How to write realistic fight scenes including injuries, aftermath, action verbs, dialogue, and more. Read the whole article including out table of fight scene injuries →
How to Write your Character Hitting Rock Bottom. When creating problems for our beloved characters we sometimes are afraid to put them through hard times.
Whether your characters are getting into swordfights, falling out of high windows, or escaping dramatic fires, you may be wondering what sort of injuries they would realistically sustain. This guide aims to explain some common injuries in fiction, as well as how to write each one. I did my best to research this (check
A woman (23) asked if she was wrong to be upset when her husband-to-be (35) decided to cancel their honeymoon to Paris so he could fund a monster truck with “the boys.”
If you're unsure of how to use foreshadowing your stories correctly, this article will help you.
Now's the time, today is the day to write great fictional characters in grays. Write great fictional characters, write protagonists and your antagonists gray.
Not all pain feels the same so here are some words to help add specificity.
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I asked my Instagram followers,“What are some signs of amateurish writing, in your opinion?” Here are the results!
4 Scenes you can write That Reveal Who Your Character Is Seamlessly and professionally. Use these scenes to reveal your characters in stories
Looking for advice on how to write a whodunit story? We share 10 top tips in this post!
Describing places is an important part of making your settings come to life. Use these writing tips and exercises to hone your descriptive skills.
Tips How to Write Villains that Play Mind Games with Their Victims. Do you love to write manipulative villains? Try these writing tips to write your villains.
Whatever you're writing, it's important to use a writing technique that will match what you want to convey. Read on to learn 5 different writing techniques.
How to Write The Perfect Psychopath. Psychopaths feel nothing, this makes them able to carry out heinous acts without any bit of feeling of remorse.
Wondering how to write captivating setting descriptions for your stories? This article shares 5 practical tips to help you.
If you want to send your readers into a 3AM reading frenzy, these ideas could help!
This week I’m working on revising fiction with my undergraduate and grad students at Fordham. Below are some of the tips and ideas I’ve collected over the years that my students find most useful. (…
4 Scenes you can write That Reveal Who Your Character Is Seamlessly and professionally. Use these scenes to reveal your characters in stories
When I heard that Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, was visiting Denver, I actually gasped out loud. The Book Thief has been influential in my writing and reading life in more ways than I can name. Suffice it to say that I have about a million favorite books, but when forced to choose just one, I say The Book Thief. The characters don't let you go, the plot is so original, and to say the writing style is beautiful is an understatement. So of course I jumped at the chance to hear Zusak speak, and to get my copy of The Book Thief, as well as his new book, Bridge of Clay, signed. Zusak was a funny and charming speaker, and warm and welcoming when I met him in the signing line. I wish I could have just recorded the whole talk and posted it for you, but here are six things he said that stood out to me the most. Know the backstory Zusak said that the way he is able to tell if he'll be able to turn an idea into a novel is how much backstory comes to him. When you're planning your book, knowing the background of the characters is incredibly important. Even if most of it doesn't end up in the book, pieces of it will, and that's what will give your characters life and make the story memorable to readers. The more your characters seem like real people you know, not just one-sided figures you write about, the more they'll come alive in the reader's mind. Having a deep backstory is the best way to accomplish this. Incorporate details Zusak used this simple metaphor to convey the importance of details: Once he was at an airport, and forgot his jacket in the security line. When he returned to claim it, the guard asked him what it looked like. He didn't just describe the color, but also the logo, and how there was a piece of folded-up paper in the pocket. With these precise details, the guard had no trouble believing he was telling the truth and the jacket was his. Likewise, when we incorporate specific, unique details into our stories, the reader is able to believe that we are telling the truth, even while knowing it's fiction. Details are what make your story jump off the page and lodge itself in the reader's mind. They're what make a reader stop and think, Yes! That's exactly how that feels/sounds/looks. How did they know?! If you don't feel something, neither will the reader Robert Frost once said, No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader. Zusak modeled this when writing both The Book Thief and Bridge of Clay. During the Q&A session after his talk, a young reader asked him if he cried when writing the end of The Book Thief. He confessed that he had ugly cried as he wrote the ending--like many of us as we read it--and had actually cried even harder when writing the end of Bridge of Clay (causing many of us in the audience to groan with grim but eager anticipation). If you have laid