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How Do I…? Dialogue
We’ve been talking about macro-level stuff on this blog so far, but I’ve yet to dive into some of the craft of writing — the wordsmithing part that all writers should know. So I’m starting this series of posts on craft. I hope this will become a regular thing. Today’s topic is dialogue. I assume…
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Your World is an Iceberg
A question that every beginning writer asks is, “How much world building information do I need in my story? How much do I need to explain to the reader?” This comes up frequently for writers working in fantasy and science fiction, since world building is an integral part of the process. But every genre of…
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Use Randomness to Get Unstuck
So your characters are in a sticky situation, and you have no idea what happens next. Or your characters are at point A, and want to get to point B, but you don’t know what happens along the way. Instead of spending hours or days worrying over which one out of hundreds of possibilities would…
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The Problem with Inner Problems
If you stick around writers’ circles long enough, you’ll hear some variant of the following axiom: “Every hero needs both an inner and an outer problem.” These days, you’re more likely to see “protagonist” or “main character” instead of “hero”, but the concept remains the same.
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Message vs. Theme
In a previous post, I mentioned message as one of the essential ingredients for a story. I think it’s high time that I discuss what I mean by this.
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Details Tell
Creative writing involves a lot of description — of people, of places, of things, of what is happening and what has happened. Writers spend more of our time describing stuff than we’d probably care to admit.
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Finding Your Writer’s Voice
There’s one writers’ forum I frequent. Once, I saw a new member submit a question about finding her voice as a writer. While her concerns are legitimate, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
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4 Things Every Story Needs
If you’ve spent any amount of time Googling “how to write a story” or “how to write a book”, then you’ve probably encountered some of the myriad frameworks writers have devised as a diagnostic tool for successful stories. From books to blogs to special software, everyone seems to have their own pet theory, each with…