The Character Mixing Board
The Essence of Standout Characters
Captivating Protagonists: The Essentials
The Two Imperatives for Compelling Dialogue
Turning Points Propel Your Story
Freytag’s Pyramid Doesn’t Deserve the Hate
More Articles
Having trouble with structure?
– Novel Structure: An Aggregate Paradigm
– A Compendium of Novel Structure Resources
– Escalating Complications
– Why the Hero’s Journey Might Not Be Right for Your Story
– The Two Roles of the Story Beginning
– How to Create a Moving Character Arc
– Use Beats to Move Characters within Scenes
– Earning Story Events
– The Case for Pantsing
– Freytag’s Pyramid
– Turning Points within Scenes
Want to improve your reader engagement?
– Stretch Tension to Maximize Suspense
– The Key to Reader Engagement
– How to Create Story Momentum
– Story Momentum Mastery Course
– 3 Techniques for Creating Tension
– The Tension Lab Course
– Creating Romantic/Sexual Tension Course
– Escalating Complications
– The Problem with Show, Don’t Tell: Hyperdetailing
– Urgent Story Questions
– Conflict ≠ Tension
– Subjective Conflict (within readers)
– How to Write Compelling Action
– Theme is Not Optional
– Earning Story Events
– Captivating Protagonists: The Essentials
– The Essence of Standout Characters
Looking to strengthen your scene writing?
– Triangulate Dialogue
– 4 Common Failures in Story Cause/Effect
– Stretch Tension to Maximize Suspense
– Should You Use Synonyms for Said?
– Formatting Character Thoughts
– Scene vs. Summary
– 12 Ways to Be an Invisible Writer
– Sentiment vs. Sentimentality
– The Gold Standard Scene Course (free)
– The Tension Lab Course
– Creating Romantic/Sexual Tension Course
– Use Beats to Move Characters within Scenes
– The Problem with Show, Don’t Tell: Hyperdetailing
– Psychic Distance: Narrative Distance from Character
– The Pitfalls of Emotional Body Language
– Subjective Conflict (within readers)
– How to Write Realizations, Epiphanies, and Moments of Clarity
– Using Objects to Create More Powerful Stories
– How to Write Compelling Action
– Exposition in Dialogue
– Turning Points within Scenes
– The Two Essentials of Compelling Dialogue
Need some guidance on the nuances of narration?
– 10 Lessons from “Cat Person” on Character Interiority
– Author, Narrator, Character
– Action vs. Information: Convey Info without Stalling the Story
– Juggle External Action and Interiority
– Scene vs. Summary
– Time Digression in Narration
– Page-level Storytelling: Four Ways to Break Down Your Narration
– The True Source of Voice
– The Problem with Show, Don’t Tell: Hyperdetailing
– Psychic Distance: Narrative Distance from Character
– 5 Ways to Express Emotion
– How to Write Realizations, Epiphanies, and Moments of Clarity
– To Filter or Not to Filter
Want to gain some perspective on the writing life?
Want to bone up on storytelling essentials?
– Two Conflicts: Problems vs. Obstacles
– Author, Narrator, Character
– Why You Need Strong Antagonists in Your Story
– Common Problems in Manuscripts
– The Key to Reader Engagement
– The True Source of Strong Voice
– 3 Techniques for Creating Tension
– 4 Common Failures in Story Cause/Effect
– The 5 Key Elements of Story Course (free)
– Scene vs. Summary
– 12 Ways to Be an Invisible Writer
– Character Arcs
– Beats within Scenes
– Urgent Story Questions
– Conflict ≠ Tension
– Using Objects to Create More Powerful Stories
– How to Write Compelling Action
– Theme is Not Optional
– Earning Story Events
– Irony Is Central to Storytelling
– Turning Points within Scenes
– The Two Essentials of Compelling Dialogue
– Captivating Protagonists: The Essentials
– The Essence of Standout Characters
– Character Mixing Board
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