Creating Your Character’s Inner Conflict: Want vs. Need Man vs. Self—it’s the most archetypal of all stories. This is because all stories are ultimately rooted in the primal and personal struggle of a character’s inner conflict. As individuals, our conflicts with others or the world itself are almost inevitably either reflections or projections of … More Creating Your Character’s Inner Conflict: Want vs. Need
Are You Struggling to Be Creative? This Might Be Why I talk to my wonderful mother on the phone every night. We talk about everything from health to books to psychology to faith to whatever might be making us grumpy at the moment. This week while discussing health and diet, she shared something she’d read … More Are You Struggling to Be Creative? This Might Be Why
Critique: 10 Ways to Write Excellent Dialogue For many people, dialogue is the heartbeat of fiction. As arguably the only true form of “showing” in written fiction, it offers an inexhaustible source of energy for dramatizing characters, catalyzing conflict, and enhancing every available opportunity for entertainment. That’s why it’s so important to take full … More Critique: 10 Ways to Write Excellent Dialogue
How to Use a Notebook for Your Novel Do you have dozens of unfilled journals waiting for your amazing insights and ideas? If you’re like many writers, you buy a new notebook or journal and pen like others buy new clothes. You see something you like, and you buy it without a thought as to … More How to Use a Notebook for Your Novel
6 Requirements for Writing Better Character Goals Quick. Tell me what your characters want. Maybe you have an immediate answer. Maybe your protagonist wants to save the world, survive, or live happily ever after. While those are all legit goals that have powered hundreds of good stories, what I’m talking about is what your characters want. … More 6 Requirements for Writing Better Character Goals
Why Concept-Based Content Gets Better Search Results Ideas and concepts drive search results in today’s SEO environment. In this new search world it’s about discoverability, not links or keywords. Semantic search, like our own minds, looks for “key concepts” and not keywords. Think of it this way. A reader will skim your page to see … More Why Concept-Based Content Gets Better Search Results
Master the Plot Points That Matter/ Five Essential Novel Plot Points The Novel Framework You write your novel building scene by scene and organizing those scenes in sequences and chapters. You create story arcs and character arcs to build throughout the story. But, if your novel lacks even one of the five major plot points, … More Master the Plot Points That Matter/ Five Essential Novel Plot Points
Why Concept-Based Content Gets Better Search Results Ideas and concepts drive search results in today’s SEO environment. In this new search world it’s about discoverability, not links or keywords. Semantic search, like our own minds, looks for “key concepts” and not keywords. Think of it this way. A reader will skim your page to see … More Why Concept-Based Content Gets Better Search Results
Omnipotent Characters: Why Marvel Sidelined Thor, Vision, and Captain Marvel Warning: Spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame ahead! Early on in Avengers: Infinity War, one of the film’s most powerful characters, Vision, gets stabbed in the stomach. The moment is shocking, yes, but it’s also important to the plot, effectively sidelining Vision for … More Omnipotent Characters: Why Marvel Sidelined Thor, Vision, and Captain Marvel
How to Use MindMeister as a Novel Roadmap Mind maps have been a useful tool for creative folks to brainstorm for quite a while. Remember the old days when you’d draw a circle in the middle of a piece of paper and draw lines from there to connect your thoughts? It’s much easier today. Why … More How to Use MindMeister as a Novel Roadmap
