Saturday, June 21, 2025
The Secret to Avoiding the Sagging Story: What Makes a Good Middle
Saturday, June 14, 2025
Two Questions to Ask for Stronger Character Goals and Motivations
Strong plots start with two deceptively simple questions.
The sheer number of plotting questions I get—both in person
and online—is a good indication that plotting is something a lot of
writers wrestle with. And it’s not always because they don’t understand story
structure or scene dynamics.
You can write gorgeous prose and still wind up with a story
that meanders, stalls, or lacks punch. That’s because the characters aren’t
making active, motivated choices that drive the story. They’re just… doing
things.
“Because that’s what has to happen next” isn’t a goal.
I’ve had countless brainstorming sessions with stuck writers
(and been one myself), and over the years, I’ve noticed something. No matter
how complex the plot, how high the stakes, or how elaborate the worldbuilding,
the problem almost always comes down to one missing element: goals.
Saturday, June 07, 2025
Where Was I Going Again? The Benefits of Re-Reading During a Revision
By Janice Hardy
A re-read might be the
right path to find your story and fall in love with it all over again.
Many writers shudder at the very thought of revising their
novel. Others curse. But I’ve always enjoyed the revision process (don’t hate
me). I’ve found it’s where my best writing happens, because I know how my story
turned out and I have a much better understanding of who the characters are and
what they want and need to do.
Even if you’re a meticulous outliner, your final draft
rarely matches your original plan exactly. And if you’re a pantser or discovery
writer? Well, your manuscript may resemble your initial vision about as much as
a squirrel resembles a spaceship. Though honestly, that can happen to plotters,
too.
Because things change as we write. Motivations shift. New
ideas pop up halfway through and suddenly alter our understanding of the plot.
Characters do things we didn’t plan, and sometimes what sounded brilliant in
Chapter Eight feels like a complete mistake by Chapter Twenty.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
The Great Word Count Freakout (And Why You Can Relax)
By Janice Hardy
Figure out your word count without losing your mind.
You’ve finally finished the novel you’ve been working on for
oh-so-long. You poured your heart into it, metaphorically bed on the pages, and
finally typed “The End” before doing a little happy dance. Then you checked
your word count—and panic set in.
Is it too long? Too short? Will agents laugh? Will readers
riot? Should you cut 30,000 words? Add 20,000? Toss the whole thing into a fire
and start over?
Take a deep breath. It’s all going to be okay.
Stressing out over your word count happens to pretty much every at some point.
Saturday, May 24, 2025
Dramatic Irony vs. Surprise: Which One Should You Use (and When)?
Should you clue readers in or keep them guessing?
It’s one of those sneaky little questions that pops up mid-draft, usually right when you’ve got a big moment brewing. You’re plotting a reveal, or writing a high-stakes scene, and BAM!—you're second-guessing yourself. Should readers know what’s coming, or should they be as shocked as the protagonist? Will a slow-building dread serve you better, or is it time for a jaw-dropping twist?
It's time to choose between dramatic irony and surprise.
Both are powerful narrative tools that, when used well, can hook your reader, raise your tension, and add a satisfying emotional punch. But used poorly? You risk confusing your audience, frustrating their expectations, or even undercutting your story’s payoff.
Saturday, May 17, 2025
Can You Hear Me Now? Developing Your Narrative Voice
Voice is the feeling that there's a person behind the words. It's the judgment of the world around the characters and how they convey their opinions about that world to the reader. It's also the rhythm of the words they say, and the words you as the author choose. Is your writing casual or formal? Simple or complex? Flowery or basic?
It's the little decisions you instinctively make while you write that make your writing sound like you.
So how do you do that?
Saturday, May 10, 2025
How to Find the Right Place for Your Inciting Incident
Struggling to find where your story truly begins? Learn how to pinpoint the perfect place for your inciting incident.
The inciting incident (sometimes called the inciting event) is one of the most critical moments in any novel. It’s the point where something changes—where the protagonist's normal world is disrupted and the core story begins. It kicks off the central conflict and gives readers a reason to keep turning pages.
Saturday, May 03, 2025
3 Easy Edits for Better Emotional Descriptions
The wrong words can flatten the right feelings—learn how to spot them and breathe emotion back into your scenes.
The smallest word choices can make or break a reader’s emotional connection—and when that connection breaks, so does their investment in the story.
Saturday, April 19, 2025
The Revision Ripple Effect
Tiny tweaks in a story can cause a tidal wave of changes.
Maybe I’m a writing freak, but I actually love revisions. A single change can impact a novel on multiple levels, which is both cool, and terrifying.
Tweak a character’s backstory or change the rules of your world’s magic, and bam! Your entire novel starts to shift under your feet. One change leads to another, and another, and then you realize the larger ramifications of all those changes and before you know it, it’s practically a new book.
Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you want to make sure it’s what you want.
Some rippled-revisions are massive, while others are more nuanced.
Saturday, April 12, 2025
The Key to Creating Suspense Is...
Suspense matters in all novels, not just the thrillers and the horror stories.
The most memorable experience I've had with suspense and storytelling, was watching the final episode for season one of "Why Women Kill." Despite the name, the show is a drama, not a documentary, and is brilliantly told through three sets of characters, in three time periods, all in the same house. All you know going in is that one of the women in each time period is going to kill. You don't know who, you don't why, and you don't know how.