out the backstory of your characters and incorporated details that bring them to life, you as the writer will end up caring deeply about them, so that whatever you feel when writing their fate, the readers will also feel. Keep writing, no matter what During the Q&A session, someone asked him who had encouraged him to keep writing when he was young. With a laugh, he responded, Absolutely no one. He spoke of how he had never won a contest, never had a short story published, how his parents and his English teachers never thought he would publish a book--but something in him knew that's what he wanted to do, so he kept trying. When I met him in the signing line, I mentioned how I was a writer and The Book Thief had been so inspirational to me. To my delight, he asked about my writing, and when I said I was writing an adult contemporary fiction novel and had just sent it to people to read, he reminded me that even if I got negative feedback, I was still a writer and I needed to just keep writing. It is easy to be discouraged when we don't get glowing responses to our work, but imagine if Markus Zusak had listened to those around him and given up. Know that you are a writer, and so you must keep writing. Write the book only you can write This might have been my favorite thing Zusak said all night. He doesn't try to write books that are better than other writers or that win all the awards; his focus is on trying to write stories that only he is capable of writing. No matter how you feel about The Book Thief or Bridge of Clay, I know that they're books only I could write, he said. Don't compare how good your book is to other books or other writers. Focus on the story that only you can write. Writing takes a bit of luck Throughout his talk, Zusak mentioned several instances of luck that contributed to his success. Not just in terms of finding an agent or publishing, but in the actual writing of his stories. Before writing The Book Thief, he was visiting a school and leading an activity in which students choose a color and write from its perspective. He ended up writing from Death's perspective, and thought, Hey, maybe I should use this in that book I'm planning set in Nazi Germany. He also had another page-long piece about a girl in modern-day Sydney stealing a book and had the same thought of incorporating it into the Holocaust story he was planning. Of course, these two ideas are crucial to making The Book Thief into what it is. Likewise, with Bridge of Clay, when he first came up with the idea for the book, he chose the character name 'Clayton' at random. It was only later in the process of planning and writing that he shortened it to Clay, and realized it fit perfectly with the idea of building a bridge. Writing takes a lot of skill, and you have to know how to use those strokes of inspiration in your stories, but it's also helpful to know that a bit of luck is always involved. A huge thanks to Markus Zusak, both for his incredible stories and for a wonderful evening. Denver's Tattered Cover bookstore also has my undying love for bringing amazing authors to visit. To buy Zusak's newest book, Bridge of Clay, click here. You can also read more about Zusak and his books on his website. (FYI–This post includes affiliate links. I promise to never recommend anything that I haven’t loved and think you should try!) Have you read The Book Thief or any of Markus Zusak's books? What's your favorite? Who is the author you would most love to meet? Who is someone you've already met and loved? Let me know in the comments!
Explore effective strategies to maintain momentum in your writing project. This blog offers practical tips on setting goals, establishing routines, overcoming writer's block, and staying motivated. Perfect for writers seeking to transform ideas into completed works.
This list features some gorgeous words that fantasy writers can use for inspiration.
Weapons for Fictional Characters. When thinking about weapons for fictional characters we want to not only think of how they'll look swinging it around. We want
With our character prompts, you'll find a new source of inspiration to craft completing stories with characters who leap off the page.
TweetPin8EmailShare Writing about a character waking up can be a challenge, especially since waking up is something we do in a semiconscious state. It can be tough to pinpoint exactly... Read more »
Here are the starting thoughts that created Ember Dragon Daughter (EDD): A girl with a trait or symbol she wants to hide that turns into a mystery and a strength. A world where love of all kinds can't be contested, yet the absence has consequences. I start with an idea and then I ask "why" over and over again. Then, I ask "what could go wrong" until I'm upset for the characters. After that, I sew each answer together until there is no way to untie them. Every why, consequence, and action is tied
“The hero sobbed piteously over the corpse of her mentor, swearing to avenge him. After an hour of weeping, she wiped her eyes and returned to saving the world, setting her sadness aside until needed…
This is THE SECRET to Create Interesting Description: learn here how to describe scenes without boring your reader to death.
If you feel like your battle scenes are dragging, or you have no idea where to start, this guide will give you the fundamentals of writing an engaging battle scene.
When writing a murderer it is good to keep a good perspective on where we want our story to go and how we want our murderer to be perceived. Do we want them...
