By Nicholas Bouchard Ask 100 writers what their greatest asset is and you’ll probably get 100 answers—from 25-hour days to a trust fund. But look at the careers of some of the greatest writers and authors and you’ll find one common link. Stephen King famously pinned every rejection letter he received to the wall with a nail—until the nail fell off when he was 14 and he replaced it with a spike. Carrie, his debut novel, would be published when he was 27. While George R. R. Martin already saw some success as a short story and TV writer throughout the 70s and 80s, it wasn’t until 1996 that the fi ..read more

Fiction writers are told they must create high stakes. What are stakes and why are they so important in fiction? Simply put, stakes are about anything that can be gained or lost. Stakes can be tangible or abstract. Your job may be at stake if you keep showing up late to work. Your sense of self-respect may be at stake if you fail to speak up against a wrong being committed in front of you. Just like real people, our characters have desires, fears, and aspirations. And when you put those things at risk—in situations where they might be forfeited—you are creating stakes. Think how boring a story ..read more

Characters in fiction are the heart of any story. We all love characters that pop off the page, that resonate with us, that we empathize with and root for. Surely, to get readers to care about characters, writers of fiction have to describe them. But there are pitfalls to describing characters. Today’s fiction is all about “show, don’t tell,” so dropping in a laundry list of character attributes into a scene is a no-no. There are masterful ways to describe characters, and it’s a skill that requires a lot of effort and practice. I wrote a number of posts on masterful character description, so b ..read more

Creating believable characters is the key to engaging storytelling. Readers invest in characters who feel real and express emotions, motivation, and responses that resonate with readers. One effective technique for achieving this authenticity is mastering the action-reaction cycle. This is a cycle I came up with because in all my decades of writing fiction, I never found anything simple and obvious like this. You may have heard the phrase “scene and sequel.” I honestly don’t understand that. Here’s one definition: “A scene is a passage of writing in which the character attempts to achieve a go ..read more

Today’s post is by Janeen Mathisen. When you read a story and call it “powerful writing,” chances are it affected you in a way that’s hard to describe. Authors use various methods to make their writing powerful, and as such there is no one-size-fits-all technique—but that just means there are plenty of stories you can study. This post will examine three techniques for powerful writing and inspire you to write stories that will knock readers’ socks off.    You might think observation is a skill more suited to photographers or animators or film cinematographers. That’s true, but observ ..read more

Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 best seller, Outliers, centers on the premise that, regardless of a person’s pursuit, it takes about 10,000 hours to become proficient, or perhaps an expert. Gladwell discovered that hugely successful people such as Bill Gates, Robert Oppenheimer, and The Beatles had put in the requisite 10,000 hours into their field or craft. It just seems to be a very basic rule that to become proficient in any field, you need to put in a lot of time—which equates to a lot of years of diligent effort. There are no shortcuts or get-smart-quick ways about it. Unless you’re a prodigy or ..read more

Great fiction features great characters—there should be no argument there. While plot is crucial (as is having a terrific premise), for any story to be both memorable and engaging, it must have fresh, compelling characters. What we’re going to examine in this post are dynamic vs static characters, which should help you add insights to your writer’s toolbox. You’ve no doubt heard about character arcs—a gradual change readers follow from start to end that shows how the events in a story impact the character so that by the end of the story they’ve grown in some way or learned important things abo ..read more

Most of us writers aren’t content with just being mediocre. Just writing so-so books. I’d like to think most writers have a keen desire to improve and excel in their writing, improve in not just their grammar and spelling and all those mechanics but develop a masterful style and even expertise in their craft. As with anything we do, we should take pride in our writing. We should strive to take our writing–whether it’s fiction or nonfiction–to the highest level. Whether we’re writing a short story or recounting a true story in a blog post or article. There are no shortcuts or ways to expedite t ..read more

When tackling the art of fiction writing, it’s common to immerse yourself in the fundamentals: plot, structure, characters—the building blocks that demand time and mastery. Surprisingly, writing style often takes a backseat initially, with early attempts appearing clunky and derivative. It’s all part of the growth process. I think it wasn’t until my fifth novel that I hit my stride and found my writing voice for my fantasy series. If you’re just beginning to venture into fiction, be patient! You have a lot of plates to juggle, and developing a unique, fresh, and compelling voice will take time ..read more

Today’s guest post is by Joseph Macolino. Here he comes again, the perfect, flawless hero with all the strength and no doubts of his cause. He’s strong, mighty, righteous, and just. No matter what obstacles he faces, he’ll come out stronger for it. The only problem is no one can relate to him! When contrasted with the flawed hero that most modern stories employ, he simply can’t measure up. Today, let’s consider what makes a hero and why flawed heroes are essential to modern literature. The Truth About Heroes Would you know a hero if you saw one? In the modern world, “hero” is one of many terms ..read more