Strong dialogue isn’t just about the words being said—it’s also about how those words are presented on the page.

If you’re newer to writing, there’s a lot to learn about storytelling—from big-picture techniques like show-don’t-tell to the more foundational aspects surrounding punctuation and capitalization. The technical part of writing isn’t very sexy, so we don’t talk much about it. But knowing those basics is super important if we want to write stories that contribute to the reader’s experience instead of interfering with it. And Angela and I want to make sure Writers Helping Writers offers help for authors at all stages and experience levels.

So today I’m starting a new 101 Series surrounding the foundational skills I see writers struggling with the most. Each post will cover a key element of fiction writing, and we’re starting off with dialogue mechanics—because even the most interesting conversations can fall flat if they aren’t written correctly. Poorly drafted dialogue can make the writing clunky, drag the pace, or cause confusion for readers, all of which can pull them out of the story. And no one wants that.

If you’ve ever struggled with where the punctuation goes (inside or outside the quotes?), when to use a comma vs. a period, or when to start a new paragraph in a scene of dialogue, you’re not alone, and this post is for you.

A Few Definitions

Before getting into the common dialogue mistakes, let’s identify three key elements of any good written conversation.

• Dialogue: The actual words spoken by a character. (“I can’t believe it.“)
• Dialogue Tag: A phrase that identifies the speaker. (“I can’t believe it,” she said.)
• Dialogue Beat: An action that accompanies the words being spoken. (“I can’t believe it.” Becca threw the bag of chips in the trash.)

Tags and beats are important because they’re a vital part of our real-life conversations. Including them breaks up the dialogue, creates rhythm, clarifies for readers who’s saying what, and makes the interaction between characters more authentic.

Now that we’re clear on the terminology associated with a passage of dialogue, let’s talk about the familiar stumbling blocks.

1. Proper Punctuation and Capitalization

First, let me start with a disclaimer that the rules I’ll be referencing are specific to American English. I know we have readers in Britain and Canada and many other places where English is used but the rules are slightly different. But because I don’t use the other versions and can’t speak to proper usage, and because the majority of our readers are using American English for their manuscripts and submissions, I’ll be focusing on that today.

So, in American English, always use double quotes for dialogue. Single quotes have their own purpose, but they shouldn’t be used as the main marks for dialogue.

When it comes to the rest of the punctuation for a line of dialogue…well, that depends on the sentence structure.

Complete Sentences with Tags

We know a complete sentence has a subject and verb that conveys a complete thought. In dialogue, you can determine if the sentence is complete by removing the tag or beat and just looking at the words inside the quotation marks.

When a complete sentence of dialogue is accompanied by a tag, the sentence should be punctuated as follows:

“I love these chips,” she said.

Because the tag is part of the sentence, the period goes at the end, after “said.” The dialogue portion ends with a comma (since it’s not the end of the sentence yet), and the tag begins with a lowercase letter because it’s in the middle of the sentence.

If the dialogue consists of a question instead of a statement, use a question mark instead of a comma inside the quotation marks. The period still goes at the end. And if you’re using someone’s name instead of a pronoun, it should be obviously capitalized.

“Do you like pickle chips?” Angela asked.
“Pickle chips make me barf,” Becca said.

A Complete Sentence with the Tag in the Middle

If a dialogue tag comes in the middle of a sentence, treat it as an interruption to the complete sentence, and use commas to separate it:

“I think,” she said, “barbecue flavor is the best.”

Note that the punctuation before the closing quotation mark in each segment is inside the marks. Also, because this is one complete sentence, the only capital letter is at the beginning. The exception would be if the tag contained a proper noun (Becca said); then the noun would be capitalized, too.

Sentences with Beats Instead of Tags

Beats are meant to stand alone and should usually be written in complete sentences themselves.

Angela shook her head. “I really don’t understand you.”

The beat is a complete sentence, and so is the dialogue. So both elements start with a capital and end with a period (or question mark or exclamation point as needed).

2. A Word About Thoughts

While we’re talking about different kinds of dialogue, let’s look quickly at thoughts. Because they aren’t spoken, they shouldn’t have quotation marks. However, the formatting is different depending on whether the thought is direct or indirect.

Direct Thoughts capture the character’s exact thoughts and are always italicized. Notice that any tags aren’t italicized (because the tag isn’t part of the character’s actual thought).

Please, no more, I thought.

Enough with the dad jokes.

Indirect Thoughts summarize what the character is thinking. Because they’re not exact thoughts, they aren’t italicized and are formatted like regular text.

She thought he was quite tasty.

He really hoped she wasn’t interested in him that way.

3. When Should a New Paragraph Start?

A common area of struggle in dialogue is knowing when to start a new paragraph. It’s an important question because if we get this wrong, the reader is confused about who’s saying and doing what:

“No car for a week?” Ivy’s voice squeaked into the stratosphere. “That’s ridiculous!” her brother said. “Everybody just calm down.”

But when we start a new paragraph each time the speaker changes, things become much clearer.

“No car for a week?” Ivy’s voice squeaked into the stratosphere.
“That’s ridiculous!” Jacob said.
“Everybody just calm down.”

This rule holds true for beats, too. If Character 2 does something while Character 1 is talking, that action needs to go into its own paragraph.

“So I hit a mailbox,” Ivy said. “Also, the shepherd in the church’s nativity scene is now sheep-less.”
Her mother closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath.
“And I may have taken out Mr. Henderson’s azaleas—but that totally wasn’t my fault!”

4. Interruptions and Hesitations

Real-life dialogue is full of interruptions, stops and starts, and people talking over each other. Your characters’ conversations should be no different. Luckily, the punctuation for each of these is pretty simple.

Use Em Dashes for Interruptions

When your character’s being interrupted, use an em dash (—) inside the quotation marks to show their words are being cut off. This is true whether the interruption comes in the form of someone’s words or actions.

Her mom’s eyebrows shot upward. “The azaleas? Ivy—”
“It was a squirrel,” Jacob sputtered. “A deranged, kamikaze squirrel that fell out of a tree and stumbled right into the road. It was rabid, foaming at the mouth—”
Ivy shoved him. “You’re not helping.”

Use an Ellipse for Hesitations

Interruptions indicate a clean break, with the person’s speech abruptly stopping. Hesitations are more, well…hesitant. If there’s a pause in your character’s speech, or if their dialogue trails off slowly rather than bluntly, use an ellipse.

“Seemed deranged,” Jacob mumbled. “Stumbling…middle of traffic…” He rubbed the back of his neck and decided Ivy could fight her own battles.

Clean Dialogue Makes for Stronger Writing and Easier Reading

The mechanics of dialogue may not be the most exciting thing to study but mastering them makes your story easier to read and understand. The good news is that, like most elements of writing, the more you incorporate proper punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing into your dialogue, the easier it gets. Then you can move on to higher level techniques that will make your characters’ conversations authentic, engaging, and full of added depth—techniques that we’ll discuss in our next 101 post.

For more help with the nitty-gritty of dialogue (and other) mechanics, give English Grammar for Dummies a try.
(affiliate link)

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Writing 101: Dialogue Mechanics appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

It’s time for our favorite round-up: Black Friday Deals for Writers! We love finding ways to save you money because we all need to know how to stretch a dollar in this industry.

Investing in the right tools can help with success, so hopefully you can take advantage of some of these current and upcoming deals (including a sweet little discount from us).

Writing, Editing, Publishing & Marketing Deals

Publisher Rocket ($30 off Publisher Rocket + a Free Course)

Your book deserves to be read! Join other authors using Publisher Rocket to sell more books by optimizing keywords, categories, and ad campaigns. This deal runs from November 28th to December 3rd.

ProWritingAid Annual & Lifetime Subscriptions (Save 50%)

ProWritingAid is the essential toolkit for storytellers, helping you to craft your story and bring it to life. Real-time feedback and in-depth analysis will show you how to strengthen your story, give your characters depth, add impetus to your plot and so much more. This deal runs from Nov 18 – Dec 3rd.

Fictionary Storyteller (or Bundled with Storyteller Live) 40% off

Fictionary’s StoryTeller Software and Live Courses offer a comprehensive process to improve story structure, pacing, character development, and settings. StoryTeller Software: Visualize your plot, identify key story arc scenes, and ensure a satisfying resolution. StoryTeller Premium with Fictionary Live!: Enjoy unlimited writing courses, live instruction, weekly editing tasks, and personalized feedback. Save 40% on subscriptions between Nov 18- Dec 12th.

Novlr Writing Software (30% off any subscription)

Novlr is the first writer-owned creative writing workspace that lets you focus on what’s most important; your words. The smart design is distraction-free, writing streaks and goals keep you motivated, the advanced analytics provide insights into your best writing times, and automatic cloud syncing keeps your work safe. Ready to be more productive? Use the code BLACKFRIDAY24 to save on all subscriptions until December 31st.

Write | Publish | Sell (40% off Instagram for Authors Course)

​Instagram for Authors is a power-packed course providing authors with the tools they need to successfully use Instagram to market and grow their author platforms. Save 40% by using the code 40OFFIGBF at checkout until December 2nd.

