Helping Writers Become Authors

Readers could care less about realism. What they care about is the semblance of realism.

Just as a symphony or a painting has to be a complete and cohesive whole, same goes for the novel. All the pieces have to fit, with none left over.

Even if your character's goal only falls into one of these categories, you'll be able to verify you've created a deeply realistic story, one that will resonate on a primal level with readers everywhere.

Story concept and story premise are often used interchangeably, which just goes to highlight the rampant confusion about them.

Don't be afraid to go the extra mile by using character arcs in a series. Your readers will adore you for it.

The reader's time is valuable. Readers don't have time to listen to us or our characters repeat ourselves - especially in repetitive dialogue.

If you have a story in which stuff happens and it's interesting - but there's no character arc - that doesn't mean you might not still have a rip-roaringly grand tale on your hands.

If you're not looking past sheer utilitarianism and exploring your sentences' full potential for hooking, guiding, and fulfilling readers, then you've got a whole new world to explore!

What do you do when you run up against that gaping quandary: How do you get your character to change?

How do you know when a scene is important enough to warrant full-on showing? Consider the following checklist.

Every prominent minor character should have an arc. Just not a full arc.

The impact character is the one who enables, empowers, or sometimes just plain forces another character(s) to change.

Should you decide to incorporate a character's arc as a subplot, plan it just as thoroughly and specifically as you would if it were in the main plot.

Choosing your character's arc is every bit as important a decision as choosing the right plot.

Consider some standard types of boring opening lines and what you can do to flip them around into something fascinating.

If the positive change arc is about redeeming self and the flat arc is about saving others, then the negative character arc is about destroying self and probably others as well.

The Second Act is the heart of the negative character arc.

When structured properly to gain maximum resonance, a negative character arc can present sober realities that inspire great change in the world around us.

Conflict is an essential ingredients of fiction. But one-dimensional conflict is not enough to plumb the depths of a story's potential. Find out why!

No matter how many great facts you may come up with to prove your latest story is not a failure, you're never going to kill the demon of doubt. Know why? Because your latest story is a failure.