When were you at the movies last? Imagine this: You sit down in eighth row with a boatload of popcorn and your favorite beverage, and…
How to Lend Each Character Their Unique Voice (feat. ‘Lord of the Rings’ Dialogue)
18 commentsDo you know this scenario? You are reading through the first draft of your story. It feels a bit awkward to read something you…
Good Story Titles: 17 Fiction Writing Experts Reveal Their Secrets
12 commentsYou tried to avoid it like the plague, but there is no escape anymore. Yes, you tried to push it aside, delay it, pretend it…
One Highly Effective Plot Secret You Never Heard about (I Promise)
37 commentsThink of a story you found really exciting: Moby Dick? Breaking Bad? Cinderella? Now think of a story you found really boring: The Fast…
Money vs. Wood: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Enrich Your Story with Subtext (Chekhov’s “Cherry Orchard”)
40 commentsMaybe you feel like you have a central theme in your life: Always running late? Always getting hit on by the wrong guys? Toilet always…
How to Use Dialogue to Irresistibly Boost Your Plot (Ibsen’s “Ghosts”)
22 commentsThis is important. Tell me one thing: Do your characters pull along your plot or does your plot pull along your characters? In other…
How to Make Your Story Feel Really, Really Realistic (Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”)
22 commentsPerfectionism gave us many wonderful things: War and Peace by Tolstoy. Michelangelo’s Pieta. Cream pastries. But perfectionism can also come back to bite you in…
How to Create Drama and Plot Without a Single Facebook Entry (Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”)
33 commentsAs playwright of the 17th century, you had one crucial advantage over a contemporary playwright: No distraction by Facebook messages. Your disadvantage, on the other…
