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Writing Description in Fiction
Tips for writing description in fiction. Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing, chapter eight: “Description and Exposition.” Enjoy! Without...
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What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers
What If? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers. This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions for this website from qualifying purchases. Good fiction includes many different elements:...
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Storytelling: Writing Chapters and Scenes
Writing Chapters and Scenes. Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing, chapter nine: “Chapters, Scenes, and Sequences.” Enjoy! Chapters, scenes, and...
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Narrative Techniques for Storytellers
Find out how narrative techniques can improve the stories you write! Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing, chapter ten: “Literary Devices and...
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Writing Resources: Wired for Story
Are you wired for storytelling? This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Are you a storyteller? Do you want to be one? Then I suggest you pick up a copy of...
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What is a Story Concept?
How can you put story concept and premise to use? Today’s post includes excerpts from What’s the Story? Building Blocks for Fiction Writing, chapter eleven: “Concept, Premise, and Loglines.” Enjoy!...
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Futuristic Inspiration for Speculative Fiction
Get inspired by the future. How would people in the Middle Ages respond to a television? What would someone from the 1700s think of a helicopter? What would a person from the early twentieth century...
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Character-Driven Fiction Writing Prompts
Creative writing prompts for creating characters. Most authors agree that fiction is primarily driven by characters. Experienced authors will talk about characters who take over the story, who have...
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How to Identify the Protagonist in a Story
Can you identify the protagonist? This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions from qualifying purchases. In most stories, the protagonist is obvious: Harry Potter, Lisbeth Salander, and...
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Plot vs. Character in Storytelling
Fiction writing: plot vs. character. Have you ever struggled with a story idea only to give up because it seems like every plot has already been done? Maybe you focus on character development to make...
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Writing Resources for Naming Your Characters
This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions from qualifying purchases. Have you ever read one of those epic fantasy novels in which the magical characters can gain total control over any...
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Originality in Storytelling
Has everything been done before? Most storytellers strive to write fresh, original stories. They’re hoping to come up with an idea that’s never been done before. Is that even possible? Most stories are...
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Creating Authentic Character Relationships
Are the character relationships in your story authentic? As storytellers, we often look for ways to make our characters as lifelike as possible: we give them internal struggles, external goals,...
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Five Things Your Characters Need
Find out what your characters need. Many writers and readers will agree that the most important element of any story is its characters. There are certainly exceptions: some plot-driven stories are...
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Story is Conflict
Find out how conflict drives any story. If a story were a bus, conflict would be the driver. Conflict steers a story, moves it forward, reverses it, stops it in its tracks, and slows or accelerates the...
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The Power of Narrative Writing
What is narrative writing, and why is it so powerful? The secret is out: narrative is powerful. A narrative can entertain, inform, and persuade — but most importantly, it can forge deep, meaningful,...
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Archetypal Characters in Storytelling
Archetypal characters for fiction writers. The hero, the mentor, the sidekick. We’re all familiar with archetypal characters in storytelling. We’ve seen them before. We know the roles they play....
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Stock and Cloned Characters in Storytelling
Are you using stock characters in your stories? I was recently reading a novel, and a few chapters in, I realized I had mixed up two of the main characters. In fact, I had been reading them as if they...
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How to Write Better Stories
A few insights to help you write better stories. This post contains affiliate links that earn commissions from qualifying purchases. You know that feeling you get when you read a novel and become...
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12 Character Writing Tips for Fiction Writers
Character writing tips. Characters are the heart and soul of every story. Almost every great story is about people. Plot, setting, theme, and other elements of fiction are secondary to realistic...
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