Creating a character from scratch can feel like a daunting task. Who are they? What do they look like? What do they believe? What are their needs/wants/motivations/fears/flaws? So much to consider to create a character with depth and enough life where their decisions within your story are believable. That’s where Read more…
You might be surprised to know that there really aren’t that many story plots out there. If you picked any novel or movie it most likely falls in one of the seven or twelve, depending on who you talk to, story archetypes that exist. Whether it’s overcoming a monster, rags Read more…
I know I’ve said this before, the old saying, don’t judge a book by it’s cover, but we still do. The cover is the first impression a reader gets. Does it convey the genre, what the story might be about, or provide some mystery? Not only should a cover do Read more…
It’s all been building toward this, Act III. Where all the setups payoff, characters have overcome their internal/external issues to solve the big problem in front of them, and where they plan live out the rest of their lives in this new world. The gather the team, the execute a Read more…
Well, this year has disappeared before my very eyes. Catching up on my reading goals as best I can, as I fell off the bandwagon for a bit while I figured out how to promote my own book. I’m back on and looking to crush the rest of the year Read more…
Act II was/can be a scary act, for me at least. It’s the heaviest, beefiest of the three acts and can either drag a story down, bringing it to a grinding halt, or it can raise the stakes and tension for a sweet payoff in Act III. Act II is Read more…
Photo Credit: John Stoke, 2014, Green Bank Observatory Flickr Setting in any story is, or should be, just as important as any character. It may not have motivations and goals like a character (or maybe it can?), but it can help convey themes, act as an obstacle, or represent something Read more…
As I switch gears back into prep for book two, I recently revisited my writing reference crutch, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. There are plenty of books about writing, story structure, and methodologies for turning your idea into a story. Besides Save the Cat!, Stephen King’s On Writing, and Read more…
I’m not having it right now. Not yet at least. Right now, I’m being lazy and procrastinating or finding some other task to do instead of writing. Maybe I’m doing that because I actually don’t know what to write? Shit, do I have writer’s block? No. You can’t have writer’s Read more…
One of the key elements of creating compelling characters is finding their motivation. Whether it be internal, external and/or both (ideally), character motivations are what drive them to make decisions about the obstacles thrown at them. This creates conflict which creates drama which creates an interested reader. Even if they Read more…