K.M.Weiland’s Products for Writers (Save 25%)

Save 25% off K.M. Weiland’s popular writing resources, including her books on plot, character, and story structure. Take it a step further with interactive workbooks (including the Outlining Your Novel Workbook software), and the Creating Character Arcs and the Shadow Archetypes courses. Her Archetypal Character Guided Meditations can also help you dive into your characters’ minds and dream up new story ideas. Deal valid November 18th – December 2nd.

BookFunnel Mid-List & Bestseller Plans (Save $50)

The fundamental tool for your author business, BookFunnel delivers reader magnets, delivers direct sales ebooks & audiobooks, and helps authors reach new customers through group promos and author swaps. Take advantage of our best-in-the-industry support and take $50 off an annual subscription to our Mid-List Author and Bestseller Author plans from November 25th to December 2nd.

Atticus Software (Free Course with Purchase)

Transform your writing journey with Atticus.io—the all-in-one powerhouse for book writing and formatting. Forget juggling multiple tools; Atticus brings you a sleek, intuitive platform that takes you from draft to publish-ready masterpiece effortlessly. Get a free Publishing for Indie Authors course with each purchase between November 28th and December 2nd.

Getcovers (25% off cover design packages)

On a tight budget for a book launch? Getcovers is a book cover design company that provides book cover design packages for a shockingly low price – just $10-$35, depending on the package you choose. Use the code BLACKDEALS at checkout from November 25th to December 2nd.

Book Brush Social Media Management (2 bonus months with a 6-month plan)

Your schedule is jam-packed and Book Brush services can help lighten your load with your choice of two all-inclusive social media plans: Meta Plan: We’ll manage your Instagram and Facebook, creating eye-catching graphics and reels to build a strong, branded presence in the author niche and keep your fans engaged. Video Plan: We’ll produce 15 custom reels each month for your TikTok and YouTube channels, tailored to capture your unique style and audience. Get this 8 for 6 deal by booking a consultation call by Dec 6th.

Shut Up and Write the Book by Jenna Moreci
(.99 ebook sale at Amazon)

Shut Up and Write the Book is a step-by-step guide to crafting a novel from your first spark of an idea to the final edit. Enjoy bestselling author Jenna Moreci’s no-nonsense guidance and saucy sarcasm as she walks you through every step of the writing process. Grab it on Amazon for $.99 from November 27th to December 2nd. (affiliate link)

Novel Factory Software (Save 30%)

The Novel Factory app is designed to help writers turn their ideas into fully developed, captivating novels. With powerful planning tools, in-app guidance, and a simple, intuitive design, it’s everything you need to bring your story to life—from first draft to final edit. Save 30% on an annual plan with code BLACKRIDAY2024 between November 18 to December 2nd.

Last but not least, a story support tool that helps you write friction that stands out from the rest:

One Stop for Writers 6-Month Plan (Save 35%)

Ready for a game-changer? Look no further than One Stop for Writers, your ultimate storytelling companion. Designed by story experts Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, these groundbreaking tools help you craft characters with true depth, devise fresh plots, and construct immersive worlds that your readers won’t want to leave.

Your One Stop Toolkit includes:

SHOW-DON’T-TELL DESCRIPTION DATABASE (Containing 18 Thesauruses)
CHARACTER BUILDER
CHARACTER ARC BLUEPRINT
TIMELINE TOOL
STORY AND SCENE MAPS
WORLDBUILDING SURVEYS
IDEA GENERATOR
TEMPLATES AND WORKSHEETS
THE STORYTELLER’S ROADMAP
INSIGHTFUL CRAFT TUTORIALS, TIP SHEETS & MORE

Say goodbye to writer’s block, telling, and frustration. One Stop for Writers supports you at every step as you plan, write, and revise, so only your best writing makes it to the page. Use the code BLACKFRIDAY24 to unlock a 35% discount for our 6-month plan.

We hope you find a few things on this list that help you on your journey. Happy writing & saving!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post 2024 Black Friday Deals for Writers appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Years ago I joined the award-winning site, The Critique Circle, where I learned to hone my writing skills and develop the thick skin needed to take criticism and rejection. In addition to writing well beyond a thousand critiques, I became a moderator for the site, and with members in the thousands, I mediated situations that cropped up between writers who either struggled to give an appropriate critique, or to accept one.

This experience taught me the value of peer feedback. Learning how to give and take a critique is one of the best ways to develop your writing skills. Critiquing isn’t a walk in the park, however. It’s very easy to let one’s emotions get in the way and damage relationships. For this to work, a person must respect the other’s role, value the time and energy writing and critiquing takes, and follow through without letting emotions overrun good judgment or manners. Here are “best practices” writers should observe in each stage of the Critique Process.

When Asking for a Critique

If you are lucky enough to find someone willing to give feedback, it is your job to make your work presentable. Here’s how:

• Be honest about the stage the work is in. If this is a first draft, say so. Readers need to understand what they are looking at to offer you the best advice on how to proceed.
• Respect their time. Don’t be unreasonable regarding turnaround time. If you are on a deadline, make sure that is understood before you send your work. If you like, ask for the critter’s best guess for having it back to you. Contact them (politely) to ask how it is going only after this time has passed.
• Always send clean copy. First draft or last, make sure you have fixed typos and punctuation, and hopefully taken a stab at grammar as well. If your work is full of mistakes and your manuscript reads poorly, it becomes distracting and takes away from the critter’s ability to offer insight and advice on the story itself.
• Ask questions or voice concerns only at the END of the writing sample. This allows you to hone in on areas you’re worried about, but by placing questions at the end, you ensure the person reads the submission “clean” and without bias. Otherwise they will be looking for specific things as they read, and may miss the forest for the trees.

When Giving a Critique

It is the critique partner’s job to pay the submission the attention it deserves. Some important points to remember:

• Focus on the writing, not the writer. No matter what shape a story is in or how green the writer may be, a critter’s job is to offer feedback on the writing itself, not a writer’s developing skills (unless you are praising them, of course).
• Offer honesty, but be diplomatic. Fluffy Bunny praise doesn’t help, so don’t get sucked into the “but I don’t want to hurt their feelings” mindset. Your honest opinion is what the writer needs to improve the story, so if you notice something, say so. However, there is a difference between saying “This heroine is coming across a bit cliché,” and saying, “This character sucks, I hate her—what a total cliché.”
• Be constructive, not destructive. When offering feedback, voice your feelings in a constructive way. To continue with the cliché character example, explain what is making her come across cliché, and offer ideas on how to fix this by suggesting the author get to know them on a deeper level and think about how different traits, skills and flaws will help make her unique. Give examples if that will help. Bashing the author’s character helps no one.
• Be respectful. Regardless of where the writer may be on the path to publication, they have chosen to share their work with you, and this will make them feel vulnerable. Honor this by treating them and their work in a respectful way.
• Praise the good along with pointing out the bad. Sometimes we get so caught up in pointing out what needs fixing we forget to highlight what we enjoyed. If there’s something amazing about the work, say so. Even if the story is not your favorite, try to point out something positive, even if it is a simple description or dialogue snippet. The positives are what help writers keep going even when there is still a lot of work to do.
• Offer encouragement. Part of our job when critiquing is to offer encouragement. We want to build people up so they work harder to succeed, not tear them down and erode their confidence. End any critique with some words of support and friendly encouragement so it reminds them that writing is a process and we’re all in this together.
• Return the critique in a timely manner. If it has not been agreed upon before you receive a submission, give the writer a ballpark timeline to have the critique returned to them and then stick to it. If you need an extension, don’t wait for them to ask where the critique is…be proactive and explain your circumstances.

When Receiving a Critique

A critique waiting in our inbox brings about both excitement and dread. This is the final phase, with important steps to follow.

• Before opening the critique, let the critter know you received it, and that you are looking forward to reading it as soon as you have a chance. This lets them know that it didn’t get lost in cyberspace, and that you have not yet read it, which gives you some time to process the critique without them wondering why you haven’t said anything about it to them.
• Before you read the critique, remind yourself that the reason you asked for feedback was to make the story stronger. Set the expectation that you will have work to do, and ultimately the story benefits. Steel your emotions for what is ahead.
• Read through the critique once. Try your best to not let anger, disappointment or even excitement cloud your read. Then, set it aside and turn your attention to something else. Use this time to go through any hurt feelings this critique caused, and deal with any emotional responses (self-doubt, frustration, even elation). Good or bad, you need to clear emotion from the picture to be able to best utilize this feedback, even if your gut instinct is to disagree with it.
• When you are ready, go through the critique again, this time, free of emotion. Look at each suggestion objectively and make notes to yourself. If there are suggestions that make you angry or defensive, pay special attention. Often when a comment hits close to home it indicates that something requires more thought. Challenge yourself to see the situation or scene as they did. Do you understand how they arrived at a specific conclusion? Is information missing that would help them view the situation/scene as you intended? This may lead you to realize something needs strengthening. Or, through the act of poking and prodding, you reaffirm your belief that it works as is, and you can dismiss this suggestion. (However, pay special attention when multiple partners highlight the same issue…even if you believe it is good enough, chances are strengthening is needed.)
• **Respect the Critique Partner’s time and effort. This person likely just spent several hours working on your submission, and regardless if you agree with the feedback or not, you should send a follow up email thanking them for the critique, highlighting how it gave you better insight into you story and characters. If you have questions about the feedback, ask! This is your opportunity for more helpful discussion and ideas on how to make your book better. Do not get angry. Let me repeat that: do NOT get angry. Take the high road, even if you found nothing helpful. Show appreciation for their time, and in the future, find another partner.

