
Parts of a Story
“The most important part of a story is the piece of it you don’t know.”– Barbara Kingsolver In this article, I’ll look
If you spend enough time with writers on social media, you’ll soon learn one thing — we enjoy writing memes....
Character vs. Self is the conflict that strips all else away. There’s no central villain, no evil plot, no natural...
A screenplay is a script specifically written for film, TV, video games, or any other visual medium. It is not...
“The most important part of a story is the piece of it you don’t know.”– Barbara Kingsolver In this article,...
On the topic of self‑publishing, conversations tend to involve the same handful of outcomes. You might have heard how Andy...
Blitzkrieg is not a word typically associated with the quiet, solitary act of writing. It conjures up images of brute...
With storytelling, if your reader isn’t engaged within the first few chapters, you run the risk of losing their attention....
What happens after a story’s climactic moment? What comes after the protagonist wins the girl, or defeats the bully, or...
The climax. This is the moment your reader has been waiting for. They’ve spent hours immersed in your story, falling...
Rising action refers to the series of events that lead from a story’s inciting incident to the climax. In this...
Ever since humans have been able to communicate, we share stories, weaving the tapestry of our shared existence. These stories...
For some writers, just getting the story started is the toughest part. There’s so much you want to say, but...

“The most important part of a story is the piece of it you don’t know.”– Barbara Kingsolver In this article, I’ll look

While the stories we spin are often deeply personal, they invariably explore themes that are universally relatable. It can feel intimidating to

The Five-Act Structure is a key aspect of dramatic storytelling. The tradition stretches as far back as the ancient Greeks, and it’s

We’ve all been stuck in the messy middle of a story. Inspiration strikes like raw lightning, bringing a new idea into your

While every story is unique, the history of literature is populated with reinterpretations of common themes. Through the lens of different voices

Without tension or conflict, a story will not only be boring, but absent of meaning. At the heart of every story lies

Detective vs. criminal mastermind, knight vs. dragon, cowboy vs. rogue bandit — all these classic stories fit neatly into a conflict model

Explore how internal conflict drives character transformation and fuels your plot with our guide on dramatizing the psyche’s dissonance.

Master story structure and learn how to fix logical gaps with our guide to plot holes—the “Swiss cheese” of writing that can break your story’s magic.

The types of conflict in literature serve to force protagonists to confront their deepest fear and reveal a story’s soul through the resolution of dilemma.

In this article, I explore story structure with Freytag’s Pyramid, who structures a story into five main components that allow stories to succeed.

Ever since humans have been able to communicate, we share stories, weaving the tapestry of our shared existence. These stories differ wildly

In his book, Poetics, Aristotle laid the foundation for story structure by stating that all stories must have a beginning, middle, and

Backstory includes all the events from your characters’ pasts, details about their origins, plus any essential background information necessary to advance the

In simple terms, storytelling consists of three things: the beginning, middle, and end. However, this basic structure can often hide extremely complicated

There’s no rhythm without some repeated notes. Certain literary and rhetorical devices are so ingrained in how we speak and think that

Misdirection — the art of strategically concealing and revealing information — is one of the most potent literary tools that can enrich

Try to recall your favorite story. How did it begin? What were the first words? If the first lines of a book
“The most important part of a story is the piece of it you don’t know.”– Barbara Kingsolver In this article,...
While the stories we spin are often deeply personal, they invariably explore themes that are universally relatable. It can feel...
The Five-Act Structure is a key aspect of dramatic storytelling. The tradition stretches as far back as the ancient Greeks,...
We’ve all been stuck in the messy middle of a story. Inspiration strikes like raw lightning, bringing a new idea...
While every story is unique, the history of literature is populated with reinterpretations of common themes. Through the lens of...
Without tension or conflict, a story will not only be boring, but absent of meaning. At the heart of every...
Detective vs. criminal mastermind, knight vs. dragon, cowboy vs. rogue bandit — all these classic stories fit neatly into a...
Ever since humans have been able to communicate, we share stories, weaving the tapestry of our shared existence. These stories...
In his book, Poetics, Aristotle laid the foundation for story structure by stating that all stories must have a beginning,...
Backstory includes all the events from your characters’ pasts, details about their origins, plus any essential background information necessary to...
In simple terms, storytelling consists of three things: the beginning, middle, and end. However, this basic structure can often hide...
There’s no rhythm without some repeated notes. Certain literary and rhetorical devices are so ingrained in how we speak and...
Misdirection — the art of strategically concealing and revealing information — is one of the most potent literary tools that...
Try to recall your favorite story. How did it begin? What were the first words? If the first lines of...