Hey guys! This week, we’re taking a brief break from posting for Good Friday and the Easter holiday, which have been quite a bit busier than we were expecting. We’ll have an article for you all ready next week, but until then, keep writing and have a Happy Easter!
Author: Mara Scudder
Dean From Iron Giant: How to Write a Minor Character
We’ve all encountered minor characters that don’t really have a purpose. It seems like the writer decided their protagonist needed a friend, so they wrote one in who gets plenty of lines, a few scenes, and one or two characteristics that quickly lose interest and depth. These characters feel like a cardboard cutout of an…
The Emperor’s New Groove: Making Your Arrogant Characters Bearable
One of the very first articles Sophia and I posted on the blog was about how to write arrogant characters in such a way that your readers don’t want to close your book forever. There’s a way to do them right, so that your readers can understand their flaws, even if they don’t relate to…
Cinderella: Writing a “Flawless” Protagonist
It has often been pointed out that old fairy tales are not the most nuanced. The evil characters are just that — pure villainy. Our protagonist is the ideal of perfection. There are no antiheroes, broken protagonists, or even characters with any serious faults. While the conventional wisdom of modern storytelling is to allow your…
Kathrine Plumber from Newsies: Why Side Characters Matter
Side characters can seem like more trouble than they’re worth. After all, we’ve talked over and over again on the blog about how a well-rounded, truly relatable protagonist will draw in just about anyone. There’s something magnetic about characters with goals, desires, and fears that makes readers unable to put your book down. It’s those…
The Hunger Games: Why The Love Triangle Worked
In the beginning of the month, I wrote an article on what not to do when writing a love triangle. I went through many of the common pitfalls and difficulties that come up when writers include a love triangle in their story carelessly. But it’s completely possible to avoid those traps and write a love…
Inheritance Games: Why Love Triangles Are Risky
Love triangles have been written in all kinds of stories. They’re immensely popular not only in the young adult and romance genres, but also across fiction in general. And while there is definitely a time and a place for love triangles, too many authors include them when they aren’t necessary, assume they’re quick and low-effort…
Writing Workshop: How to Find a Theme in Your Partially-Written Novel
Last year, we went through how to establish a theme for your book during the initial stages of outlining it. We walked through exactly how important themes are and how they are fundamental to every story. But a lot of people aren’t just starting a new book. Many writers are half way through or even…
Thor Ragnarok: How To Use Your Plot to Leverage Your Tone
We’ve talked a lot about tone on the blog lately. Whether you’re trying to manage a darker, more serious story without being overly violent, or if you want to balance a lighter story with higher stakes, managing your story’s tone is a multifaceted topic that requires a combination of several tools to do well. Although…
Trollhunters: Letting Your Characters Grow
Last summer, I wrote about how the majority of stories to fall into two general categories — cast-focused and protagonist-focused. In a more in-depth article, we explored the strengths and weaknesses of both kinds and how they change your story. Mixing the two types happens occasionally, but it has to be done intentionally or it…