How to Keep Mysteries From Looking Like Mistakes
If you treat unexplained events like they're normal, readers will get confused.
Latest in Plot
Episode 346: Making the Climax Exciting
Unfortunately, readers don’t generally accept “and then something exciting happened.”
How WandaVision, Falcon, and Loki Score on Engagement
Let's find out which of these three Disney+ hits has the most ANTS.
Five Stories That Neglect Tension
Without tension, readers get bored fast.
Episode 340: Subplots
Subplots and exciting Tea Discourse!
Project Hail Mary Shows When Flashbacks Do and Don’t Work
The author of The Martian tries to make flashbacks work and only partially succeeds.
How to Make Large Conflicts Exciting
If you're not careful, your climatic conflict could become a boring mess.
Q&A: Where Do I Start My Story?
Answered
Six Signs of a Weak Throughline
If the throughline isn’t working, chances are good that little else is.
Planning Character Arcs
How to develop the emotional side of your plot.
Episode 333: Movement and Pacing
Sometimes you can just tell that the story you’re reading has come to a screeching halt.
Why We Have to Let Go of Meta Mysteries
Admiral Ackbar called; he wants to talk about your reveal.
Five Common Reasons Stories Screech to a Halt
When the story stalls, audiences get bored and lose their motivation to continue.
Five Ways to Include Dreams in Your Plot
Without impacting future events, dreams feel like a tangent or a cheap route to excitement.
Your Plot Is a Fractal
Your story recreates the same three-point structure at every scale.
Five Novels With Bizarre Tangents
Lack of plot focus in a story leads to convoluted and unpleasant detours.
Episode 323: Plot Twists
You thought this episode would have a topic other than plot twists, but, twist, the topic is plot twists!
Five Stories With Unsatisfying Endings
An unsatisfying ending ruins the lasting impression a story leaves.
How Three Book Series Kept Readers Interested
It’s challenging to maintain reader interest across multiple books.
Dave L