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Using a Character’s Personality Traits to Generate Conflict

April 10, 2025

Using a Character’s Personality Traits to Generate Conflict

April 10, 2025

When it comes to generating conflict, your character’s personality can help ensure that sparks fly, especially when their traits clash with someone else’s. When people grate on one another their…

How to Write Intense Scenes That Captivate Readers

January 14, 2025

How to Write Intense Scenes That Captivate Readers

January 14, 2025

Writing intense scenes can be one of the most exciting parts of storytelling. Whether it’s a gripping fight, a romantic encounter that leaves hearts racing, or an emotional moment that…

The Secret to Page-Turning Scene Endings

June 13, 2024

The Secret to Page-Turning Scene Endings

June 13, 2024

It’s easy to surmise that propelling readers from one scene to the next relies upon a dramatic closing hook, the evocative or provocative impression at the very end of the…

How to Fix Big Story Problems

June 13, 2024

How to Fix Big Story Problems

June 13, 2024

Is there anything more frustrating than knowing there’s a problem with our story, but not being sure how to fix it? We wish for an easy button in these moments,…

10 Reasons Why Emotion Amplifiers Are Good for Your Story

May 9, 2024

10 Reasons Why Emotion Amplifiers Are Good for Your Story

May 9, 2024

As you may have heard, we recently released The Emotion Amplifier Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Stress and Volatility, a companion to The Emotion Thesaurus. If you aren’t familiar…

How to Generate Powerful Story Conflict

January 11, 2024

How to Generate Powerful Story Conflict

January 11, 2024

Conflict is a powerful tool for storytellers, allowing us to place roadblocks, challenges, adversaries and more in a character’s way so the road to their goal is much more difficult.…

Want to Show Your Character’s Pain? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

October 5, 2023

Want to Show Your Character’s Pain? Here’s Everything You Need to Know

October 5, 2023

For the better part of two months, Becca and I have been exploring pain, and how to write about it in fiction. It’s been enlightening for us, and we hope…

Writing About Pain: Taking an Injury from Bad to Worse

September 21, 2023

Writing About Pain: Taking an Injury from Bad to Worse

September 21, 2023

When we put characters in dangerous or unfamiliar situations, they can get hurt, and when they do, things become harder to do. Injuries can mean reduced mobility, pain makes it…

Writing About Pain: Describing Minor Injuries

August 29, 2023

Writing About Pain: Describing Minor Injuries

August 29, 2023

When we push characters to their limits, sometimes they get hurt. Injuries can range from annoyances to mortal wounds, and handled well, can add tension and complication to the story,…

Writing About Pain: Three Stages of Awareness

August 22, 2023

Writing About Pain: Three Stages of Awareness

August 22, 2023

If there’s one thing writers like to do, it’s to make characters suffer. We are all about bringing forth pain and crises, whether it be emotional, physical, spiritual, or existential.…