Powerful Stories
– How to Write Compelling Action
– Theme is Not Optional
– Earning Story Events
– Irony Is Central to Storytelling
– Turning Points within Scenes
– The Two Essentials of Compelling Dialogue
– Captivating Protagonists: The Essentials
– The Essence of Standout Characters
– Character Mixing Board
– Character Motivation
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