Tension

Tension is the sense that something is about to happen. The anticipation can be for something good or bad, as long as readers are holding their breath in anticipation.

More information on tension

• A Quick Tip for Adding Conflict and Tension to Your Scenes
• The Key to Creating Suspense Is...
• Setting up the Tension in Your Novel
• Whoa, That’s Tense. Raising the Tension in Your Scenes
• Three Ways to Add Tension During Revisions
• Shh! It's a Secret: Raising the Tension and Conflict in a Scene
• Guest Author Jen Blood: 5 Ways to Build Suspense Like a Master
• Oh, the Irony: Working With Dramatic Irony

See all articles on tension

Related topics: conflict, foreshadowing, hooks, stakes, suspense

Stakes

Stakes are what a character has to lose or gain, the consequences for failing, and what makes readers care if that characters achieves her goal or not.

More information on stakes

• What's at Stake? How Do You Make Readers Care About Your Story?
• Why Quieter Stakes Are Easier to Plot With
• The One-Two Punch: Creating Conflict and Raising the Stakes
• Making the Most of the Worst That Can Happen: Plotting for the Thrill
• Up, Up, and Away! Raising the Stakes
• Raising the Stakes: Revising to Keep Readers Reading
• Guest Author Aimee Salter: Revising to Raise the Stakes
• Decisions, Decisions: Character Choices That Matter
• Fundamental Check: Do Your Scenes Have What They Need?
• Goal - Conflict - Stakes. Why You Need All Three
• So What? Making Readers Care
• Up the Stakes by Narrowing the Focus

See all articles on stakes

Related topics: conflict, goals, motivation, tension 

Narrative

The narrative is the text of the novel itself, often used to talk about the non-dialog portions. Can also refer to the general story on a larger conceptual basis.

More information on the narrative

• Mixing Character Actions and Internal Thought

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Related topics: internalization, narrative distance, narrative drive, narrative focus, storytelling,

Premise

The premise is the general description of a novel's idea. It's the basic story or concept.

More information on the premise

• The Difference Between Idea, Premise, and Plot
• Using Your Premise to Create Plot
• Going From Premise to Plot

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Related topics: plotting, planning, storytelling, ideas

Point of View Shifts

A point of view shift is when a point of view character conveys something to the reader the point of view character couldn’t possibly know. It often jars the reader and pulls them out of the story.

More information on point of view shifts

• A Look at POV Shifts

See all articles on point of view shifts

Related topics: POV, choosing POV, multiple POV, internalization, filtering, omniscient, show vs tell

Plot

The plot is the dramatizes events of the novel that illustrated how a story unfolds. It's the external scenes, the things the characters do.

More information on plot

• Two Tips That Will Make Plotting Easier
• How to Plot With the Three-Act Structure
• Plotting With the Hero's Journey
• Plotting With the Save the Cat Beat Sheet Structure
• Plotting With Michael Hague's Six Stage Plot Structure
• Creating Plot Twists

See all articles on plot

Related topics: subplots, conflict, storytelling, stakes, goals, structure, pantsing, outlines, planning, plot holes, premise, ideas

Pitches

Pitch refers to the one- or two-line summary that describes a novel in a compelling way that would appeal to agents or editors. It can also refer to the paragraph-sized summary of a novel used in a query letter.

More information on pitches

• Crafting Your Novel's Pitch Line
• Writing a Selling Query or Pitch in Four Easy Steps
• Three Tips to Improve Your Elevator Pitch

See all articles on pitches

Related topics: hooks, queries, submitting

Passive Voice

Passive voice is when the subject of a sentence gets the action instead of the subject doing the action.

More information on passive voice

• Avoiding Passive Voice

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Related topics: show vs tell, adjectives, adverbs, nouns, description

Pantsing

Pantsing refers to writers who write "by the seat of their pants" and dive into a manuscript without planning it. The joy is in the writing without knowing where the story is going or even many details of that story.

More information on pantsing

• On Being a Pantser
• A Solution for Pantsers with Plotter Envy
• Can You Structure if You’re a Pantser?

See all articles on pantsing

Related topics: outlines, structure, character arcs, first drafts

Pacing

Pacing is the speed at which the novel reads and the speed of the information given to the reader. A fast-paced novel will read quickly, with information easily absorbed. A slow-paced novel will take longer to absorb the information and events will move more slowly.

More information on pacing

• Understanding and Controlling Your Pacing
• 7 Tips to Improve Your Novel’s Pacing
• The Perils of Pacing
• Fixing Pacing Problems

See all articles on pacing

Related topics: structure, narrative drive, narrative focus, description

Outlines

Outlines are a way to summarize a novel and its plot. It can be traditional outline format, bullet points, summarizes of scenes and paragraphs, etc. It's a way to plan out or summarize the novel in abbreviated form.

More information on outlines

• Crafting Outlines That Work for You
• Outlining a First Draft
• Outlining for a Fast Draft
• Outlining vs Pantsing

See all articles on outlines

Related topics: structure, pantsing, character arcs, first drafts

Narrative Focus

Narrative focus is when everything in a paragraph or scene leads the reader in the same direction. There's a clear hierarchy of what is important and what they text of the novel is trying to say.

More information on narrative focus

• Tightening Your Narrative Focus

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Related topics: goals, motivation, stakes

Narrative Drive

Narrative drive is the sense that the story is moving forward and going somewhere. It gives a plot momentum and a sense of urgency. Characters have things to do and those goals advance the story.

More information on narrative drive

• Diagnosing Narrative Drive

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Related topics: goals, motivation, stakes

Internalization

Internalization is the interior musing of a character thinking to herself. It reads like the character speaks, though not in dialog format. Typically used to relay information and show the personality and feelings of the character.

More information on internalization

• Internalization 101
• Crafting Natural-Sounding Internal Thoughts
• How Much Internalization is Too Much?

See all articles on internalization

Related topics: show vs tell, narrative, dialog

Inciting Event

The inciting event is the moment where the protagonist is first drawn into the main plot of the novel. This moment takes place between page one and page thirty or so in the novel.

More information on the inciting event

• The Inciting Event

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Related topics: beginnings, opening scenes, structure

Goals

Goals are what a character wants and is acting to get or achieve over the course of the novel. They drive every scene, giving the protagonist something to do to make the plot happen.

More information on goals

• Giving Your Characters a Goal
• Does Every Character Need the Same Goal?
• Keeping Goals and Motivations Fresh
• Three Questions to Get to the Heart of Your Story
• Goals-Conflicts-Stakes: Why You Need All Three

See all articles on goals

Related topics: conflict, motivation, stakes

Flashback

A flashback is a scene that occurs before the present time of the novel. Often used to convey a character's past or some important event from their history.

More information on flashbacks

• Writing Flashbacks

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Related topics: backstory, infodumps

First Draft

A first draft is an unpolished manuscript that has seen no editing since writing it. First drafts can also refer to the first stage of the novel, even if some editing has occurring during the writing process.

More information on first drafts

• Planning and Writing a First Draft
• Getting What's in Your Head Onto the Page
• First Look at a First Draft

See all articles on first drafts

Related topics: fast drafts, first chapters, first lines, editing, revision

Filtering

Filtering is when you pass information and details in a novel through a point of view character. It typically adds a layer of distance between reader and character and is often redundant, such as saying, "Jane could see the sun shining" vs. The sun shone bright.

More information on filtering

• Eliminating Filter Words

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Related topics: POV, internalization

Dramatic Irony

Dramatic irony is when the reader knows more about what's going on than the characters do. Used to help build tension and create anticipation or worry.

More information on dramatic irony

• Working With Dramatic Irony

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Related topics: POV