Your characters will make or break your novel. Readers will either resonate with their struggles, root for their triumphs, and feel the tug of their heartaches, or they won't give a flying hoot what happens to them. Understanding how to reveal character interiority...
If you want to write a novel that keeps your readers engaged and invested in your characters, you must master the art of action and sequel scenes. These are the building blocks of your story. They determine the plot's pace, tension, and emotional impact and...
Stories are stories—no matter what medium they’re told in. While novelists have been honing the craft of writing gripping tales for centuries, screenwriters are no slouches. Borrow from screenwriters. Often working with succinct timeframes and limited resources,...
Not every compelling tale needs 400 pages and multiple chapters. Short stories can be just as gripping, interesting, and downright moving as their longer counterparts. Sure, the length is drastically different. Novels are usually between 50,000 and 10,000 words,...
As uniquely relatable and individualistic as your favorites may seem, fictional characters fall into distinct archetypes repeated throughout the world’s literature. We've all fallen for the charming stranger, cheered on the plucky sidekick, and wished awful things...
Why Beta Reading? No great novel is truly created alone. There are dozens—sometimes hundreds—of people who help shape a story. Between the souls who inspired your protagonist to the team of marketers who tell the world about your words, every great author has more...
Editing is more complex than striking through a grammatical error with a red pen. Multiple layers of assessment, proofreading, and feedback are needed to ensure a novel is ready for publishing. Once your prose has undergone the necessary checks for development,...
When it comes to genres, everyone has their favorites. Some people can't get enough horror, while others want to escape reality with a cozy romance. https://media.giphy.com/media/l0MYtRl33WaN4HGBq/giphy.gif Even if you never intend to pen a heart-pumping thriller...
If you've dipped your toes into the world of novel writing, chances are you've heard of Dan Harmon and his infamous Story Circle. This narrative structure is the brainchild of Harmon, a popular Hollywood writer, and producer with shows like Community and Rick &...
Great novels of our time are rarely written by staring at a blank Google page and willing the perfect combination of words to appear. While inspiration is necessary, constructing a gripping and captivating story is actually a lot more formulaic than most new...
I help busy professionals write and polish the book of their dreams. Let’s bring authenticity to your speculations, flow to your structure, and heart to your words.
There's this pervasive idea that when you're writing a novel, everything else gets tossed on the backburner—including your mental health. While bringing a book to life definitely requires consistency and focus, the belief that you must give it your undivided attention...
We've all been there. Writing mental blocks can sneak up on any of us. Red-eyed and haggard, staring at a blank page and a blinking cursor feeling completely overwhelmed. For whatever reason, the tap of inspiration has suddenly run dry, and it seems like nothing you...