by Ali | Jan 31, 2022 | Craft
Getting Apostrophes Right: From the Easy to the Tricky Cases This post was first published in November 2016 and updated in January 2022. I think it’s a safe bet that you’ve come across the apostrophe before. (If not … there are two in the previous sentence.) But...
by Ali | Jan 17, 2022 | Craft
Split Narratives: Dividing Your Story Between Two or More Narrators This post was originally published in June 2015 and updated in January 2022. There are several perfectly good ways to structure a story in terms of viewpoint, but (probably) the more common ones are:...
by Ali | Jul 5, 2021 | Craft
What Are Dialogue Tags and Dialogue Beats? (And Why You Should Use “Said” Frequently) This post was originally published in April 2016 and updated in July 2021. Dialogue is vital to your story. It helps reveal and develop character – and it drives the plot...
by Ali | Mar 29, 2021 | Craft
What Bad Writing Looks Like … and How to Fix It [With Detailed Examples] A lot of writers worry that they may not be good enough to be successful. The truth is that however “good” or “bad” your writing is, you can improve with practice and with careful...
by Ali | Sep 14, 2020 | Craft
Five Straightforward Ways to Create Stronger Characters This post was originally published in October 2017 and updated in September 2020. If your story doesn’t have strong, compelling characters … you’ll struggle to get readers. However intricate your...
by Ali | Jun 29, 2020 | Craft
Anti-Heroes and Villains: How They’re Different & Tips for Writing Them Well This post was originally published in December 2016 and updated in June 2020. Most stories, these days, don’t have flawless heroes and evil cackling villains. Readers – and...