By Julie Artz One of my favorite parts of being an obsessive reader is the feeling of picking up a book and instantly being immersed in the world. A few of my favorites include Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, any book by Taylor Jenkins Reid or Kristin Hannah, The Murderbot Diaries by Martha … [Read more...] about The Top Three World-Building Pitfalls (and how to avoid them)
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Less Is More—When It Comes to Describing Setting
By C. S. Lakin If you’re writing fiction, it’s your job to create rich, descriptive settings in which your characters live and breathe. The challenge—as any seasoned fiction writer can tell you—is how to find the proper balance between over- and under-describing, between extensively showing the … [Read more...] about Less Is More—When It Comes to Describing Setting
Themes and Symbols Go Together Like Peas and Carrots
So...symbolism. We’re pretty familiar with this storytelling element, and I’m guessing most of us have experimented with the use of symbols in our writing. In a nutshell, you take an object, word, color, phrase, etc., and apply it in a story to give it a deeper meaning: Tolkien’s one ring (evil) … [Read more...] about Themes and Symbols Go Together Like Peas and Carrots
Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots
Conflict is a key story ingredient, one we need a lot of, but this doesn't mean quantity is better than quality. Fiction isn’t a video game; waves of bad guys with guns won't keep readers tuned in for long. They expect to see a variety of conflict, including meaningful problems that deepen the … [Read more...] about Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots
Use a Character’s Career to Support Your Story’s Theme
Successful stories are often ones whose elements are employed subtly. You may not be able to say exactly why they work, and as a reader, you probably don’t care; you just like the feeling of rightness that settles in as you read. Theme is one of those important elements that are quietly working … [Read more...] about Use a Character’s Career to Support Your Story’s Theme
3 Tricks to Reel Your Reader in With Flashbacks
We oftentimes hear the word flashback and we begin to think of all the don’ts associated with them. Don’t use them too early. Don’t let them go on too long. Don’t include too many. The list goes on and on. Flashbacks get a bad rap because they’re oftentimes misunderstood in terms of how to use them. … [Read more...] about 3 Tricks to Reel Your Reader in With Flashbacks
Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: People of Color
Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is the key to avoiding misrepresentation, which causes harm to the very identities being portrayed and creates fallout for … [Read more...] about Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: People of Color
Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Female Characters
Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is the key to avoiding misrepresentation, which causes harm to the very identities being portrayed and creates fallout for … [Read more...] about Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Female Characters
Subterfuge in Dialogue
Dialogue—good dialogue—is tricky. Mechanics can be learned; the rules are readily available and are hammered into us by teachers, editors, critique partners, and countless Facebook memes. The hard part of writing good dialogue is nailing the back-and-forth, the natural ebb and flow that turns … [Read more...] about Subterfuge in Dialogue
Six Tips for How to Write a Compelling Action Scene
By Emily Young Did you know that when you read a novel, your brain thinks you're experiencing the events? “The brain, it seems, does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life,” according to this article in The New York Times. No wonder we … [Read more...] about Six Tips for How to Write a Compelling Action Scene
Stoking Your Story’s Fire: Three Considerations for Revising Scene by Scene
By David G. Brown The Two Pillars of Storytelling After my first couple years as a fiction editor, I realized that all of my developmental feedback for clients fit into one of two categories. The first is immersion: the quality of a narrative that transports readers to another time and place. … [Read more...] about Stoking Your Story’s Fire: Three Considerations for Revising Scene by Scene
How Memoir and Autobiography Differ
By Liz Alterman A few years ago, I told a friend that I’d nearly finished writing a memoir. She knew that it focused on the period my husband and I—both in our mid-to-late forties—were laid off simultaneously and struggling to get our careers and marriage back on track. Yet that didn't stop her … [Read more...] about How Memoir and Autobiography Differ