Image by Shutterstock What Is a Throughline in Writing? What it is, why it's important, and how to create one. December 30, 2022January 5, 2023 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Movement: The Story Principle That’s 2,300 Years Old Tension isn't the only thing a plot needs. October 14, 2022December 19, 2022 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Understanding Character Karma Every story we tell sends a message. July 8, 2022February 5, 2023 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Outline a Short Story in Seven Steps The second edition of this story formula has more tips, more options, and further reading. January 21, 2022January 20, 2022 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
How Writing Instructors Forgo the Most Vital Fiction Lesson A gut feeling for stories isn't enough. January 7, 2022December 2, 2022 by Chris Winkle in Commentary, Storytelling
Planning Character Arcs How to develop the emotional side of your plot. July 2, 2021February 5, 2023 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Your Plot Is a Fractal Your story recreates the same three-point structure at every scale. May 7, 2021May 28, 2022 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Understanding Conflict & Tension Tension drives the story, and conflict brings tension to life. March 19, 2021June 4, 2022 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Turning Points: The Secret to Satisfying Conflicts The crucial, yet often overlooked ingredient to emotionally rewarding conflicts. October 2, 2020February 5, 2023 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Five Common Reasons Tension Is Missing Against unclear stakes, dislikable heroes, and slow timelines, will tension triumph? May 1, 2020December 21, 2021 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Character Agency: It’s What That Sexy Lamp Is Missing If a character's choices don't affect anything, they might as well be furniture. December 20, 2019February 5, 2023 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Filling In Your Story’s Middle Writers often know where their stories start and end but draw a blank when it comes to all the stuff in between. August 9, 2019August 9, 2019 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
Six Types of Turning Points for Climaxes Without a good turning point, endings don't feel satisfying. March 30, 2018April 13, 2022 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
How to Outline Your Story Try these ideas to get your story's general ideas down. October 14, 2016July 16, 2021 by Chris Winkle in Writing
How to Turn Your Concept Into a Story Follow these tips to pare down your idea into something you can work with. February 19, 2016July 20, 2021 by Chris Winkle in Storytelling
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