Archive:

Fiction

internal and external conflict

Internal and External Conflict: Tips for Creating Unforgettable Characters

December 14, 2021

How do you keep readers riveted to the end? Conflict is the engine of fiction. Readers love it. Dianna and I recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary and agree on almost everything. That’s a gift in real life. In the pages of a novel? Boring. The more conflict, the more interesting your story. What is […]

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How to Write a Novel: A 12-Step Guide

How to Write a Novel: A 12-Step Guide

November 15, 2021

You’ve always wanted to write a novel. But something’s stopped you. Maybe you’ve tried before, only to get a few, or several, pages in and lose steam because: Your story idea didn’t hold up You couldn’t overcome procrastination You feared your writing wasn’t good enough You ran out of ideas and had no clue what […]

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What is an Antivillain? How to Write a Complex Bad Guy

What is an Antivillain? How to Write a Complex Bad Guy

November 8, 2021

Too many novelists create a villain who does bad things because he’s the bad guy. He might as well appear in a melodrama, wearing a black hat and a cape while twirling his handlebar mustache. But a melodramatic villain is a cliché by definition — predictable, unrealistic, and there just for fun. Hissing at the […]

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antihero

What is an Antihero? How to Write an Unconventional Protagonist

October 18, 2021

Everybody loves a story in which the hero is the ultimate good guy and triumphs over evil — like Superman or Harry Potter. But beware. The #1 mistake you can make when developing characters is creating heroes that are perfect. What reader can identify with perfection? The most memorable, plausible, believable heroes exhibit human, flawed […]

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internal conflict

How to Reveal a Character’s Internal Conflict

October 5, 2021

Guest post by Becca Puglisi If you’ve been on the writing trail long enough, you’ve heard plenty of talk about conflict and the role it plays in storytelling. Whatever form it takes, conflict creates tension while providing opportunities for characters to grow and evolve as they navigate their character arcs. But some of the most […]

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