Subtext is what’s unspoken or implied. It’s what lies beneath the surface-level meaning of what someone says or does. We’re all familiar with subtext in everyday life. Let’s say a family member asks, “Have you lost weight?” There could be all kinds of subtext: perhaps...
Unless you’re creating flash fiction or something decidedly experimental, writing dialogue is essential. Great dialogue can immerse the reader in your book, your world, and most especially your characters. Poor dialogue jars the reader and may even see them put…
This post was first published in April 2018 and last updated in June 2025. You’re probably known by several different names in your life. I'm "Ali Luke" to Aliventures readers. I’m “Alison Luke” when I fill in a form. I’m “Mrs Luke” to my bank and to cold-callers. I’m...
Your novel needs a protagonist (main character) … but unless you’re writing something highly unusual and experimental, you’ll have a cast of more than just that one person. Some of the characters in your story will have walk-on roles: the waiter who brings your...
How’s 2025 been going for you? Maybe you started the year feeling enthusiastic and motivated: this was going to be the year you finished your novel. But we’re close to halfway through the year now, and perhaps things haven’t quite gone to plan. Novels often take...
You might have heard the term “epistolary novel” bandied around in writing circles or book groups. An “epistle” is a letter—and “epistolary fiction” just means a story written in the form of letters. These days, stories that are written as diary entries, text...
This post was first published in April 2019 and last updated in May 2025. Whether you consider plot to be more important than character or you believe they’re just two sides of the same coin, it’s clear that character matters. Readers want characters who are engaging...
One challenge that you’re likely to face when writing a novel is how to fill the reader in about important events in your main character’s past. There are various techniques you can use for this—one of which is a flashback. Flashbacks can be fun to write, but they can...
What exactly is plot? While many elements of storytelling – like dialogue – are easy to point to, plot can be trickier to pin down.Here are a few definitions: A plot is a sequence of events in which every cause has an effect, pulling the story…
First person point of view is hugely popular in certain genres: YA and Romance, in particular. It’s also a perfectly fine choice for literary fiction—think David Copperfield (narrated by David Copperfield) or To Kill a Mockingbird (narrated by Scout Finch). But is it...
I’ve covered a lot about developing characters and writing about them, here on Aliventures. I wanted to collect those posts together in one place so you can find them easily. Whether you’re just figuring out who your characters are for your story, you’re in the messy...
If you’re writing fiction, whether that’s a short story or a novel, you’ll generally need character descriptions. You want your readers to know what your characters look like – especially when their physical traits are relevant to the story…
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 throughout your story…
Last week, we looked at the third person limited point of view. There’s a different angle you can take with writing in the third person, and that’s to write as an omniscient narrator. This means writing as if you can see everything in your story, potentially all at...
One decision you’ll need to make before starting your first draft is what point of view (perspective) to write from. A hugely popular option is third person limited point of view, and while you might have a rough idea what that means, it can cover quite a range of...
One question that’s been on my mind often recently is whether AI will eventually be able to write novels. As a novelist and a reader, this prospect definitely alarms me! As a freelancer, I’ve worked with several AI companies (and used AI tools to assist with my work,...
Sometimes, it’s obvious who the POV (point of view) character(s) will be for a particular story. Maybe you’re writing a first-person romance novella, for instance, with the heroine as the only viewpoint character. But in many cases, there isn’t a clear-cut choice…
“Characterisation” is how we show, on the page, who our characters are. But there are a couple of different ways we might go about that: direct characterisation and indirect characterisation. Neither of these is right or wrong, but to really engage readers with your...
Procrastination is the bane of many writers … or would-be writers. It can affect you at any stage of your writing life. And it’s one of the top problems I hear about (along with “time management” more generally) from Aliventures newsletter readers, Writers’ Cafe...
Does your novel draft feel a little lopsided? Is your pacing off, or does it seem like the story takes ages to get started? Maybe the tension slackens off in the middle, or you feel like something big needs to happen – you’re just not sure what (or when). Here’s...
