by Ali | Aug 26, 2019 | Fiction
Novel Structure: Seven Plot Points You Should Know In screenwriting, there are commonly agreed “plot points” that movies are expected to follow. With novels, you’ve got more flexibility – but many writers and theorists would argue that you should hit...
by Ali | Aug 12, 2019 | Fiction, Writing
What is Plot … and is it the Same Thing as Story or Narrative? For the next four weeks, we’re going to be look at “Developing Better Plots”. We’ll be covering what plot is (and isn’t), how to create a better plot, how to fix a plot that’s gone wrong, and more....
by Ali | Jul 15, 2019 | Fiction
Stuck on Your Novel? Here’s How to Get Moving Again It’s a familiar situation for most novelists: you get a few chapters in (or if you’re unlucky, a few pages) … and for one reason or another, you find yourself stuck. Maybe your initial enthusiasm for the project...
by Ali | Apr 29, 2019 | Fiction
What’s a Character Arc, Who Needs One, and Why? You’ve probably come across the idea of a “character arc” before now … but what is it, and why’s it called that? A character arc isn’t the same thing as your plot. It’s the progression of your character as a person...
by Ali | Apr 22, 2019 | Fiction
Seven Common Problems Writers Have With Characters Most writers love creating characters and writing about them – but it can be a struggle to get characters right. If you’re normally quite plot-focused, you might find yourself creating characters who are lifeless...
by Ali | Apr 16, 2019 | Fiction
Making Bad Things Happen to Good Characters This post was first published in August 2015, and updated in April 2019. Kudos to LycoRogue for inspiring it. Do you have a hard time hurting your characters? Maybe it’s pretty easy with some of them. (For me, villains are...