Whatever creative narrative you’re writing, the challenge is to establish a balance between character and story. Readers are happy if the writer uses story simply as the washing line on […]
We don’t need to follow your character into the bathroom. Her brushing and flossing routine don’t do it for us – or even for your story. If, however, she enters […]
Be aware of your connection to your character – that silver thread that attaches you to them – and you’ll write better. I believe this and I’ve seen it again […]
Let’s examine how a master story-teller whips a little literary confection into existence. Stephen King is the dude I’m thinking of – and the confection in question is a feature […]
We need to know how your character is feeling, okay? It’s not enough simply to have things happen to him without giving us any sense of his emotional state. Part […]
In life people speak about “wanting for nothing” as though it’s a good thing. Actually, in life and in stories, it’s not a good thing at all. It means, basically, […]
Consider for a moment the four-dimensional world you live in. You might well be sitting at your computer at this very moment, reading these words… But a few minutes ago, […]
As a novelist, you shouldn’t be too kind. We all know Kurt Vonnegut’s exhortation to put your characters through hell, but do we always heed it where our own beloved […]
I think in the film and television business we talk more about agency than people do when discussing stories destined for print – although why this should be so I’m […]
If you want to be reminded that characters are the most important part of a narrative, go and read (or reread) George Elliot’s Middlemarch. I have just done exactly this […]
Tears streamed down her cheeks. She wept and wept, sobbing into her sodden tissue until it dissolved and she was left hiccupping… It’s worth making the point again because I […]
We understand that conflict lies at the heart of all drama – that the tension between what your protagonist wants and what stands in the way of his satisfying that […]