**This last point is very important to nurture a critique relationship.

This person chose to help you, taking time away from their own writing. As someone who often spends hours on a critique, there is nothing more frustrating to me than when a writer does not acknowledge my work. I’m not looking for flowery pats on the head, simply to know the feedback was helpful in some form. Anyone who has given their time is worthy of your appreciation, regardless of whether you agree with their suggestions or not.  Be gracious when feedback rolls in.

Consider Offering Feedback in Return

Critiquing is about give and take, so if someone has kindly given time to help you, offering to look at something in return is the right thing to do.

Do you have any tips to add? Have you found critiquing helpful, or do you avoid it like the dentist’s chair?

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post The Ultimate Guide for Giving and Receiving Feedback appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Is there anything more frustrating than knowing there’s a problem with our story, but not being sure how to fix it?

We wish for an easy button in these moments, but sadly, none exist. Occasionally though, we get lucky and discover a versatile story element or technique so useful it can help us navigate past MANY story problems!

So, storytellers…ready to meet your new best friend?

The All-Powerful Emotion Amplifier

Emotion amplifiers are unique states or conditions that act as a challenge, conflict, and emotional destabilizer all rolled into one. They generate internal strain and emotional volatility which can lead to a loss of control, sending your character on a crash course with missteps and mistakes!

Sounds bad, right? Well, it is…for the character. But for your story, it’s great!

Let’s look at a specific amplifier: scrutiny.

Scrutiny: being observed or critically examined.

Now, imagine yourself for a moment, will you?

You’re merrily typing away on your computer, drafting your latest story. Your brain is full of ideas! The words are flowing! And then your mother-in-law appears and begins reading over your shoulder.

Or:

You’re hosting the family barbeque and your sister-in-law arrives, sits at a picnic table, and proceeds to scowl at everything in view. She examines your cutlery as if it has never seen a dishwasher, smells the potato salad before adding it to her plate, and makes a show of picking off the burned bits of her chicken.

Can you hear the lambs screaming, Clarisse?

Face it, scrutiny is not fun. Whether it’s you, me, or a character, it gets in our heads, makes us hyperaware of our flaws, and whatever task we’re working on instantly becomes harder.

Even if an observer is expected–say at a competition–a person will have to have a strong mental focus not to be thrown off their game. So, you can imagine how our character, grappling with the weight of story problems, responsibilities, and emotional struggles, might react if we added scrutiny to the mix. You can just see how it would become that one burden too much, and in their frustration, they’d lash out or do something else that would take their situation from bad to worse.

Pain, exhaustion, hunger, competition, danger, attraction…amplifiers come in all shapes and sizes, and can help with story problems when used strategically.  

Common Story Problems

NOT ENOUGH CONFLICT:

An amplifier is an added challenge to navigate that, when intense enough, will cause our characters to lose control. When they do, they act on emotion, not thought, and this has repercussions: poor decisions that lead to mistakes, choices that carry unforeseen consequences, and new complications they didn’t think about in the heat of the moment. In other words, conflict!

LOW STAKES:

When there’s not enough on the line, readers tune out. One of the best ways to raise the stakes is to make things more personal. Imagine your character poorly navigating an amplifier like danger, competition, or intoxication and making a mistake that hurts someone or puts an important goal at risk. When a character screws up and feels responsible, undoing the harm they did becomes a personal mission. Readers will tune in because 1) they can’t help but empathize over making a costly mistake and 2) they feel tension knowing the character can’t afford to fail or lose control again.

PASSIVE CHARACTERS (NO AGENCY):

Readers are drawn to characters with agency, those who steer their fate and take charge, not ones who let others solve their problems. Emotion amplifiers get passive characters to step up because they inflict urgency, motivating the character to find relief from the strain one causes.

A starving character must find food (Hunger), a character lost in the woods must find their way to safety (Physical Disorientation), and a character suffering from Sleep Deprivation must secure rest before their body gives in.

LOW TENSION:

Tension, that stretchy feeling that comes when a person is unsure what will happen next, is something we want to build into every page. Because amplifiers cause characters to be emotionally unstable, readers feel tension as they read on to see if the character can handle the strain because if they can’t, it will cost them.

HIDDEN EMOTION:

In many situations, characters hide what they feel because they don’t want to be judged, feel vulnerable, or be viewed as weak. Unfortunately, this makes it harder for readers to get close enough to know what’s going on behind their stony exterior and feel empathy for what the character is experiencing.

This is why amplifiers are great to deploy. Like a boiling kettle, adding a nice dollop of pain, pressure, exhaustion, or even arousal, and suddenly those repressed feelings bubble up and spill out, putting the very emotions they’re hiding on display!

SHOWING CHARACTER GROWTH:

How well (or poorly) a character responds to problems and stressors can say a lot about them, revealing how much growth is required to achieve their goal. Emotion amplifiers are many things, including tests. If the character handles an amplifier poorly, they face the fallout and deal with the consequences. But it also teaches them what not to do next time, so if you later hit them with the same (or similar) amplifier again and they handle it better, it is a neon sign to readers that the character is evolving.

PERFECT CHARACTERS:

Perfect characters are a turn-off because they don’t feel realistic. Readers are drawn to characters who are true to life, meaning they’ll lose their cool, have bad judgment, and screw things up at times. You can show all this through the poor handling of an emotion amplifier! Characters who don’t handle stress and pressure will feel more authentic because readers have had their own struggles in that department and know what it’s like. Seeing characters in the same situation is relatable, and makes it easier to cheer them on as they work through the complications in the aftermath.

UNCLEAR MOTIVATION:

In every scene, readers should know the character’s goal and why they are pursuing it. If you need to redirect and show a clear scene goal, amplifiers can help. Whatever it is–pain, stress, pressure, dehydration–it’s causing a form of strain, meaning your character’s goal will be to manage or free themselves from it.

HAPPY CHARACTERS IN A HAPPY LAND:

Like low-conflict situations, we also don’t want characters to be happy for too long. Time to time, your character comes out on top, ending a scene in a win. An emotion amplifier like an injury, illness, or exhaustion is a great way to give them a new situational problem to focus on.

LACK OF RELATIONSHIP FRICTION:

Stories where everyone gets along and supports one another will eventually elicit yawns from readers. People rub against one another, and it’s not always a bad thing when they do so. Sometimes it needs to happen for important realizations to take place for a character to examine boundaries, and expectations, or achieve personal growth.

An amplifier can bring forth friction because if a character mishandles the strain of it, they may lash out, question loyalty or motivations, shut people out, or do other things that will cause misunderstandings. Any damage they do to the relationship will need to be undone, giving the character a chance to see things from the perspective of the one they hurt, and to practice accountability, both of which can strengthen the relationship long-term.

PREDICTABILITY:

Some stories can become predictable if certain plot elements, character types, and other genre expectations strain a writer’s ability to be creative. Emotion Amplifiers come in all sizes and shapes, meaning choosing the right one can easily transform a premise, conflict scenario, or relationship dynamics, elevating it into something fresh. For example, wouldn’t it be great to see a pro-athlete character struggling with sensory overload when he hits it big, a love interest trying to manage her compulsions, or a pregnant police detective hunting down serial killers?

LOW READER ENGAGEMENT:

If an agent, editor, or beta reader has even mentioned that they struggled to connect with your character, chances are two things have happened. One, the character’s emotions are not accessible enough to the reader, meaning they are too well hidden or repressed, or two, there isn’t enough common ground between the reader and your character for empathy to form.

Emotion Amplifiers help with both issues, bringing emotions to the surface through volatility and a common ground experience readers can bond with characters over.

All readers know what it is like to feel internal strain and, if they give in to it, make mistakes they’ll regret. They empathize with characters having to do the hard work of fixing what they’ve broken. Should the character successfully stay in control of their emotional responses despite the strain an amplifier causes, readers rejoice with the character for mastering the moment and rising above their stress and struggle. Win-win!

If you’ve not yet dove into the wonderful world of emotion amplifiers, I hope you’ll change that. Start by reading this introductory post, checking out this list of amplifiers, and then seeing if The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Stress and Volatility is the life preserver your story needs.  

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post How to Fix Big Story Problems appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

By Sarah Kolb-Williams

I’ve been a freelance book editor for over fifteen years, and I’ve had the privilege of editing hundreds of books. Unfortunately, I’ve seen authors invest serious money only to make publishing mistakes that cost them visibility, sales, and hope.

If you’re self-publishing, you’re wrangling a lot of tasks. After spending so much time on your manuscript, you might feel like you just want to get the thing out there already. But please, fight the urge to skip any of these important steps—any one of them could make or break your chances of success.

In part one of this two-part series, I’ll highlight the biggest book production mistakes I’ve seen new authors make. Next week, I’ll touch on some of the publication mistakes that can tank your chances of succeeding as an independent author.

1. Skipping the Revisions

Writers Helping Writers is full of incredible advice on crafting captivating stories. Even so, when you finally finish that first draft and you’re sick of the sight of it, you might be tempted to jump right in and hire an editor. After all, isn’t it time to start working on your next book?

There’s a lot of advice out there to publish fast, fast, fast. But that’s not the only way to do it. For many reasons, it’s better to focus on quality than speed—especially if this is your first book—and the best way to do that is through diligent author revisions.

