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Character thoughts, huh, what are they good for? A whole lot, it turns out. But they can also be used poorly, and then they’re worth absolutely nothing. This week, we do a deep dive on how to narrate what’s going on inside the protagonist’s head. … read more »
We’ve discussed choosing the right perspective and narration style for your story, but for many stories, this is not uniform. Instead, the narration changes with the story’s content. One of the biggest factors in whether these changes are smooth or jarring for readers is your … read more »
Hey guys, so in my story I have several main characters, the problem being that one of them doesn’t do much until later on but I still want them to be involved. She is the heir of her father’s kingdom, but not really because, haha, … read more »
How do I convey a dazed character? I know it’s bad to confuse readers, but what if I want them to feel the hero’s confusion? If he experiences a sudden event too fast for him to process, like being hit by a car, or a … read more »
The Witcher book series, written by Andrzej Sapkowski and translated to English by Danusia Stok, started a popular video game franchise and now a popular TV show on Netflix too. I’ve seen the first season of the show, so that gives me some story context … read more »
Additional viewpoints are a valuable tool for storytelling, but they are drastically overused. Careless use of multiple viewpoints is so common that most writers would do better by using only one. However, since it’s obvious that writers won’t stop using extra viewpoints anytime soon, let’s … read more »
Many writers hope to create the immersive experiences they watch on a screen. Ironically, delivering the most immersive experience in writing depends on learning techniques that don’t exist in film. The narrative style writers need for this is close perspective. Read more »
I’m working on a plot about two soldiers on the run trying to expose the corruption of a military organization. And to make it more realistic and get deeper into worldbuilding, I want to add a subplot about a journalist working on the same case … read more »
This post-apocalyptic YA novel by James Dashner spawned not only bestselling sequels but also a movie series. A bad movie series, I hear, but they star Dylan O’Brien (aka Styles), so how bad could they be? I think the cover art is gorgeous, but I’m … read more »
When we do a content edit, we focus on the big-picture stuff first. There’s no point in nitpicking small things that might be rewritten anyway. However, we do run into lots of problems at the wordcraft level. To help everyone improve their prose, let’s go … read more »