Everyone loves a good cliffhanger, right? Or do they? In my experience it depends on a few things, and while they can be effective tools to keep your audience hooked, there’s a time and place for them. Here are three considerations to make when deciding on a cliffhanger for your story, and how you canContinue reading “Storytelling: Cliffhangers”
Category Archives: Storytelling
Storytelling: Dialogue & Perspective
Writing dialogue is a huge part of writing in general. Whether you’re working on a novel or a screenplay or a web comic, it’s highly likely that your characters will need to interact amongst themselves, plus internal dialogue for the reader to follow along with your POV character. There are a lot of different approaches,Continue reading “Storytelling: Dialogue & Perspective”
Arcs vs. Tropes vs. Motifs
This post is now a podcast episode! You can learn more about the podcast in this post. I’m sure you’ve heard the words “arc” and “trope” and “motif” thrown around, but… what do they mean? What’s the difference? Is there a difference? Yes there is, which is why I decided to make a post aboutContinue reading “Arcs vs. Tropes vs. Motifs”
The Basics of A Story
This post is also a podcast episode! To learn more about the podcast you can visit this post. All stories can be broken into pieces and most of them follow familiar patterns. Here are the six most common structural elements of stories, and how you can use them for the most effect. 1. Exposition ThisContinue reading “The Basics of A Story”
Storytelling: Show vs. Tell
One of the most common pieces of writing advice that gets thrown around is “show, don’t tell” but there are countless variations of pushback against this (things like “show emotion, tell feeling”), and just as many authors who live by this rule steadfastly. So what does it mean? Why are the opinions so divided? Here’sContinue reading “Storytelling: Show vs. Tell”
Storytelling: Writing Downtime
Plotlines ebb and flow between action and downtime. No story can be packed full of action all the time or else it becomes monotonous and loses its effect, but how can we write about downtime or other slow parts of a narrative while still keeping readers engaged? Here’s what I’ve tested and found worked forContinue reading “Storytelling: Writing Downtime”
Worldbuilding: Religion & Belief
Religion and belief systems can be huge motivators in character design, so writing about them can help your characters seem more three-dimensional. It adds a new element to the driving why behind narrative progression and it’s also the perfect opportunity for worldbuilding (especially in fantasy). In this post I’ll be discussing how to create andContinue reading “Worldbuilding: Religion & Belief”
Worldbuilding for Authors: Maps & Infrastructure
This post is now a podcast episode! I’ll embed a link as soon as it’s live, but in the meantime you can learn more about the podcast in this post or see what’s already available on the Podcast page in the navigation menu. I think we all love books that have maps and effortless infrastructure,Continue reading “Worldbuilding for Authors: Maps & Infrastructure”
Storytelling for Authors: Character Design
This post is now a podcast episode! I’ll embed a link as soon as it’s live, but in the meantime you can learn more about the podcast in this post and see what’s already available on the Podcast page in the navigation menu. You can have the most dynamic and interesting plot ever, but ifContinue reading “Storytelling for Authors: Character Design”
Worldbuilding: Races & Species
This post is now a podcast episode! You can learn more about the podcast in this post or find available episodes on the Podcast page in the navigation menu. Worldbuilding is one of my favorite aspects of storytelling, and I have a great example! I went to see Avatar: The Way of Water, and IContinue reading “Worldbuilding: Races & Species”
Author Rescue 