How to Start Writing a Book: The No-Fluff Starter Guide
Welcome! And congratulations! If you’re reading this, you are about to begin a creative journey that can bring satisfaction and a deepening […]
Screenplay Format Made Simple: Tips & Essentials
Getting your screenplay format down right matters more than you might think. You could write the most brilliant story ever conceived, with […]
Worldbuilding: A Step-by-Step Writer’s Guide
Crafting a compelling story comes with several responsibilities. You are in charge of creating the plot, the characters, the prose, the dialogue, […]
What is a Thematic Statement? Examples and Writing Strategies
Your story’s thematic statement is the central argument that drives your narrative. Writers sometimes obsess over their plot to the point that […]
How to Write Dialogue that Sounds Authentic
Writing dialogue can be intimidating, even for the most experienced writers. Sometimes the words feel clumsy and unnatural, or we find ourselves […]
Fridging: When Trauma Replaces Character Development
The “fridging” trope was named after a specific incident in a Green Lantern comic (vol. 3 #54). The titular hero comes home […]
Mastering the Three-Act Structure for Stronger Stories
In his book, Poetics, Aristotle laid the foundation for story structure by stating that all stories must have a beginning, middle, and […]
What is a Novella? Key Characteristics Explained
Some of literature’s greatest stories aren’t in novel form at all, but a different kind of prose. Rich characters like George Milton […]
The Snowflake Method of Outlining
Writing a story can sometimes seem overwhelming. Think of your favorite books. You can tell when a writer has put a great […]
Getting Past Writer’s Block: Causes and Proven Cures
Writer’s block can feel like a brick wall in your mind. The words stop flowing and the page seems impossible to fill. […]
Purple Prose: When Lyrical Language Goes Too Far
Like all things in life, the way we write requires balance. When you look back on your first attempts at writing, you […]
Storyline: Marrying Plot to Theme
Every screenplay is built around a single invisible force that holds everything together. You may not notice it on first viewing, but […]
Backstory: What to Reveal and When
Backstory includes all the events from your characters’ pasts, details about their origins, plus any essential background information necessary to advance the […]
Jungian Archetypes for Character Building
Stories that endure tend to tap into something deeply human. Philosophers, mythologists, psychologists, and more have theorized about different ways audiences resonate […]
Personal Narratives: Shaping Real Life into Compelling Scenes
All writing carries something of the writer within it, but few forms are as intimate as the stories we tell about our […]
What is the “Story Circle”? A Practical Breakdown
In simple terms, storytelling consists of three things: the beginning, middle, and end. However, this basic structure can often hide extremely complicated […]
The Writing Process: Learning to Trust the Work
Writing is an act of magic. Out of thin air you’ve conjured something and put it onto the page. People come up […]
Magical Realism: Writing Wonder into the Everyday
Magical realism invites the impossible into the ordinary. This genre asks us to accept the fantastical without question. The supernatural appears alongside […]
