May the Fourth be with you! It's no secret that I'm a Star Wars nerd. As I talked about last month, Star Wars shaped me both as a person and a writer as I was growing up. Love or hate certain parts of it, there's no doubt that Star Wars has, in all likelihood, the … Continue reading What We Learn from a Character’s First Scenes in The Force Awakens
characters
Pixar Uses a Secret to Make Their Stories Unique—Now You Can Use It Too
Have you ever noticed that most protagonists are...kinda the same? Whether it’s a children’s picture book or an adult thriller novel, the protag usually falls into one of two categories: a boy (young man, man, etc.) looking for adventure or a girl (young woman, woman, etc.) looking for independence/freedom. The secondary character and/or best friend … Continue reading Pixar Uses a Secret to Make Their Stories Unique—Now You Can Use It Too
Are You Cheating the “Show Don’t Tell” Rule with Dialogue?: Basic Storytelling Elements Part 9
Welcome to my ten-part series where we’ll be going through the ten basics of storytelling as outlined in my guidebook The 10 Lost Elements of Storytelling – a book you can get for free by subscribing to my newsletter! In these posts, we’ll pound out the basics of these storytelling elements, but my guidebook is … Continue reading Are You Cheating the “Show Don’t Tell” Rule with Dialogue?: Basic Storytelling Elements Part 9
Give the Plot a Backseat: Basic Storytelling Elements Part 4
Welcome to my ten-part series where we’ll be going through the ten basics of storytelling as outlined in my guidebook The 10 Lost Elements of Storytelling – a book you can get for free by subscribing to my newsletter! In these posts, we’ll be going over the basics of these storytelling elements, but my guidebook is more detailed … Continue reading Give the Plot a Backseat: Basic Storytelling Elements Part 4
Reblog: Not Fitting In by First Edition Design Publishing
Debilitating fears are a problem for everyone, an unfortunate part of the human experience. Whether they’re a result of learned behavior as a child, are related to a mental health condition, or stem from a past wounding event, these fears influence a character’s behaviors, habits, beliefs, and personality traits. The compulsion to avoid what they […] … Continue reading Reblog: Not Fitting In by First Edition Design Publishing
Writing a Novel in 3 Months – Is It Crazy?
If you're a writer and you don't follow Reedsy, what are you doing? Seriously, Reedsy is an incredible resource. It's kind of hard to define exactly what it is because it's pretty much everything a writer needs! Their blog talks about everything writing-related, from how to come up with a story idea to where and … Continue reading Writing a Novel in 3 Months – Is It Crazy?
Reblog: Sensory Details in Writing by Goblin Opinions
In writing anything fiction—a short story, a novel, what have you—it is important to keep in mind the significance of utilizing sensory details for the benefit of the reader. Even if your plot is centered around something far outside the realm of perception—and please enlighten me if this is your plan—you’ll still want to try […]Sensory … Continue reading Reblog: Sensory Details in Writing by Goblin Opinions
Character Creation Doesn’t Have to Be a Chore
Characters. They're the most important part of the story, right? They are to me. I believe that for a story to be truly great, it needs to have great characters that the reader can relate to and enjoy reading about. Otherwise, you're left with a useless plot and no characters to reach out and bring … Continue reading Character Creation Doesn’t Have to Be a Chore
Project Pea: Finding My Voice
Now that my (spectacularly amazing) wedding is over and I've settled into my schedule living with another human being, I've thrown myself full force into editing Project Pea. In the overall edits, I'm halfway through the book. I've ironed out some timing issues, changed a lot of individual scenes, and fleshed out one of the … Continue reading Project Pea: Finding My Voice
How Do I Create Good Characters?
You've heard me talk about how important characters are when you're writing a story, but the next question is how do you create those amazing characters that will sell your story to your readers/viewers/listeners? The first thing you need to know up front is that it's not easy to create good characters. It takes tons … Continue reading How Do I Create Good Characters?
E.J. Robison 