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In the mood for a free online writing conference this week? I’d love to recommend one I’m excited to be part of! The WorldShift Summit for Speculative Fiction Writers officially begins today, and I’m delighted to be returning as one of this year’s featured speakers. After participating in the inaugural conference last year, I can […] The post Free Online Writing Conference for Writers: Join Me at…
Quick! You’ve got less than a minute to convince me your story is worth my time. What do you tell me? You’ve got to pique my curiosity with mystery and potential, while still conveying the bulk of the plot, theme, and general tone. “No problem!” you say. But when you sit down to actually figure […] The post How to Pitch Your Novel: The Difference Between Your Story’s Hook and Heart appeared first…
For years, in my book Creating Character Arcs and elsewhere, I’ve taught the Lie the Character Believes as the central premise of character arc. The Lie the Character Believes is the limited perspective that prevents characters from embracing the thematic Truth until the events of the story force them to grow. In a Positive Change […] The post The Lie the Character Believes: A Deeper Look at…
A flawed character becomes likable when audiences trust the character’s honesty more than they judge the character’s mistakes. Memorable characters come in many shades—everything from Heathcliff’s murderous manipulation to Steve Rogers’s aw-shucks idealism. Sometimes, the not-so-likable characters end up being all the more interesting and enduring for their inner darkness. But, generally speaking,…
What is a story? One easy answer is that it is a narrative composed of a beginning, middle, and ending. Today, we’re talking about how to write satisfying endings, but allow me a quick rabbit trail: A while back, someone asked me to write a post about why the Second Act was even a thing. […] The post The Psychology of Story Endings (+5 Tips to Write a Truly Satisfying Ending) appeared first on…
Multiple POVs—should you use them or should you not? That’s a question with huge implications for your story. It will influence everything from structure to pacing to character arcs. Most importantly, it will have a huge influence on your readers’ experience of the story—for better or worse. More genre books than not use multiple POVs to […] The post Why Multiple POVs Can Make Readers Love Your…
A hill I will die on: we need heroic stories. That may seem super obvious. After all, the word “hero” has become all but synonymous with “protagonist.” They are not, however, the same thing. A protagonist is the structural driver of the plot (just as the antagonist is the structural obstacle to that driving momentum). […] The post Why We Need Heroic Stories: The Courage We Borrow From Fiction…
Note From KMW: Over the years, I’ve learned there is a difference between cultivating discipline as a writer and forcing it. Like many writers (especially those of us who came of age during the early years of the indie boom), I spent much of my career believing success required constant hustle. Push harder. Write faster. […] The post The Four Seasons of Writing: How Authors Can Build a…
Truly resonant stories give us the feeling that nothing about them is accidental. The plot, character arc, theme, symbolism, and even the setting all belong to the same deeper pattern. Everything connects. This is what I’ll be exploring in my Story School class Alchemizing Plot, Character, and Theme, which originally premiered during last year’s WorldShift […] The post Writing Masterclass:…
What is mythic fiction, and how can we write it? Earlier this month, I shared a post about how to write mythic fiction, in which I discussed the difference between adapting inherited myths (i.e., just retelling the old symbolic stories over and over in “new” ways) versus creating our own myths. My suggestion was that […] The post How to Write Mythic Fiction: 7 Practices to Reconnect With the Lost…
