If you’ve spent almost any time at all in the Avatar fandom, you’ve probably come across the question, “why did Zuko become firelord instead of Iroh?” Iroh, the wise old sage of the series, never fails to bring broadly-applicable wisdom to every situation, pushing characters into just the right position so that they can grow…
A lot of stories — from historical novels to science fiction series and everything in between — deal with romantic drama. It’s simply too easy to have your main love interests fall in love right off the bat with no obstacles or challenges. Any good storyteller knows that conflict generates interest in your story, and…
Romance is the best-selling literary genre in the world. Despite there being thousands of books out there in this genre, people are constantly clamoring for more of them. And whether romance is driving the main plot of a story or simply featured through a character’s loving parental figures, it is almost inescapable. Every author, every…
In my experience, it’s pretty easy to guess the era a book is from. Whether it’s a Victorian classic or a modern YA adventure, a lot of times you don’t have to look at the copyright page to tell around what date it was written and published. For a lot of works, their time period…
There is a particularly thin line writers have to walk when venturing into the publishing industry. On one hand, their story has to fit into a genre. Writers have to come up with comp. titles and a trope list and all sorts of other materials to convince a publisher (or sometimes, their audience directly) that…
We’ve written a lot about what makes emotional scenes hit home, especially tragic ones. We had a whole series on it this summer, and both Sophia and I have individually written about techniques you can use to make character deaths hit home. But there’s one concept we haven’t had the chance to explore yet, and…
Subverting expectations is a really powerful tool you can use as a writer. Whether that’s in the form of a plot twist or just a genre-defying trope, it’s one of the fastest ways to generate variety and interest in your story. Whenever your reader thinks they know where the story is headed… you switch it…
We’ve all read a book featuring the now-famous YA protagonist trope. She’s determined and mature beyond her years. Always an orphan, skilled in some sort of combat, and thrust into positions of power and influence beyond her years. She faces a confusing love triangle, and navigates complicated romantic conflicts as well as political or physical…
Imagine you have a beautiful setting for your characters. You have the language, the culture, and even the currency all figured out for your brand new world. On the other hand, you have your story. Your characters are all fleshed out and you know exactly how the plot is going to play out. The only…
Most writers know how themes work: our protagonist rejects a specific truth or message because of their fatal flaw, spends the entire book fighting against accepting it, and is finally forced to confront their flaw just before the climax in a painful but ultimately transforming experience known as their Epiphany. Accepting the truth whole heartedly,…