A few years ago, in the middle of a fierce winter and an even fiercer case of writer’s block, my mom gave me an incredible suggestion to help me past what had been stoppering my writing for several months. “What does your character think?” she said. It never occurred to me to ask, but once… Read more »
You’ve done it. Developed a writing voice distinctly your own. Readers can clearly hear YOU in your articles, essays, and poems. Congrats! But what about your fiction? If you’re like me, the trick of bringing that voice to fiction, and writing believable characters—with their own voices—is not so clear. In my first article on voice,… Read more »
Here we go again! Week #5 of James Scott Bell’s 14 signpost scenes, and I promise that you’re in for a big one. Why? Because signpost #5, otherwise known as The Doorway of No Return #1 (The Point of No Return, abbreviated PONR), is one of the three massive, explosive, impossible-to-write-a-story-without plot points. If you’re… Read more »
People love a good story, because telling stories is how we share our experiences with others. A well-formed story explains the complex simply so that it will stick with the reader or listener. For a creative, telling the narrative of how and why your creations come about, will not only focus yourself but also inspire… Read more »
Here’s a secret writing exercise I only recently learned: If you want characters to feel real for the reader, you have to hint they have the potential to be the opposite of what they appear. Wait, what? The opposite of what the character seems . . . wouldn’t that mean the character is acting out… Read more »
In the past, I’ve addressed topics like artificial intelligence and time travel as both inspiration for story and as integral parts of setting. I think the best stories can work in just about any setting, but science is at the core of the science fiction genre. This time, I’m going all in on setting. You… Read more »
Creating an immersive setting is an important element of any story, but it’s especially important for historical fiction writers. Readers come to this genre because they want to feel they’re stepping out of their world and into the world of your story, whether it takes place in Gilded Age New York, Renaissance Florence or Imperial… Read more »
We often write stories because we have something we want to say to our readers. How we convey those ideas–essentially, our literary themes –can be tricky. For example, let’s say you’ve written a YA novel about a girl who’s determined to take control of her life. You’re proud of this story and passionate about its… Read more »
We writers should take every opportunity to experience the world of our characters. The more we immerse ourselves in a particular culture or setting the deeper we can understand it, and the more realistically we can describe it in our writing. Unfortunately, cost, distance, or other practicalities (like the lack of space travel or a… Read more »
I almost fell into the trap recently. My protagonist, speaking of his brother, said, “That would be John going off half-cocked, Uncle, not me.” A nice evocative expression for someone who acts without thinking, right? The only problem is, the story is set at the beginning of the 14th century in western Europe. Guns didn’t… Read more »