Some writers love to plan out every detail of their plot in advance … but is there such thing as outlining for pantsers? If you follow writing groups, blogs, or social media accounts online, you’ve probably come across the pantser vs plotter debate: how much should...
When you’re reworking your first or second draft, you’ll likely be making some changes relating to your characters and their characterisation (how they come across on the page). If you didn’t quite nail your characters’ personalities or their character arcs during the...
![What Bad Writing Looks Like … and How to Fix It [With Detailed Examples]](https://www.aliventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/bad-writing-fix-it.png)
This post was first published in March 2021 and most recently updated in June 2024. 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...
Are you looking to raise the levels of tension in your story? A high level of tension keeps your story taut, like a wire: it means your reader will be on the edge of their seat as they wait to find out what happens next. It ramps up their emotional investment in...
Whether you’re new to writing fiction or you’ve already written a bunch of stories, it often feels like there’s a lot to learn. There’s tons of great advice out there – but some of it can seem confusing (should you always stick to “show, don’t tell”) or even contradictory (like whether you…
Thinking of writing a novel? You might be wondering about how best to plan it … but before you figure that out, you need to decide how much planning you’ll want to do in advance. Some novelists like to plan out every chapter before they begin. Others pick up a blank…
One of the most common pieces of writing advice is show, don’t tell. It’s a neat little phrase. But you might wonder what exactly the “show don’t tell” rule means, and why it matters. After all, you’re telling a story…
The stories that stick with me are ones where the characters feel like real people, with lives before the story begins … and lives that continue after the final page. These characters don’t…
This post was originally published in February 2016 and updated in March 2024. Whether you’re writing a short story or an epic novel series, fictional time is going to pass during it. Obviously enough, fictional time is not the same thing as real time (unless you’re...
What grips readers and keeps them reading? As a reader, there are lots of reasons why I might get really into a book … but one big factor is unanswered questions. One of the times I notice this most is when I’m reading…
Have you ever started reading a novel and given up within the first few pages? Unless you’re a particularly tenacious (or stubborn!) reader, you probably have. It’s often clear early on that a book simply isn’t working for you. While…
If you’re working on a novel, some scenes will likely flow easily – they’ll be straightforward to write and not too much of a challenge. But other scenes will be a lot tougher. There are plenty of reasons why certain scenes…
Your friend recommends a thriller to you and tells you it’s “a fantastic page-turner”. Another friend tells you about a sweet romance novel that’s a “gentle, slow burn”. Both your friends are describing something to do with the pace…
Note: This post was originally published in 2016, and was last updated in June 2025. Do your characters suffer enough? Even if you’re writing a light and fluffy romance, at some point, someone in your novel is going to need to get hurt. I’m not suggesting all-out...
A couple of weeks ago, we looked at internal conflict in detail: when a character is facing a struggle that’s taking place within their own mind. Today, we’re going to look at some examples of different kinds of external conflict. You’ll…
Stories are built on conflict. Without any conflict, there’s not really any story. If Jane Doe gets everything she wanted, without any difficulties, and lives happily ever after, then that’s lovely for Jane, but not very interesting to read…
All stories, however short, need conflict: a clash between two (or more) people, ideas, or even motivations. Conflict is the engine that powers your story, driving it forward. Without conflict, there’s not much of a story. Your main character…
Whatever stage of the process you’re at, writing a novel can be a whole lot of fun. But it also takes a lot of time. None of us have unlimited time to write (and chances are, your writing time has to fit in around everything else in life) – so how can you best move...
