Realistic, evocative dialogue is an important part of any successful story. We need our characters’ interactions to be authentic, consistent, and engaging to draw readers in to what’s happening. So when we’re learning to write, we spend a lot of time on mechanics—learning all the grammar and punctuation rules. But proper form is just the first step. When writing strong dialogue, we often forget that real-life conversations are rarely straightforward. On the surface, it may seem we’re engaging in simple back-and-forth, but if you look deeper, to some degree our conversations are carefully cons ..read more

Hey, wonderful writerly people! It’s time for Phenomenal First Pages, our monthly critique contest. So, if you need a bit of help with your first page, today’s the day to enter for a chance to win professional feedback! Entering is easy. All you need to do is leave your contact information onthis entry form(or click the graphic below). If you are a winner, we’ll notify you and explain how to send us your first page. Contest Details This is a 24-hour contest, so enter ASAP. Make sure your contact information on the entry form is correct. Three winners will be drawn. We will email you if you ..read more

If you’ve researched story structure at all, you know there are many models out there, and they’re all slightly different. The most popular forms tend to follow the three-act structure, which resonates with many readers regardless of genre or format. Act 1 sets things up for readers by establishing the protagonist, their story goal, the setting, and all the basics. Act 2 builds on that information, introducing escalating conflicts (both internal and external) that block the character from their objective. Act 3 resolves the story conflict in a showdown that determines whether the protagonist ..read more

I’ve rarely attempted to be funny in my writing. There are a couple of reasons for that. One, my stories tend to lean toward the serious side. The characters deal with difficult situations. There is tension, action, and mystery. Humor didn’t seem to fit. Two, I thought I wouldn’t be any good at it. I tend to be more serious overall. I do have a wry sense of humor that my friends and family seem to appreciate. But I never thought I could translate that onto the page. Until my most recent historical fantasy, The Curse of King Midas. This time, I added humor, and I got a lot of positive feedback ..read more

“Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality.” This quote by Karl Lagerfeld is pretty heady. I’m still chewing on it, but what I gather is that clothing and other appearance choices are one way we interpret and reflect reality—the reality of who we are, of our passions. Sometimes, it’s the reality we want to project (as opposed to what’s actually real). In this way, a character’s clothes can say a lot about them as individuals. As writers, we should always be looking for characterization opportunities that allow us to reveal truths about our characters in natural ..read more

As I’m sure you’ve heard roughly a gajillion times, your story’s first pages are very important. Editors and agents typically request just a portion of your story’s opening, and potential buyers read only a sampling when they’re looking for books to buy. So whichever publishing route you take, those first pages are the only chance you get to win over the gatekeepers—to introduce your story in a way that sucks them in and makes them realize they simply have to have it.  There are a lot of elements you want to include in your story opening, but I’d like to focus on the one that plays a hug ..read more

Angela and I have been busy bees the past few months, creating as much content as we could surrounding emotion amplifiers—a little-known storytelling element that’s great for elevating a character’s emotions and setting them up for overreactions, misjudgments, mistakes, and increased conflict. The information we’ve learned about amplifiers could fill a book, so that’s what we did—published an actual, real-live book that’s chock full of this content and is available for purchase. The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus is the only resource in existence that covers this topic, so that’s the best place ..read more

What exactly is a character archetype? How many are there? And how are they different from character tropes? These are the questions that were keeping me up at night as Angela and I started to research this thesaurus at our blog. So, as I often do when I’m confused by terminology, I started with a generic definition. Archetype: a prototype that can be copied, adapted, or used to create other versions Okay, so a character archetype is a common kind of character that others are fashioned after. That led to my next question: if there are certain prototypes off which other characters are patterne ..read more

Hey, wonderful writerly people! It’s time for Phenomenal First Pages, our monthly critique contest. So, if you need help with the beginning of your novel, today’s the day to enter for a chance to win professional feedback. TEN winners will receive feedback on their first five pages! Entering is easy. All you need to do is leave your contact information onthis entry form(or click the graphic below). If you are a winner, we’ll notify you and explain how to send us your first page. Contest Details This is a 24-hour contest, so enter ASAP. Make sure your contact information on the entry form i ..read more

What Makes Up Fantasy As A Genre? If you want to write a fantasy novel, it pays to understand what goes into this fascinating genre. Fantasy conventions can vary widely, but there are some common elements we can find. Here’s a few key conventions of fantasy novels that I learned writing my own … Ready? Let’s go! 1) Magic Magic can be a fundamental element of fantasy novels. It is often used by characters to achieve extraordinary feats or interact with the supernatural. One of the top things to remember here is to ensure your magic systems have limitations. If there are no constraints to your ..read more