So what’s the secret to successful revisions? Time.

While you’re mired in that first draft, you can’t always see what it will be like for a new reader to approach the book. Come back later with fresh eyes, and you’ll be able to recognize where you glossed over key details. You’ll see where your characters aren’t acting characteristically. And you’ll spot leftover debris from moving a section from one spot to another.

Then, after you’ve put your manuscript away for a month or so, it’s time to start your revisions!

2. Skipping the Editing

If you’ve never worked with an editor before, you may be skeptical about what editors can really do for you. It’s your book. Why turn it into somebody else’s?

But a good editor can actually help you sound more like yourself—or at least what you hoped you’d sound like.

A developmental editor can identify holes in your logic and suggest new ways to connect with your audience. A substantive editor can help liven your prose or temper your tone. A copyeditor can ensure that every sentence says exactly what you intended, every mark is pulling its weight, and every word is spelled how it’s supposed to be.

Editors don’t want to take over your manuscript; they want your book to be the best it can be. And isn’t that what your book (and your readers) deserves?

3. Not Prioritizing Book Design

Most authors understand the importance of professional cover design. After all, readers absolutely judge books by their covers, and yours has only a fleeting chance to grab attention. Unfortunately, many new authors treat the interior layout as an afterthought.

You might think that Word document you formatted yourself looks just fine, but readers may think otherwise. Outside of poor editing and lackluster cover design, an amateur interior is one of the biggest ways to lose a reader’s interest.

Here’s just a short list of interior book design principles that new authors often overlook:

• Body fonts should be readable, not “interesting”—save those for chapter titles and headings!
• Text should be fully justified
• Words should be allowed to break at the end of a line (but not across spreads)
• The last line of a paragraph should not appear alone at the top of a page

Book designers have to juggle all of these design principles and more. Upholding one might mean bending another, and a good designer has the skill and experience to handle these issues appropriately. And, importantly, they know to finesse the spacing of the occasional paragraph or line so they can implement proofreading corrections without creating new issues.

4. Failing to Manage Proofreading

When you’re publishing on your own, you can’t just send your Word document to a proofreader and call it a day. There are more steps involved in proofreading than some authors realize.

Let’s take a look behind the scenes. During proofreading, a publisher might take these steps:

• Compare the typeset interior to the copyedited manuscript to ensure no text has gone missing
• Send to the proofreader to check for text and layout issues
• Review changes to ensure nothing will offset the design (and propose light edits as needed to minimize design disruptions)
• Send changes to the book designer to update the interior
• Confirm all updates and check for any new layout issues
• Send any corrections back to the book designer as needed

Phew!

A traditional publisher or self-publishing company has a whole team of players (or at least a lead editor) to pull it all off. If you’re just one person, review the list above with your proofreader to clarify what they’ll be responsible for, and plan to fill any gaps yourself.

5. Misunderstanding the Purpose of Back Cover Copy

The purpose of that short bit of text on the back of your book is sometimes misunderstood. It isn’t the place to introduce readers to every character. It isn’t a synopsis or a summary. And it definitely isn’t a place to tell readers how the book ends.

In fact, back cover copy (and its online cousin, the sales description—more on that next time!) is an important sales tool. It’s marketing copy, plain and simple, and it should be focused on giving a reader that extra push to pick up your book.

For nonfiction, bullet points help make the copy scannable. Don’t just focus on what your book does; explain how readers will benefit.

For both fiction and nonfiction, start with an opening hook that asks readers a question or piques their interest. Keep it short; between 150 and 200 words is a good goal. And remember, don’t give away the ending!

(Ready to put your back cover copy to the test? Check out “How to Craft a Top-Notch Blurb.”)

This is by no means a comprehensive list of publishing tasks, but I hope it’s got you thinking about the hidden steps involved in producing a high-quality book. Check back next week for more tips on positioning and distribution that will keep you in the driver’s seat!

Check out Part 2 of this post which focuses on mistakes to avoid while finalizing your files and publishing your book.

Sarah Kolb-Williams has been a freelance editor and writer for over fifteen years. She is currently lead editor at Spoonbridge Press, a small publishing services company she cofounded to help independent authors navigate the confusing world of self-publishing. When she’s not working with independent authors, she’s relaxing with her family, enjoying the local live music scene, or tracking down the spiciest food she can find.

Guest Contributor

Interested in posting at Writers Helping Writers? Review our content guidelines to see what we’re looking for and how to pitch us your ideas.

The post Don’t Make These 10 Self-Publishing Mistakes! appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Ah, the euphoria of holding one’s own book. Nothing compares, does it? In that moment, the months (or years) of writing, revising, editing, polishing, and finally publishing are in the rear view mirror. All we know is the joy of seeing our hard work compressed into pages and fitted with a stunning cover.
We dream of happy readers, bestseller lists, and maybe even awards. And we can have these things…if we haven’t broken the cardinal rule of publishing.

As someone who studies storytelling from all angles, I can spot quickly when the cardinal rule has been broken, and every time, it guts me. Each book starts with untapped potential, ripe with the imagination of its creator, ready to bring something new and fresh to readers. But this one rule, when it’s broken, limits a book’s potential, keeping it from being all it can be.

So, what is this cardinal rule that stands above all others?

Don’t Rush

Stories take time to write, and even longer to refine, especially as we’re all developing writers. We each have strengths and weaknesses and are building our skills as we go. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know, and so may not be the best judge as to whether a story is ready to move forward.

And yet, I see writers rush toward publication, skipping some of the necessary steps to ensure their book is as strong as it can be. And unfortunately, it ends the same way – a book that wasn’t ready, and the author feeling disappointment and disillusionment when their novel fails to gain traction with readers.

Rushing Burns Bridges

With more books than people on the planet, readers have endless choices. So, the very best thing we can do is give them an amazing experience when they pick up our book, because when we do, they’ll be back for more. But if we rush and the quality isn’t there, readers notice. Not only is it unlikely they’ll stick with us as an author, but they may also leave poor reviews that dissuade others from taking a chance on our book, too.

Rushing also hurts if we’re on the hunt for an agent or publisher. If we submit something that’s clearly not ready, that’s the end of the road with that agent or editor. And what if they remember us and our rushed manuscript if we submit to them down the road…will they be less inclined to ask for sample pages?

Rushing Can Be Expensive

When we rush, we seek out editing before a story is ready for it, meaning costs go up as there’s more to fix. A reputable editor should let the writer know if the project is not ready before they get in too deep, but this is an ethical line that you can’t count on everyone to follow. And if a writer doesn’t carefully vet their editor, they might end up with someone who isn’t skilled enough to offer the level of help needed yet is happy to keep billing round after editing round.

Most of us must budget carefully when it comes to our writing, and editing costs that balloon can fill us with frustration and guilt and may cause us to question our choice of pursuing this path.

Rushing Can Open Us to Scams

All careers require time, effort, and training to become great at them. But unfortunately, we can forget this when it comes to writing. Maybe we think having an abundance of imagination and our creativity will carry us through, or a past career where we wrote a lot on the job makes us believe we can zip through the learning curve. Here’s the thing – imagination requires craft to apply it well, and writing and storytelling are two different skill sets. Believing there’s an easy route to publishing opens us to scams.

There are plenty of vanity publishers and other “assisted publishing” businesses that make big promises to do all the work the writer doesn’t want to do. Because their business model is to make money from writers, not the sale of books, they don’t care about the product. Writers end up shelling out huge dollars for something subpar and are often locked into contracts where they are required to also purchase a large quantity of their books themselves.

Rushing Can Damage Self-Esteem

When we query or self-publish before we’re ready, the results won’t be what we hoped for, and this can cause us to feel inadequate. When our self-belief plummets, it can steal our energy and make it harder for us to pivot or rebound from mistakes and failures. And even when we write great books, mistakes and failures come with the territory, so we need to learn how to process these moments and learn from them.

If we’re always beating ourselves up for every misstep, we’ll eventually decide we aren’t cut out for this career. And we are! Each of us is capable of learning what we need to know to write amazing stories and steer ourselves toward a fulfilling career.

Bottom line: there is no easy button when it comes to a quality book and successful career. Prepare to work hard and open yourself to learning all you can.

Pressure to rush is something we all understand
but must resist.

When other writers are pounding out stories and getting them out into the world, we think we need to be doing the same, forgetting that we’re all in different stages of development, and each journey to publication will be unique.

When we give ourselves the space and time to write the strongest story we can, it may take longer, but our chances of pleasing readers will go way up. And we grow through the process, gaining new knowledge and refining our abilities, which will help us become masterful storytellers.

So, embrace the learning curve and enjoy the journey! It’s there to help, not stand in your way.

Help for Anti-Rushers:

How to Write a Book From Start to Finish in 13 Steps
Self-Editing Your Own Writing
Story Feedback: Free and Paid Options
Critique Etiquette: The Ultimate Guide for Giving and Receiving Feedback
When Am I Ready for Professional Editing?
Best Practices for Working with a Professional Editor
How to Navigate Editorial Feedback and Revise Your WIP

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post The One Rule No Writer Should Break appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Goal-driven scenes are akin to the classic joke setup, “A _____ and a _____ walk into a bar …”        

A _____ and a _____ walk into a bar. The scene begins with the entrance of the protagonist and antagonist.

