You likely have an idea of what your story is about and what will happen to your characters—a young woman embarks on a quest to save a prince from a dragon; a boy must defeat an evil tyrant to free his village; a person experiencing heartbreak learns to find love again. [...]
Readers are most intrigued by characters that make choices. We’re less interested in what happens to a character than we are what the character is going to do about it. One of the most common mistakes writers make while outlining is in using plot events to shove a character into and [...]
So many writers obsess over the very first line of their story. If I can just get this right, they think, I’ll grab my readers attention and they’ll be hooked! While this isn’t wrong by any means, many writers spend way too much time focusing on that first sentence and [...]
Stories are about journeys of change. Readers want to see how your flawed main character will fight for what they want, how their weaknesses will hold them back, and how they’ll overcome those weaknesses in the end. For an effective character arc to work, you need your character to transform throughout [...]
Stories are about change—specifically, they are about how characters change. Characters are the heart and soul of any story, which means that we should develop the story around them—starting with your protagonist. Readers engage in good stories when they know what the protagonist wants and why it matters to them. They [...]
As readers, we’re engaged in a story’s plot because we know what the main character wants and why—and we’re dying to find out how far they’ll go to get it. We’re not engaged in the plot itself, but rather how it affects and influences the characters we’ve come to love. This [...]
Stories are about change. Specifically, stories are about how characters change. We love stories so much because we are able to see ourselves in the main character, and we learn as they learn. You’ve probably spent a lot of time working on your main character—the protagonist whose journey of change the [...]
It’s so fun to start a new story. You’re in the honeymoon phase, crafting characters that make your heart twinge and throwing challenges their way to make them squirm. You’re exploring new worlds, casts and themes. It’s exhilarating—until you hit that inevitable 20-25% mark. Suddenly it’s time to launch into Act [...]
Building secondary characters is incredibly fun. Who doesn’t love dreaming up a romantic interest? Brainstorming unique characteristics for a mentor? Crafting the sass of the sidekick and best friend? We love plucking quirky, vibrant people from the recesses of our minds—but simply crafting interesting people isn’t enough. Secondary characters are [...]
Readers want to feel what characters feel. In fact, brain science tells us that what draws readers into stories is a sense of emotional connection with the characters. This is the key that allows these readers to experience your story as if they were in it. It’s a writer’s job to [...]
Great scenes build an exhilarating push and pull between a story’s plot and characters. Plot events drive characters to make choices, and their choices in turn shape future plot events. This wave of tension locks in readers, compelling them to read chapter after chapter. With the 15 key elements in this guide, you can claim this page-turning power as your own! We’ve included two analyzed, annotated scenes to show you how it all works.
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