Dialogue—good dialogue—is tricky. Mechanics can be learned; the rules are readily available and are hammered into us by teachers, editors, critique partners, and countless Facebook memes. The hard part of writing good dialogue is nailing the back-and-forth, the natural ebb and flow that turns … [Read more...] about Subterfuge in Dialogue
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The Ins and Outs of Blurb Requests
By Liz Alterman After tons of hard work, your book is almost ready to be published. But before the celebration begins, you have one more hurdle to overcome...securing author blurbs. What are author blurbs? They’re those ringing endorsements that grace the front or back (or both) covers of a … [Read more...] about The Ins and Outs of Blurb Requests
Fear Thesaurus Entry: A Secret Being Revealed
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 … [Read more...] about Fear Thesaurus Entry: A Secret Being Revealed
4 Ways Your Protagonist Is Sabotaging You (And How to Fight Back)
By Marissa Graff We love our protagonists. We spend a ridiculous amount of time, blood, sweat, and tears championing their stories. But what if they’re undermining us by behaving in ways that drive readers away? What if they’re not-so-secretly sabotaging us despite all our efforts to advocate for … [Read more...] about 4 Ways Your Protagonist Is Sabotaging You (And How to Fight Back)
When You Feel Like a Hack
By Christina Delay Recently I’ve been reading Marcus Sakey’s BRILLIANCE trilogy. Yes, I know I’m behind the times, but OMG have you read these books yet? I’m enjoying them immensely, both from a reader and a writer perspective. Mr. Sakey’s use of descriptors is like none other, and while I … [Read more...] about When You Feel Like a Hack
Fear Thesaurus Entry: Change
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 … [Read more...] about Fear Thesaurus Entry: Change
Want Readers to Connect to Your Character? Include this Element.
Some characters have more shape and weight than others, feeling so authentic we can almost believe they walked right out of the real world. Their emotions, vulnerabilities, needs, and desires ring so true, we can’t help but be pulled in by them. These characters hold us hostage while we read, and … [Read more...] about Want Readers to Connect to Your Character? Include this Element.
10-Year Celebration: Win the Ultimate Writer’s Toolkit
It’s a big anniversary for us, folks! Ten years ago today we hit the publish button on The Emotion Thesaurus. 10 Years. Can you believe it? We wrote this book hoping to help others who struggled with showing character emotion, but deep down, we were terrified. It was our first book. We were … [Read more...] about 10-Year Celebration: Win the Ultimate Writer’s Toolkit
Phenomenal First Pages Contest
Hey, wonderful writerly people! It’s time for our monthly first-page critique contest 🙂 This contest is closed. Please try again next month. If you’d like to be notified when the next one goes live, consider subscribing to the blog (in the sidebar). If you’re working on a first page … [Read more...] about Phenomenal First Pages Contest
Using Crisis to Reveal Character
By September C. Fawkes In the writing community, a crisis (also known as a “dilemma”) happens when a character has to choose between two opposing things. And he can’t have both. Shawn Coyne, author and creator of The Story Grid, breaks crises down into two types: a. The Best Bad … [Read more...] about Using Crisis to Reveal Character
Fear Thesaurus Entry: Agoraphobia
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 illness, or stem from a past wounding event, these fears influence a character's behaviors, habits, beliefs, and personality … [Read more...] about Fear Thesaurus Entry: Agoraphobia
You Wrote a Killer Love Story…But Did You Romance the Reader?
So many ingredients go into writing a strong romance. As with any other genre, we want to develop characters who are complex, fresh, relatable, and unique. They should have strong motives and desires, but also be a bit broken too, people who have been hurt by life, suffered disappointments, and see … [Read more...] about You Wrote a Killer Love Story…But Did You Romance the Reader?