The first guy says …  The first guy, our protagonist, lays out what’s on his mind—his immediate agenda, or the scene goal.

And so the other guys says …  The antagonist throws a curveball, a turning point that disrupts the expected flow.

… [punch line]! Surprise! Something new is revealed or happens that makes everything collide in an unexpected way.

In a joke, we laugh because the poor first guy has encountered something completely expected. In a scene, we turn the page to find out what the first guy does next. It’s cause and effect, action and reaction—the foundation of every novel.

Here’s how goal-driven scenes work.

Goal Establishing a clear scene goal draws readers into whatever the character will spend the scene attempting to accomplish, usually some incremental step toward the central story goal.

Turning point But something doesn’t go as anticipated, and the character is halted by a conflict, obstacle, reversal, or complication. This interruption, the scene’s turning point, throws a monkey wrench into what readers and the characters were hoping for or expecting.

Change Things are different now, because the turning point has changed the character’s original plan or course of action. How will this scene affect what’s next?

1: Establish the Scene Goal

Scene goals are incremental steps toward the ultimate story goal. They’re the viewpoint character’s immediate agenda. What’s on their mind? What did they get up today to accomplish? Unless you’re writing some variety of mystery or thriller, this agenda should be made clear to readers right away.

In a renowned memo to the writers of The Unit, playwright and filmmaker David Mamet underscored the necessity of clear scene goals.

Every scene must be dramatic. That means: The main character must have a simple, straightforward pressing need which impels him or her to show up in the scene. This need is why they came. It is what the scene is about. Their attempt to get this need met will lead, at the end of the scene, to failure—this is how the scene is over. It, this failure, will, then, of necessity, propel us into the next scene.

Issue: Failing to get the character emotionally engaged with the scene goal. Scene goals are serious business. If your character isn’t invested, readers won’t be either. The scene will flop, bereft of stakes and dramatic tension.

To clearly establish a scene goal, show readers what the character plans to do and why it matters to them. Properly done, this process hooks readers into the scene, rallying them to root for the character and keep reading to see whether they triumph or fall flat in their efforts.

Issue: Forcing a new scene goal with every scene, or keeping the same scene goal throughout the story. Because scene goals represent incremental steps, they’ll evolve as the story progresses. In fast-paced sections of the story, your viewpoint character’s immediate agenda may shift every scene. The bigger and more challenging a goal, the longer it will take to accomplish, and some goals will require multiple scenes to accomplish.

2: Interrupt With a Turning Point

The turning point is the peak of a scene. It’s the whole point of the scene, its raison d’être.

At a scene’s turning point, things stop unfolding the way the character had hoped or expected. They now face some new problem, conflict, or obstacle.

While this point in a scene is often described in terms of conflict, it’s often not about conflict at all. Although conflict is fundamental to every story, it’s not a necessity in every scene. Framing the peak of a scene as a turning point, rather than outright conflict, allows for more nuance.

A scene turning point can take the form of a complication, obstacle, or reversal. These terms are mostly self-explanatory, but let’s touch on what’s meant by a reversal. Renowned screenwriting and storytelling master Robert McKee identifies two types of scene reversals:

1. Reversal of power The relative power of the viewpoint character and another character in the scene swaps.

2. Reversal of expectation The viewpoint character enters the scene expecting one thing, only to encounter a different outcome.

Some of the most common scene writing problems are related to trouble in this turning point phase.

Issue: Failing to directly relate the scene turning point to the scene goal. For example, if Camille’s objective is to covertly retrieve a secret code from her coworker’s files, it wouldn’t make sense for the scene’s turning point to be returning home to find her apartment flooded due to a burst water heater in the unit above. This is definitely a nasty setback for Camille, but it doesn’t have any bearing on the pursuit of the secret code; that plot thread is left dangling.

Instead, imagine Camille poised to steal the secret code form her colleague’s office when the receptionist rushes down the hall with word of an emergency call from Camille’s landlord. This turning point directly affects the scene goal of obtaining the secret code. Just as Camille anticipates snatching the code, she’s yanked away.

Issue: Centering the scene turning point on an entirely internal dynamic. The scene turning point of a goal-driven scene demands the involvement of the viewpoint character with another person, thing, or event. Internal conflict alone isn’t enough to sustain a goal-driven scene, though it’s a powerful catalyst in reflection scenes (a topic for another day).

Issue: Mistaking the most exciting moment of the scene as the scene’s turning point. Think of the turning point as the peak of significance in the scene, not necessarily the most intense or dramatic moment. It’s the apex of tension in regards to the thing that matters most to the viewpoint character. It’s a crucial moment in the pursuit of the scene goal.

Issue: Rushing through the scene’s turning point. As the peak of a scene, the turning point is the juiciest part to readers. Give readers time to appreciate it. Sink into character interiority, allowing readers to savor their entanglement in the turning point. Unravel the character reactions one sticky finger at a time. While there may be times when you want to sweep into the next scene for shock value or chop things off to create a cliffhanger, in general, readers relish the opportunity to appreciate the character’s predicament. (Contrast the writing at this point in the scene with the first and last phases, which could require only a paragraph or pointed sentence to effectively convey.)

3: Demonstrate Change

The final phase of a goal-driven scene is the outcome, a moment marked by unexpected twists or the heralding of change. This phase of a scene is sometimes referred to as the scene “disaster,” but that needn’t imply an actual catastrophe. What’s important is the implication of impending change.

At this point in the scene, the viewpoint character either achieves the scene goal or encounters an unforeseen development. It’s now clear that whatever readers and the characters expected the beginning of the scene, something else has come along to add new developments.

Issue: The outcome or change phase at the end of a scene should rarely create a resolution. Resolution leads nowhere; with matters settled, the story momentum stops cold. Instead, pump forward momentum into the story. Because of this scene, what must the characters do next? This creates an emotional springboard toward the next scene.

The Action-Reaction Dynamic

To sum it up, the structure of a goal-driven scene comes down to action and reaction. Goal-driven scenes are little vehicles for change, and protagonists are the drivers. They react, decide, choose, and act, concluding one cycle of options and turning down another avenue for pursuing the elusive story goal.

LISA POISSO - Resident Writing Coach

Lisa Poisso specializes in helping new and emerging fiction writers. A veteran of the disciplined world of classical dance, she brings that same practiced artistry to writing—where structure, form, and technique are springboards that give you freedom of movement on the page. Explore her Writing & Editing Resources for valuable tools to develop your manuscript, and subscribe to the Writes of Fiction newsletter to receive Lisa’s hand-picked writing advice delivered directly to your inbox. Find out more about our RWC team here and connect with Lisa below.

The post Scene Mastery: Navigating Common Goal-Driven Scene Pitfalls appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Writing is a unique profession because people find their way to it from so many different careers. Sure, there are those who complete an English degree in school before penning their first book, but there are many more who cut their teeth in other careers before answering the call to write – some as a hobby, and many others who hope to make writing books their full-time gig. Writing on the surface seems like such an approachable art form. Heck, if you can read, you can write, right? 

But there is much more to writing a book than good grammar and spelling. Even if you bring strong writing skills with you from another career, tackling writing a full book can be daunting. Fears creep in. Writers I work with always have the same question. 

“Is my writing good enough?”  

Over the years, and working with thousands of writers, I’ve realized the real question writers want to know is: 

“Will readers get my story?”

Note: Even if you, the writer, tell the world you’re writing this book for yourself, and you convince yourself that you don’t care if anyone ever reads it, or appreciates it – most writers I meet have these secret wishes

1. That their work will be found, read, loved, and shared. 
2. That their book will take on a life of its own and catch on like wildfire. 

Many writers are tempted to skip the steps needed to get their books to the level of readiness needed to reach these goals, because when you read your own writing, it reads like your awesome idea playing out in your own mind. To understand how that clouds a writer’s judgment, let’s compare becoming a competent writer to mastering other art forms.       

What if you decided to become a painter?

If you decided to share your message with a painting, instead of in a book, could you sit down and replicate the Mona Lisa without ever having picked up a paintbrush? I know I couldn’t. The Mona Lisa attempt I could make on my first try would look more like a stick figure or a semi-smiling emoji with a bad haircut. I’ve never trained as an artist, so I wouldn’t expect my first try to be expert level. 

What if you were asked to dance?

Or, let’s say you get invited to dance as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker on stage tonight. Could you do that dance justice, even if you’ve trained as a dancer but were only shown the choreography this afternoon? I took ballet for years as a kid (though never got to the Sugar Plum Fairy level) and you wouldn’t catch me up on that stage, because I’d trip, I’d fall, and probably forget the steps more than once. If you’d paid to watch my performance, you’d probably throw tomatoes at the stage.

It’s obvious that you can’t become a proficient painter or dancer overnight, without any training or practice. The same is true of writing, but with one difference that makes it easy to think you can. Reading back your own writing relies on imagination. And because you love your book’s idea, and know what you hope your reader will feel, your brain fills in all this extra information as you read, even when it’s not actually on the page. So you experience the Mona Lisa you set out to write, even though what’s on your page may only be stick figures.

If your book gets published at this stage, readers may give your rendition of the dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy a lousy one star review, instead of rating it the 5 star performance you experience in your mind when you read your own work.

