Learn to write authentic, emotionally resonant trauma backstories that deepen your characters without resorting to clichés, info dumps, or flashbacks. Good fiction isn’t borne out in the comfortable and easy living we might dream about, but in the tension and conflict between characters and/or their own desires. The power of…
Category: How To Write Fiction – Advanced Tips
Take your writing to the next level – from beginner to intermediate and advanced with these tips.
How To Write Fiction - Advanced Tips
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Creating Strong Female Characters Your Readers Will Cheer For
How dynamic and authentic are the female characters in your fiction? How do you know whether they’re strong? Do they have what Chuck Wendig calls “agency” which is the power to influence the story? There are plenty of women in classical literature who were strong, but sometimes it’s hard to…
How To Write Fiction - Advanced Tips
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Are You Writing Female Characters Who Are Too Stupid To Live?
Writing strong female characters has become this… thing recently among writerly types. Nobody wants to write a tired trope or cliched character, and yet they keep popping up. Fantasy is particularly bad, but historical and horror are only a couple of other genres guilty for it. If your character is…
How To Write Fiction - Advanced Tips
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A Simple Tip To Increase Tension in Fiction
Have you considered the importance of doors? No matter what kind of story you’re writing, being able to increase tension in a scene, to get the reader to shift to their edge of their seat, is tricky business. Doors are an opportunity to pause, force the character to take a…
How To Write Fiction - Advanced Tips
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Surprise Your Readers
How do you surprise readers? The reality of genre fiction, especially, is that you know how it ends. The guy gets the girl. The good cop catches the bad guy. The ordinary girl triumphs over the monster. You get the idea. Novels promise an escape, entertainment, characters a reader would…
How To Write Fiction - Advanced Tips
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Using Personal Vows To Increase Story Tension
It’s summertime here and the sun is shining. My outdoor office is my favourite place to be and my fingertips are flying across the keys working on new stories. Today, I am guest-posting over at Kristen Lamb’s blog. I would love for you to send Kristen some blog love and…