Archive:

Fiction

12 Character Archetypes You Can Use to Create Heroes Your Reader Will Love

December 8, 2024

Guest post by Tami Nantz There’s no way around it: If you want to write a story that pulls in readers, you must include compelling characters. They need to feel: Believable Mysterious Relatable But that’s difficult to pull off—one reason most stories are unpublishable.  Maybe you’re feeling this tension right now. Maybe you’ve created a […]

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Types of Irony in Writing

June 12, 2024

Don’t you find it ironic when you hear of an umpire cheating? Or a fire station burning?  Irony is simply the contrast between two seemingly incongruous facts. But irony is often misidentified. Readers and writers might describe a scene or a bit of dialogue as ironic when really it’s not.   Irony highlights the difference between […]

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How to Build Tension and Suspense to Keep Readers Hooked

January 26, 2024

Your greatest challenge as a writer is to keep readers engaged. Your job is to keep them with you page after page to find out what happens. Inject tension into your work to enthrall readers. What is Tension in Writing? Tension is anything in your manuscript—fiction or nonfiction—that causes readers to anticipate.  Anticipate what? Literally […]

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Writing in Third-Person Point of View

January 26, 2024

What is Third-Person Point of View?  Do you wonder, as so many budding writers do, how to master Point of View? Third-person point of view is most common in storytelling—and with good reason. While first-person may be the easiest POV for readers to understand, because that makes it easier to avoid head hopping, third-person is […]

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Does This Scene Deserve a Place in Your Story? 2 Ways to Find Out

January 20, 2024

Guest post by K.M. Weiland “Cut this scene. It doesn’t move the plot.” That is my most frequent comment on manuscripts I edit for others. It causes most writers to groan. Not only am I telling you to cut your beloved scenes (perhaps even your favorite), but you’re left to figure out why these scenes […]

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