Don’t be discouraged, though.  I can guarantee your idea is good enough to get a 5 star review from your ideal reader. It’s kept you going, you finished your draft. And readers will love it too, if you take the time to learn the skills needed to let them see the Mona Lisa you dreamed up.

How can you get some distance from your own writing, so that you can find the stick figures and turn them into masterpieces?

 Get External Feedback

Skip friends and family for this step. They love you and have heard all about your writing dreams. They are proud of all the work you’ve put in and will read your work with rose colored glasses, giving you rave reviews. They might even see the Mona Lisa. Instead:

• Work with a Critique Partner. These wonderful writers will give you the feedback you need on your book, usually in exchange for feedback on their writing.
• Hire an Editor or Book Coach that specializes in the kind of book you’re writing. Investing in a professional’s time to help you level up your writing is an important step to make sure your book doesn’t fall flat.
• Get feedback from Beta Readers. Ask readers who love books like yours for their reactions. Their feedback might just be the key you need to take your book to 5 star status.

Set aside time and energy to learn the writing skills that will make your book sing .

Don’t buy into the myth that writers are born with talent, or not. If your first draft isn’t ready to publish? That’s normal. Expected, even. Know that in writing, just like other forms of art, or when learning a new profession, there are skills to learn, and you are capable of learning them.

If you’re reading this on the Writers Helping Writers’ blog, you’ve come to the right place to learn and practice the skills you need to make your book worthy of a standing ovation.

Not sure if your writing is at the stick figure or Mona Lisa stage?

I’ve developed this fun quiz, which will show you whether your writing is ready for readers, and give you some next steps to tackle if it’s not.

The world needs YOUR story. Making sure you’ve given yourself the skills to write it in a way that readers will read, love, and share it with others will be worth the effort, so dig in and learn from as many community members as you can while you’re here. 

Happy Writing!

SUZY VADORI - Resident Writing Coach

Suzy Vadori is the award-winning author of The Fountain Series. She is a certified Book Coach with Author Accelerator and the Founder of Wicked Good Fiction Bootcamp. Suzy breaks down important writing concepts into practical steps to make it easy for writers coming from outside the industry to get up to speed in a snap, so that they can realize their big, wild writing dreams!

In addition to her weekly newsletter encouraging writers, and online courses, Suzy offers both developmental editing and 1:1 Book Coaching. Find out more about our RWC team here and discover how to connect with Suzy and all the resources she has to offer here.

The post Is Your Writing Ready for Readers? appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

The economy is tough right now – inflation is high, and everyone needs to stretch their dollars further, including writers. Black Friday is an excellent time to get what we need to succeed and save.

To save you time, we’ve rounded up some of the best deals we’ve found,
including one from us!

Check Out These Deals: Writing, Editing, Publishing & Marketing

ProWritingAid (Save 50%)

Save up to 50% on select packages so ProWritingAid can give you clear, easy steps to improve your writing so you can write, edit, and share your stories with confidence. ProWritingAid’s real-time feedback and in-depth reports offer world-class grammar, style and consistency checking. Strengthen your prose, improve clarity, and have more time to write. This deal runs from Nov 13 – 29th.

Novel Factory (Save 30%)

Save 30% on annual licenses for the Novel Factory writing software which includes character development tools, plot templates, target tracking and so much more. Developed by award-winning author, Katja Kaine, the software includes a wealth of writing advice, which helps new writers master the craft and more established writers hone and perfect their skills. Use the code BLACKFRIDAY2023 by November 24th to grab this deal.

Fictionary Storyteller & Storyteller Live (Save 40%)

Fictionary’s groundbreaking software and expert guidance give you the tools and support you need to write an unforgettable story. With StoryTeller Developmental Editing Software, you’ll generate a story arc that allows you to see how your structure, characters, plot, and setting compares to best-in-class. With StoryTeller Premium + Fictionary Live! Guided Editing Program, subscribers also get personalised guidance from Fictionary Certified StoryCoach Instructors. It’s a surefire way to get your manuscript over the finish line. Save 40% on monthly and annual subscriptions between Nov 15 – Nov 24.

FirstEditing Services (Save 21%)

FirstEditing’s professional editors correct and perfect every word so you can publish your manuscript confidently and successfully. You get an expert editor in your genre to personally edit your writing, revise your syntax, and advise you on how to develop and structurally strengthen your writing. Save 21% off any professional editing service including Certified Structural Editing, Book Coaching, and more between November 25th and December 1st.

Novlr Writing Software (Save $50)

Novlr is the first writer-owned creative writing workspace that lets you focus on what’s most important- your words. Our smart design is distraction-free, writing streaks and goals keep you motivated, advanced analytics provide insights into your best writing times, and automatic cloud syncing keeps your work safe. You will be more productive on Novlr. Save $50 on an annual subscription with the code BLACKFRIDAY23 until December 31st.

Write | Publish | Sell ($10 Bundle)

We’re celebrating 10 years in the business of supporting authors with a bundle of 4 of our most popular book marketing workshops for ONLY $10 with the code BLACKFRIDAY. Grab this deal by November 30th.

PublishDrive (3 Months Free)

Easily self-publish ebooks online, audiobooks, and print books to thousands of stores worldwide with PublishDrive. New Customers can subscribe to our annual plan, and get 12 months of service for the price of 9 (three months free). Grab this deal by December 31st.

SelfPubCon Access Pass (Save 50%)

Enjoy 50% off a six-month or lifetime access to content from the Self-Publishing Advice Conference (provided by the Alliance of Independent Authors) with discount code BLACKFRIDAY23. Grab this deal by November 30th.

K.M.Weiland’s Products for Writers (Save 25%)

Save 25% off K.M. Weiland’s popular writing books and put her expert guidance on plot, character, and story structure to work. Her interactive workbooks (including the Outlining Your Novel Workbook software) can turn your knowledge into practical skills, and you can dive deep into character development with the Creating Character Arcs Course. Katie also has Archetypal Character Guided Meditations to help you delve into your characters’ minds and dream up new story ideas. Grab this deal by Nov 27th.

Publisher Rocket (Free Course)

Get their Kindlepreneur Keywords and Categories Course free with the purchase of Publisher Rocket, a powerful tool to help you determine the best keywords for your book. This deal runs from November 21st to November 29th.

BookFunnel Author Service (Save $50)

BookFunnel is the premier software service for authors. Whether it’s delivering your reader magnet or ARCs, finding great ways to promote and swap books with other authors, or doing direct sales and Kickstarter fulfillment, BookFunnel is the essential tool for your author business. Save $50 on the mid-list or higher yearly plan until November 30th.

Atticus Software (Free Course)

Transform your writing journey with Atticus.io—the all-in-one powerhouse for book writing and formatting. Forget juggling multiple tools; Atticus brings you a sleek, intuitive platform that takes you from draft to publish-ready masterpiece effortlessly. Get a free course with every purchase of Atticus: Publishing for Indie Authors between November 22nd and November 27th.

Scribophile Premium (Save 30%)

Scribophile is one of the web’s largest online writing communities and workshops. Writers of all skill levels join to make friends, finish their novels, help each other improve, take writing classes, and meet beta readers. Save 30% off a premium membership until November 30th.

Sacha Black’s Courses & Books (Save 30%)

Save 30% with the code BLACKFRIDAY30 and improve your prose, characters or storytelling! Join rebel author, podcaster, and bestselling author Sacha Black for her Villains Masterclass and the Anatomy of Prose: The Senses course, or save on her catalog of writing guides between November 30th and December 3rd.

Shut Up and Write the Book ($2.99 Deal)

Save on Shut Up and Write the Book, a step-by-step guide to crafting your novel from plan to print, written by award-winning author and YouTube sensation, Jenna Moreci. Grab it on Amazon for $2.99 from November 24th to December 1st.

Saving the best for last: story support tools to help you write your BEST book!

One Stop for Writers (Save 40%)

Ready for a game-changer? Look no further than One Stop for Writers ^®, your ultimate storytelling companion.

Designed by story experts Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, these groundbreaking tools will help you craft characters with true depth, invent fresh and captivating plots, and construct immersive worlds that your readers won’t want to leave:

SHOW-DON’T-TELL DESCRIPTION DATABASE
CHARACTER BUILDER
CHARACTER ARC BLUEPRINT
TIMELINE TOOL
STORY AND SCENE MAPS
WORLDBUILDING SURVEYS
IDEA GENERATOR
TEMPLATES AND WORKSHEETS
THE STORYTELLER’S ROADMAP
INSIGHTFUL CRAFT TUTORIALS, TIP SHEETS & MORE

Say goodbye to writer’s block, telling, and frustration as you plan, write, and revise.

One Stop for Writers supports you at every step so only your best writing makes it to the page.

Use the code BF2023 to unlock a
40% discount on our 6-month plan.

(Deal ends November 27th.)

We hope you find a few things on this list that help you on your journey. Happy writing & saving!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Top Black Friday Deals for Writers appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Every writer’s journey is unique, but we all experience one iconic moment: the decision to stop thinking about writing a book and actually do it.

And then? Euphoria. Finally, our ideas will live on the page! We imagine characters, plot twists, and future readers clutching our book, unable to put it down.

Of course, this high usually curdles into terror because now we must write the book. And we have zero clue as to how to do it.  

It’s overwhelming; we can see the finish line but have no idea how to get there.

