Create Compelling & Evocative Scenes

Scenes are the rising and falling action, and the soft moments in between, that move your story forward. They have a couple of basic purposes: - They establish time and place. They give the reader a marker on where and when things are happening. - They help develop character. Even if the scene is pure action, you learn about the character’s motivations by his or her decisions, choices, and actions. - They let characters set goals. Without goals to achieve, characters have no reason to act or emote. Readers want to know what’s at stake. - They allow the action to rise or fall. This movement is what carries your reader forward. - They let you crank up the conflict. Without conflict, you won’t have tension. And without tension, your story is boring.

8 Ways to Make Your Story Boring

It’s the fear of every writer: writing a story your reader CAN put down. No writer wants to think their story is boring, but sometimes it is. Fortunately, there are only a few reasons stories are boring. Once you know what they are, you can make sure that your reader will keep reading.

The Geek Writer: Using Technology to Plan Your Novel

If you’re old enough, you remember the days of pen and paper writing, or dragging out the typewriter or word processor to write your novel. Planning your novel typically involved a notebook (or ten) to outline your plot, structure, list of characters, list of places, and timelines. If those notebooks were lost, stolen, or worse, destroyed, all that original work was gone. Wiped out. Never to be seen again. Luckily for all of us, with the advent of technology, we have one less headache when planning a novel and can avoid devastation should the worst happen. The savvy geek writer knows to use the wonderful world of the internet to plan out their novels.

Character Arc: Tips for Writers

The standard definition of a character arc is how your main character changes over the course of your story. The most common form of character arc is the Hero’s Journey. An ordinary person receives a call to adventure and, at first, he or she refuses that call. There’s usually a mentor who helps the hero accept or learn how to attempt the adventure. Think of Yoda in Star Wars. But there’s more out there than just the good guy or gal who’s transformed by the end of the story. Not all characters undergo some major transformation. In some cases, they will grow, but not transform.

Starting With Your Plot Idea

How to Finally Finish Your Novel