Thanks for coming to the Storm Writing School blog. If you’re new here and don’t know anything about it, check out the About page and read the Mission, which, in a nutshell, is to help storytelling artists learn craft and hone their instincts to become the best storytellers they can be.
Recent Posts:
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Articles/Resources
You can peruse the categories or the index of articles over there on the right. Or you can look below for some suggestions of where to start.
Having trouble with structure?
- 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
Want to improve your reader engagement?
- 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 Difference Between Conflict and Tension
- Subjective Conflict
- Use Urgent Story Questions to Drive Tension
Looking to strengthen your scene writing?
- 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
- The Pitfalls of Emotional Body Language
- How to Write Realizations, Epiphanies, and Moments of Clarity
- The Problem with “Show, Don’t Tell”
- Use Beats to Move Characters within Scenes
Need some guidance on the nuances of narration?
- 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
- Psychic Distance (and Deep POV)
- 5 Ways to Express Emotion
- How to Write Realizations, Epiphanies, and Moments of Clarity
Want to gain some perspective on the writing life?
- 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
Want to bone up on storytelling essentials?
- 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
- Using Objects to Create More Powerful Stories
I Can Help
My courses have helped hundreds of writers. Take a look at them and check back often as I’m constantly working on others.
It’s just me here at Storm Writing School, so I know all of this material intimately and I’m happy to address questions. Contact me at td[at]stormwritingschool.com
Reading about writing craft can get overwhelming. At some point, you just need to 1) write, and 2) get someone to coach you. Writing is just one of those things that is best learned via apprenticeship or close mentoring. Look at my coaching and/or editing.
Privacy
You’re welcome to look around the blog anonymously. If you subscribe and/or enroll in a class, I will contact you strictly for purposes pertaining to writing craft you may find useful. Here’s the privacy policy.