With any big goal, the best way to achieve it is to break it into manageable pieces. A great first step for writing a first book is to map the route, start to finish. Here’s what that might look like.  

1. Choose Your Best Idea

Whether you have hundreds of ideas for a novel, or only a few, you need to settle on a core premise to make sure it’s strong enough to build a story around. Using Goal, Motivation, Conflict (GMC) can help you test ideas:

Goal: What your character wants

Motivation: Why your character wants it

Conflict: What stands in their way

These key elements form your core premise, and once you know it, you have your story’s first piece! To dive into this a bit further, here’s a GMC+Stakes worksheet.

Here’s more on brainstorming your story idea.

2. Prewriting

Once you have your story premise, it’s time to plan the people, places, and events. Some writers do a lot of prewriting, brainstorming their characters in depth to understand who they are, what they want and need, and develop their backstory and relationships. They also world build so they can write the story’s reality with authority, and plot/outline story’s events so they have a really good idea of what will happen, and when. Other writers do minimal planning in favor of a discovery draft, where they uncover these things as they write.

Try these tools to help you plan your story.

The level of prewriting you need is a personal choice, but generally the more you know, especially about key characters and their motivations, the easier it can be to write. Very likely you’ll have less big-picture revision to do later, but results may vary, as they say. If this is your first time, pay attention to your gut. When your instincts are nudging you to stop planning and start writing, you’ll know.

3. Mental Prep

When you think you’re ready to start writing, take a moment to set yourself up for success. Choose a place to work where everything you need is at hand – notebooks, pens, a computer, noise-cancelling headphones or whatever else you might need. Think about when is a good time to write, and if any challenges could make it hard to get words down. This will help you be prepared when life intervenes.

Julie Glover has great additional advice on what you need to write regularly here.

4. Writing

Welcome to the fun zone! This is when you finally get to unleash your creativity, so enjoy every moment of it. Don’t let worries about quality get in your way. This drafting process is about letting go so words can flow. Fixing and refining comes later. If you get stuck, try these tips and keep writing to the finish line.

It’s possible you might hit a point where you doubt yourself and your abilities. If so, know you aren’t alone. All writers feel this way at some point. What’s important is that you push back on these thoughts. Keep writing and trust the process. You’ve got this!

5. Celebrating

After the first draft is written, celebrate! Writing an entire book is a huge undertaking, and you’ve just done it. Take some time to do something special – read, relax, and reward yourself for having the persistence to see this through. Celebrating each win is self-care, so indulge.

6. Putting the Manuscript to Bed

You need time and distance from the story so when it’s time to revise, you see it with fresh eyes. Even if you want to start revising right away, put the manuscript aside for two weeks to a month. 

7. The First Read

After your story has sat for a bit, you’ll want to read it from start to finish to get a sense of how it flows, what areas need stronger development, and anything that might need to be reworked. So rather than start revising right away, make notes as you read. This will give you a plan to follow for your first round of revision.

Also, expect to find some cringe-worthy writing. This is a first draft, not a final product, after all. But guaranteed you’ll also find some gems and think, “Whoa, did I write this?” Use those as fuel to inspire you!

8. Revising

This first round is where you fix the big stuff: strengthening characters and their arcs and making sure they and their emotional experiences are relatable so readers will connect to them and their journey. You’ll want to address any plot and pacing issues, look for plot holes or logic issues with your worldbuilding, and things like that. This revision pass isn’t about making the story perfect, just create a story with strong bones. Remember to use your notes from the first read.

Check out this post by Janice Hardy on Revision Maps – Gold!

9. Feedback

Because this story is your baby, it can be hard to be objective about what’s working and what isn’t, so going to others will help you get distanced opinions on how well the story works and what might need to be fixed.  

This step should only be taken when you’re mentally ready for it. It’s easy to become emotional and mistake help as criticism, which brings self-doubt to the surface. Find people who are genuine about wanting to help you and don’t be afraid to tell them this is your first experience with critiques. When feedback comes in, remember their goal is to help you strengthen this story, not hurt your feelings.

At this early stage, paying for editorial help may not be the best choice. Workshopping your story via critiques helps you save yourself money by doing as much of the work yourself as you can. Here are six tips for finding a great critique partner.

Wondering when it might be time to outsource to an editor? Read this.

10. Refining

After you’ve had a few people provide feedback, you’ll have more ideas on what needs to be strengthened. Sort through the advice, and take your time, doing as many rounds as you need to get your story and characters to where they need to be.

11. Editing

Once you’ve workshopped your novel and you feel the story is solid, you’ll want to turn your focus to description, dialogue, and language choices. At the sentence level, strengthen your verbs, look for words or actions you may overuse, tighten your writing, deepen symbolism, and make sure your pacing is strong. Look for opportunities to strengthen every word.

These tip sheets & checklists can be a big help.

12. Polishing

When you feel confident about the shape of your story, it’s time to polish it up. Proofread for typos, missing words, repeated language, repeats, and make sure everything is consistent. If you changed names, places, or other elements, make sure you’ve caught any old bits hanging around. Read your story aloud as it will help you find the little things.

13. Final Read

Just as you did with your first read, you’ll want to do a final one, too. By now, you might be sick of this story. If so, take a break before the final read.

If there’s anything that bothers you as you read, make a note of it. You can also ask others to read it as well to get second opinions before you take the next step toward publication.

Before turning to a publishing route, you want to feel confident that this is your best work. At any time, if you need to, go back, revise again, seek out more feedback, or even look into hiring an editor to help you work through a problem. You can also work your way through this Storyteller’s Roadmap if you would like step-by-step help:

Remember, it’s not a race. You’ve got this!

Don’t rush. Strong stories take time, so give yourself the freedom and space to create the best story possible. And remember you aren’t alone in this; help is everywhere. Search this blog for keywords to read articles that can help you. Ask other writers for resources and advice. Chances are, any challenge you encounter is one others have faced, and they’ll have ideas on how to help!

ANGELA ACKERMAN

Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post Write a Novel in 13 Steps appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

It took me two and a half years to write and revise my first book to get it to the point it was ready for readers. And then another 2 years to find my publisher and get it out into the world. My next book I wrote in 6 months. I now coach other writers, and I see this pattern of book 2 getting written much faster over and over again. Seems obvious, right?

Well, yes, but not for the reasons you may think. Sure, by your second book, you’ve honed your technique and have developed some (hopefully!) good writing habits. But that’s not it.

Writers’ blogs and forums are riddled with advice for you to write faster, everything from getting your word count in daily, to using templates or formulas to fill in your structure. And following this advice may indeed make writing your first draft faster. But your first draft isn’t the finished product, as much as you may want it to be.

The time between completing a draft and knowing that a manuscript is everything you’d hoped it would be is this murky space few writers talk about, where especially newer writers get lost, losing weeks, months, or years sitting in a doubtful limbo.

Writing a first draft is a huge accomplishment, don’t get me wrong. But you’ll know in your heart it isn’t ready for prime time. The idea of revisions can be daunting. Overwhelming, even.

When I found myself in this unexpected murky place when I was writing my first book more than a decade ago, I had questions like:

• I’m being told my book “isn’t ready” yet by agents, editors, and publishers. But how do I know what to work on? Should this be obvious to me?
• Some of my favorite writers write books in 3 months or faster. Why can’t I seem to do this?
• My gut is telling me I need to rip the whole book apart and then put it back together again to make it what I want. Do I REALLY have to do that?
• If my draft isn’t perfect, does this mean I don’t have what it takes to be a writer??
• Am I really good enough?

Ugh.

And so, I spun my wheels, and looked for answers. Everything I’d dreamed writing a book would be like was kinda shiny. In my ideal world, words would flow, and accolades would follow. None of the writers I followed glorified the thousands of hours it might take, the deep focus I’d have to learn, or the number of times I might have to tweak my scenes until I got all my ideas on the page the way I wanted them.

I chipped away at what I knew in my heart needed to get done, piece by piece, because I was determined that my book wouldn’t see the light of day until it was ready. The only way to get my messy first draft in shape was to push through, and do the work, as much as I wanted to find a shortcut. I honed my craft. I took courses and workshops. I sought out the best editors I could find, and learned. I was, and still am, immensely proud of that book, which went on to sell thousands of copies and win awards. Most importantly, I heard from my tween and teen readers that the book affected them. That they shared it with their friends. That’s all I ever wanted.

When I sat down to write Book 2 in that series, I assumed it would be much faster. After all, I’d already created the world and its characters. It was going to be a breeze.

But I was wrong.

Because I’d already created the world and its characters, I found I needed much more content for Book 2 than I expected. Huh. So, how did I still write that book muuuuuch faster? This is the secret sauce I wish every first time author could know… and I’ve since dedicated my book coaching practice to help writers get through that murky middle time.

By the time I got to writing book 2, I understood in my bones just how much work I was going to have to put into this book to make it exactly what I wanted. I didn’t look for shortcuts, or worry that I wasn’t a good writer because I couldn’t do it “faster”. I didn’t wonder if I was doing it wrong. I just put down one word at a time, and then tackled one revision task at a time, until it was done. I was able to cut out the murky, wallowing phase that eats up so much time.

I now work with writers on first books all the time. And if there’s one thing I always want to share with them, it’s that all the work has to get done. No beta reader, editor, or publisher is going to do it for you. So, plan for it, and chip away at it until your book is exactly what you want it to be.

