A Revision Mistake That Hides Behind Good Intentions
it is sooo good at hiding, and craft advice adores dancing around that little jerk.
Aj Saxsma
Award-Winning literary writer helping make your novels say what you believe. Advanced writing craft for serious storytellers.
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Latest posts
For When Group Dialogue Scenes Feel Like One Person Wearing Different Masks
The problem isn't the dialogue, it's what you gave your character before they walked in the room...
A Character Hiding Underneath The One You Thought You Knew
one version of your character that dialogue will never give you
Your Character Already Knows How to Destroy What They Love
AND it isn't a plot device...
The Argument Your Characters Are Actually Having
A different way to think about Subtext...
Goodbye Midwest...or The Opposite of Vanity
My retreat to the West Coast
Using Dialogue to Show Not Tell Backstory
Let dialogue become a dance
If You Want a Story That Means Something to You, I Want to Help You Start It!
Where we start has nothing to do with plot.
You've Been Fixing Your Emotionally Empty Story in the Wrong Place
The fix has absolutely ZERO to do with structure.
What Your Reader Concludes About Your Story Is Your Responsibility
Most writers leave this entirely to chance
Why Your Most Emotional Scenes Aren't Doing What You Think They're Doing
One question changes how an emotional scene lands with a reader.
Your Character Doesn't Need More Backstory. They Need Another Want...
Most writers dig into history to find complexity. It is much closer, and easier, than that.
Your Voice Isn't in Your Prose
Style is what the reader hears. Voice is something else entirely.
When Your Writer's Compass Starts Spinning
That feeling of "this scene isn't working" isn't the problem. It's the clue.
The Character Moment Most Writers Feel Compelled to Explain
What happens when you let it stand without explaining it.
Bigger Emotions Are Not Making Your Scenes More Complex
Because complexity isn't about how much your character feels. It's about something else entirely.
The Writing Rule That Gets Cited More Than It Gets Understood
Hemingway broke it constantly. So did Carver.
The Problem With "Just Get the Draft Down"
Sounds like momentum, but it often ends in disappointment.
You Don't Need Explosive Trauma to Write Intimately Personal Stories
Trauma isn't the threshold. Belief is. And everyone has beliefs that cost them something to hold.
Why Knowing What Your Character Wants Isn't Enough to Write a Scene
The want is only half the equation.
Why Revising Your Dialogue First Is Leaving Your Characters Flatter...
Flat characters aren't usually a dialogue problem. They're a behavior problem. And most writers never find that.