The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that there aren’t enough sad moments in fiction, especially when a character has died and the rest of the cast is dealing with the grief. We might get a short glimpse of their funeral, or even a line or two of dialogue that shows the…

It’s hard to share things that are close to your heart. It can be even harder to write them. It’s difficult to write scenes when your characters cry or share their deepest fears, because it’s the most vulnerable moment in your entire book. If your readers relate to their most passionate thoughts and secrets, your…

At this point, enough fantasy characters have traveled through magical portals to reach far-away worlds. That trope — a magic circle with teleportation properties — a has become cliched and predictable, with many readers asking for more creative devices to transport  protagonists between two worlds.  But coming up with a brand-new method of transportation can…

We all know those sorts of endings. They’re the ones that leave us readers with dozens of open-ended questions. The last sentence that makes us shout ‘What? That’s it?!’ The kind that inspires fan-fiction. The kind that make us try to force another page of writing into existence with nothing but pure willpower. The kind…

There is so much good that could be said about Honor Among Thieves. It might be the best movie that came out of 2023. I’ve known I want to write a blog post about it for months, but most of what makes the story so good is just its strength in the foundational aspects storytelling…

Most characters nowadays only represent different moral shades of gray. They’re often heartbroken, bloodthirsty, or constantly acting on some deeper, darker motive. Even if a wise mentor does happen to appear, they are usually portrayed as a crusty old hermit who points the protagonist in the right direction and does nothing more. Recent stories have…

The middle of our stories can often be the hardest to master. Even plotters like myself, with extensive planning done beforehand and a crystal-clear vision of the scenes just a few steps ahead, can get stuck in the middle. Sometimes the plot seems predictable or the characters are repeating themselves or you need to add…

The premise of most stories includes some type of a fish-out-of-water situation. If it didn’t, and the characters stayed safely tucked away in their comfort zones, it wouldn’t make for an interesting story. Although sometimes other elements, events, or even characters intrude into their world and make it uncomfortable, very often a character is forced…

Tone can be one of the hardest things to master, especially in the first draft of a novel. There’s a fine line between oppressing your reader with needless darkness and adding so much humor that the story seems irreverent. But between those two extremes is the perfect tone, offering enough meaning and impact to create…

Literature is full of characters with traumatic pasts. Whether a family member is dead, they grew up in an abusive environment, or they’ve been exiled from their home, every character seems to have some variety of trauma. Avatar: The Last Airbender is no exception. Katara’s mom was murdered in front of her, Zuko’s father maimed…