So, if you’re writing your first book, keep going and you’ll get there. If you’ve completed a draft, and are stuck in the resistance phase in the murk, here’s some next steps you can take to keep your book moving forward. Once you know what needs to get done, knock off one step at a time until you’ve got a book you’re proud of.

But don’t stop moving, or you’ll land in the time-sucking murk.

Do what you can to skip over the part where you doubt if you’re doing it right, and dive in with full gusto.

Once you’ve written your first book, and gone through this path of resistance, coming out with a book ready to publish on the other side, I’d put money on the fact that you’ll get to the end of your second book… and that you’ll write it faster than you did your first.

SUZY VADORI - Resident Writing Coach

Suzy Vadori is the award-winning author of The Fountain Series. She is a certified Book Coach with Author Accelerator and the Founder of Wicked Good Fiction Bootcamp. Suzy breaks down important writing concepts into practical steps to make it easy for writers coming from outside the industry to get up to speed in a snap, so that they can realize their big, wild writing dreams!

In addition to her weekly newsletter encouraging writers, and online courses, Suzy offers both developmental editing and 1:1 Book Coaching. Find out more about our RWC team here and discover how to connect with Suzy and all the resources she has to offer here.

The post The Secret to Writing Your First Book Faster appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.

Conflict in every scene.

We’ve all heard this advice, and for good reason. Your protagonist has a goal—hopefully, an audacious and high-stakes goal that is difficult to achieve. “Difficult” is important. It’s one of the qualities of a highly engaging story because the harder the goal is to reach, the less certainty readers have that the protagonist will be ok. They’ll find themselves wondering: Will the hero win in the end? Can they overcome the odds? Will they be able to make the necessary internal growth for them to succeed?

To maintain this level of reader empathy and engagement, the conflict has to come hard and fast—there needs to be hardship in every single scene. Some of that strife will relate directly back to the story goal in the form of obstacles, adversaries, setbacks, and disappointments that push the character farther from their objective. 

But not every conflict has to do with the overall goal. Some of it relates to an important subplot that’s impacting a key story player. And then you have inner conflict, which exists solely within the character as they struggle with various aspects of personal evolution and internal growth. 

As you’re drafting—as the story progresses and the protagonist’s difficulties compound—there’s always a risk of the central conflict getting muted or lost in the noise. Too much conflict, or certain problems getting a disproportionate chunk of airtime, can lead to pacing issues and confused readers who aren’t sure what the character is working toward. Keeping the core plot and central conflict as your main focus is the best way to ensure that everything you add to the story is leading to that eventual climax. 

How do we do that exactly?

Know Your Story’s Central Conflict

The first step is to identify the main conflict for your story. A good place to start is with the six common literary forms of conflict:

• Character vs. Character: In this scenario, the protagonist goes head-to-head with another character in a battle of wills. (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Die Hard, The Princess Bride)
• Character vs. Society: These stories feature a character who faces seemingly insurmountable challenges when taking on society or a powerful agency within their world. (The Hunger Games, Schindler’s List, Erin Brockovich)
• Character vs. Nature: In this case, the character goes up against nature. (The Perfect Storm, Wild, The Revenant)
• Character vs. Technology: This conflict will pit a character against technology or a machine. (The Terminator, The Matrix, WarGames)
• Character vs. Supernatural: This form of conflict involves a character facing opposition that exists (at least partially) outside their understanding. (Dr. Sleep, Ghost Rider, Percy Jackson and the Olympians)
• Character vs. Self: Of all the conflict forms, this is the most personal (and often the most compelling) because the friction arises from within the character’s belief system or personal identity. (The Bourne Identity, Dexter, A Beautiful Mind)

Which of the six central conflicts is your story built around? Identifying it will help you keep it front-of-mind and in the spotlight. This knowledge can also help you choose the right conflict scenarios—the problems and friction-inducing situations that will test your character’s commitment, reveal characterization, and force them to reflect on how to become stronger so they can achieve their goal. 

Once you’ve zeroed in on the main conflict for your story, you can keep an eagle eye on the other hardships that, if you’re not careful, can become larger-than-life and overpower your main plotline. 

Character Arc Conflict

When a character resolves their main internal struggle, their heart and mind become aligned, which is usually necessary for them to achieve their goal. It’s no surprise then that inner conflict tied to the character’s arc will be prominent. However, just because it’s crucial to your story doesn’t mean internal tug-of-wars should overwhelm everything else, including your plot. 

In this case, balancing internal and external conflict is all about proportion: including enough internal struggle to show the character’s gradual journey toward change without bogging down the external plot and related conflict. This is handled quite well in the first book of the Harry Potter series. 

As Rowling introduces readers to Harry and his world in the opening pages, she focuses largely on external conflict: the Dursleys belittle Harry, lock him in a cupboard, withhold his mail, and motor him off to an isolated island to keep him from getting his Hogwarts letter. Then Hagrid appears and turns his world upside down. 

Here’s where we see the first real internal conflict from Harry. It’s fitting, because one thing he’s learned from living with the Dursleys is to keep his head down and avoid attention. So he rolls with the punches, taking whatever’s thrown at him. But when Harry learns that he’s a powerful non-Muggle who defeated the most formidable wizard that ever lived, he’s shell-shocked and struggles to fit this new information into what he’s always believed to be true. 

This pattern of blending external and internal conflict continues throughout the book, with Harry’s moments of personal struggle coming intermittently. And this is the right balance, considering Harry’s story. While he does experience some internal changes in book one, they’re secondary to the story goal: beating Voldemort. Achieving that objective is not only vital for book one but also sets up the main conflict for the rest of the series. A lot of external conflict is required to prepare Harry to keep Voldemort from acquiring the sorcerer’s stone and coming back to power, so that’s what Rowling gives us. 

For stories with less action, you may have to experiment to find the right balance between internal and external conflict. Some characters may have more internal hurdles than others, and of course, if your story has a character vs. self plotline, the internal struggle is the core story, so it will require more focus. In A Beautiful Mind, for instance, John Nash’s battle is with his mental illness, so a lot of airtime is given to him fighting his schizophrenia and the personalities it conjures. 

Subplot Conflict

While a good portion of conflict happens in the main plotline, subplots will contain their own obstacles and challenges—many of which will also take a good portion of the story to resolve. It takes some effort to keep them from shoving their way to the forefront and taking over.

For an example of how to maintain the proper proportion, let’s continue with our Harry Potter theme. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the main plot and conflict are as follows: 

Story Goal: Keep Voldemort from finding the stone and returning to power
Central Conflict: Harry vs. Voldemort (character vs. character) 

And while there are many subplots, here are a few of the more obvious ones:

Subplot 1: Harry, Ron, and Hermione becoming friends
Subplot 2: Harry’s growing adversarial relationship with Malfoy
Subplot 3: Snape as an antagonist for Harry 

Each subplot should have its own story arc, and while it will be simpler and shorter than a main plotline, it will have a clear beginning, middle, and end with its own ups and downs. Each one should also push the story forward and, in some way, influence the main plot. 

For instance, Harry’s friendship with Ron and Hermione is key to him defeating Voldemort in the first book. In the climax alone, Hermione’s knowledge about Devil’s Snare and Ron’s experience and self-sacrifice in the game of Wizard’s Chess make it possible for Harry to get to that final confrontation. 

So while it’s great for Harry to have friends, this subplot is integral to him achieving his main goal (while also providing valuable opportunities for characterization). 

The Malfoy subplot is important because Voldemort doesn’t make a physical appearance until the third act, so Malfoy acts as a stand-in, providing a physical antagonist for Harry to battle. He also plays a part in many scene-level conflict scenarios that draw Harry closer to fulfilling the overall goal. 

The third subplot, though, is the most interesting—as anything to do with Snape tends to be. Like Malfoy, Snape is a sparring partner for Harry. And the scenes with Snape often involve the race for the sorcerer’s stone, so they support the main plotline, as required. The fascinating thing about this subplot is that we realize at the end of the book that most of those scenes with Snape involved red herrings, meant to throw Harry and the readers off. And as any true fan knows, Snape as a red herring is an ongoing theme. So not only does his subplot contribute to the first book’s storyline, it also is foundational to the series as a whole. 

The conflicts in these subplots have a lot of wow factor, and they could have easily run away with the story. But they didn’t because they were built to do only what they needed to do: provide Harry and his friends with the knowledge and experience they needed to face bigger battles. As a result, his fight to prevent Voldemort from returning to power remained center stage. 

In conclusion, balancing the various conflicts in your story—especially the ongoing ones—can be a bit of a juggling act. But maintaining the right proportion is important. These tips should help you keep the main conflict where it needs to be: smack in the center stage of your story.

Need More Help
Unleashing the
Power of Conflict?

The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles Volume 1 & 2 are packed with ideas on how to make conflict work harder in your story. Find out more.

BECCA PUGLISI

Becca Puglisi is an international speaker, writing coach, and bestselling author of The Emotion Thesaurus and its sequels. Her books are available in five languages, are sourced by US universities, and are used by novelists, screenwriters, editors, and psychologists around the world. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge with others through her Writers Helping Writers blog and via One Stop For Writers—a powerhouse online library created to help writers elevate their storytelling.

The post How to Stay Focused on Your Story’s Central Conflict  appeared first on WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®.