Exposition: “Where should my story begin?”
For some writers, just getting the story started is the toughest part. There’s so much you want to say, but you have […]
Point of View: First Person
The first time you experienced the magic of storytelling, odds are it was a personal story you heard in first person. A […]
The Static Character’s Secret: Why Change Isn’t Always Necessary
The characters we write in our stories play a central part in the audience’s engagement. Understanding your characters and why they do […]
How to Invoke Pathos in Your Writing
Pathos is a key aspect of any rhetorician’s approach to their oratory. If you are writing a speech in your novel or […]
Unlock Your Story’s Theme: Crafting Stories That Matter
Theme is a way of making a series of events which are personal to the protagonist universally relatable to a wide audience. […]
Exploring the Dilemma
At the heart of every story lies a dilemma. It is not a question of whether or not your protagonist has a […]
Never Give Up
I was a half decent 800-meter runner in high school, not great, but I ran with a lot of heart, and sometimes […]
A Spark of Madness: The Secret Ingredient to Creative Brilliance
“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.” – Robin Williams In the realm of creativity, there’s a […]
Why Writers Should Embrace Doubt
Doubt exists in each of us much of the time. We are unsure about our futures, our relationships, our new tile in the bathroom, our car insurance, etc. Doubt is the cradle of conflict, both internal and external. In the heart of every character lives a dilemma. As you become curious about that dilemma, it will lead you to what is universal in your story.
Transformation
Story is the most powerful way we have to express ideas. We can actually see the journey that a human being takes […]
The Value of an Outline
What’s the point of an outline? Whether consciously or not, every writer is in search of a process. A lot of writers […]
Stepping Into Your True Power
What does it mean to trust yourself? It sounds like a good idea, but it is often a counter-intuitive process. It is […]
The Internet: A Writer’s Worst Distraction
Sometimes the deeper we get into our story, the more we seek distraction. The internet will suck the life out of any […]
What is Success?
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates Years ago, I was on the phone with a prospective student, and he […]
The Imperative for Dramatic Conflict
A director told me once that if you put two actors together in a scene without directing them or staging the scene, […]
Finding Home
“Home is where one starts from.” – T. S. Eliot There’s nothing more primal than our quest for home. The dilemma is […]
No Good Guys, No Bad Guys
There are times, as storytellers, when we can be so bull-headed about what we want to express, that we end up pushing […]
Writing the Reluctant Protagonist
“My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.”- Ernest […]
