There are serious pitfalls in adhereing only to “show don’t tell” when it comes to character descriptions because there’s so much more you can do than simply catalogue a character’s appearance. The goal with any character description should be to paint a word picture for readers, but more than that…
Tag: beyond basics
5 Pro Tips You Need To Write Deep Point of View Effectively
What Do The Pros Know About Deep Point Of View That You Don’t? Deep Point of View (POV) creates emotional connections with readers making them care and cheer for your characters. It’s intimate, immediate and visceral — imagine handing your reader a virtual reality headset. That’s how immersive readers want…
Editing In Layers Part 3: Scenes and Sequels
Get off the hamster wheel of revisions and begin editing smarter and more efficiently! We’re working our way through a 5-layer process that streamlines the editing process so you can get a draft to beta readers faster! Prep Work: Goals Layer 1: Plot Layer 2: Scenes and Sequels (you are…
6 Questions To Discover The Power Imbalance Affecting Subtext In Fiction
Power or authority applies a filter to subtext, it affects how we perceive or interpret what we believe is actually being said. What Is Subtext? Subtext is the non-verbal communication expressed through what Psychology Today called “a silent orchestra” which is a combination of facial expression, tone of voice, posture,…
How To Eliminate Distance In Deep Point of View
Deep POV is a dynamic, visceral, and immediate style of writing that aims to minimize the perceived distance between the reader and the point of view character (POVC). There are a number of stylistic choices an author makes to facilitate this. At the heart of Deep POV is an immersive…
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…