Insights into Your Inciting Incident
I want to take a look today at your inciting incident (since it’s one of the ten key scenes you…
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Getting into the Layering Frame of Mind
Do you do this? Maybe you have an idea how your novel will start. You might also picture the climax…
How Layering Your Novel Brings Order out of Chaos
I’ve been writing novels and teaching novel structure for many years, but I’ve shied away from going into detailing what…
Why Layering Your Novel Is the Method for Success
Last year I spent some months talking about layering scenes. As time goes on, I see how few writers—especially aspiring…
Brilliant or Boring? How Do Your Characters Measure Up?
When critiquing manuscripts, I often wonder how much time writers spend thinking about the personality types of their characters. Because…
Why Your Protagonist Should Have a Past “Wound”
Last week I introduce the idea that writers need to know some important things about their protagonist before starting to…
The First Thing You Should Know about Your Protagonist before You Start Writing
Most fiction writers know that character is at the heart of a story. Whether you are writing short or long…
8 Steps to a Perfect Scene
I’m sharing a guest post I wrote some months back for Jerry Jenkins (Here’s the link to the original post,…
Why Identifying Your Reading Audience Age Is Crucial
You’re writing an intense novel about vampires. You’re exploring deep themes of family loyalty and courage. You believe adult readers…
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