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Motivation

Character Secret Thesaurus Entry: Monitoring Someone Without Their Knowledge

October 19, 2024

Character Secret Thesaurus Entry: Monitoring Someone Without Their Knowledge

October 19, 2024

What secret is your character keeping? Why are they safeguarding it? What’s at stake if it’s discovered? Does it need to come out at some point, or should it remain…

7 Tips to Make Your Antihero Stand Out

August 1, 2024

7 Tips to Make Your Antihero Stand Out

August 1, 2024

When it comes to story heroes, there are many kinds, from reluctant to tortured to tragic. But the one that’s getting a lot of airtime these days is the antihero.…

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,…

Three Easy Steps to Generate a Goal Using Fear as Motivation

April 16, 2024

Three Easy Steps to Generate a Goal Using Fear as Motivation

April 16, 2024

There’s so much emphasis on making sure that we give our character a goal that’s clear starting from their very first scene. Win the game. Find someone to marry. Land…

Why Writers Should Use Psychology In Their Storytelling

April 2, 2024

Why Writers Should Use Psychology In Their Storytelling

April 2, 2024

A writer’s job is to do one thing well: pull the reader in. Our words should act like a tractor beam, sucking them into our story’s world. We tap into…

How to Create a Protagonist with True Depth

November 7, 2023

How to Create a Protagonist with True Depth

November 7, 2023

Some characters are so dynamic, we feel immediately close to them. Everything they say, do, and think is consistent with who they are, they have a past and present, and…

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…

Five Commonalities Between Heroes and Villains

August 3, 2023

Five Commonalities Between Heroes and Villains

August 3, 2023

In story terms, a villain is a person, entity, or force who is cruel, evil, or malicious enough to wish the protagonist harm. Rather than simply blocking a goal or…

Improve Your Storytelling in 5 Minutes

July 25, 2023

Improve Your Storytelling in 5 Minutes

July 25, 2023

What are writers chronically short on? Time. There never seems to be enough of it as we try to get the next book written, research our publishing options, keep up…

Introducing…The Character Type & Trope Thesaurus!

April 1, 2023

Introducing…The Character Type & Trope Thesaurus!

April 1, 2023

Character building is hard work, and when we see certain types of characters appear again, and again in fiction and film, we wonder if there’s a way to start with…