Stories have a beginning, middle, and end … but they don’t necessarily need to be told in that order. Plenty of stories follow the advice given to Alice by the King in Alice in Wonderland: “Begin at the beginning […] and go on …
Scenes are the building blocks of your novel. When you plan (if you plan!), you’re thinking in scenes: individual little chunks of story that build on one another as they work towards the conclusion. Like me, you probably feel you have an intuitive…
Is your novel’s plot complex enough? If you’ve drafted a novel and you’re done in 50,000 words when you were aiming for 80,000, or if the pacing feels wrong – perhaps not much happens and you’ve dragged out simple scenes…
Writing the first scene of a novel is tricky. Perhaps you’ve been slowly developing an idea for weeks, months, or even years. You might have written pages of notes or created a full outline. And now you’ve opened up the document to start … but how do you actually...
![Choosing the Right Viewpoint and Tense for Your Fiction [With Examples]](https://www.aliventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/viewpoint-blog-image-1.jpg)
Who’s telling your story? Perhaps the choice is easy and obvious: you’re writing from a particular character’s viewpoint in the first person (“I”) and the whole story is from their perspective. Or perhaps it’s trickier than that. You’ve got…
Is it ever okay to repeat the same word or phrase in your writing Absolutely! Unintentional repetition is something that authors are (quite rightly) warned to watch out for, particularly in fiction. And that may have given…
There are several perfectly good ways to structure a story in terms of viewpoint, but (probably) the more common ones are: A single first-person narrator, as in Florence and Giles or 600 Hours of Edward. A main third-person narrator…
![Character Flaws: Why They’re So Important to Your Story [With Examples]](https://www.aliventures.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/character-flaws-fiction.png)
Maybe you’ve heard that your characters “should” have flaws. Or maybe you’ve come across terms like “tragic flaw” or “fatal flaw” in literature. So what exactly is a character flaw … and why’s it important to your story?
This post was inspired by an email conversation with Emma from the brilliant blog Science at Your Doorstep and by a question from an Aliventures reader. It was first published in April 2018 and updated in October 2021. Pick up the nearest book. Whether it’s fiction or...
One theme’s come through already in the survey responses: procrastination. It’s the bane of many writers … or would-be writers. Some people spend months, even years, trying to get round to writing, but never quite manage to…
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 forward. Dialogue-heavy scenes tend to be fast-paced, helping to keep the reader moving. This...
For some writers, the question “how long should a novel be?” sounds a bit like “how long is a piece of string?” They feel that their novel should be long enough to get the job done – even if that means it falls outside the bounds of what readers and publishers are used to. However, if you’ve written something that’s…
All stories are, at one level, a collection of scenes. It can be tough to get scenes right. Maybe the action and surroundings were so vivid in your head, but they just haven’t translated well to the page. We’re going to take a look at how to write stronger scenes by adding more depth and detail. Before we dig in, I want to…
If your story doesn’t have strong, compelling characters … you’ll struggle to get readers. However intricate your plotting or however exotic your setting, if your characters are flat and uninteresting, there’s nothing for the reader to invest in. We read stories because we’re interested in…
This post was originally published in April 2016 and updated in July 2020. You’d like to write a novel ... but how do you even begin? I’m not thinking here about ways to write a great opening (if that’s what you’re after, check out this excellent article from The...
Most stories, these days, don’t have flawless heroes and evil cackling villains. Readers – and writers! – enjoy more complex characters. At what stage, though, does a dark hero (aka “anti-hero”) turn into…
Sometimes, you feel like your story hangs together pretty well ... until you re-read your whole draft. That’s when you notice all the places where it’s not quite working. If there’s a tiny inconsistency (like a character changing eye colour half way), that’s pretty...
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 specific plot points at specific stages in your novel. These are the...
This is the second post in our series on "Developing Better Plots". If you missed last week's post, you can find it here: What is Plot ... and is it the Same Thing as Story or Narrative? Confession time: research is definitely not my favourite part of writing. The...
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 didn’t last. Maybe you had the first few chapters...
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 “pegs” that fit into the right-shaped spaces in your...
Do you have a hard time hurting your characters? Maybe it’s pretty easy with some of them. (For me, villains are fair game, and Woobies seem to invite a fair amount of suffering.) But chances are, you’ve either got characters who you hate to hurt…