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What Are Your Protagonist’s Flaws?

April 13, 2023

What Are Your Protagonist’s Flaws?

April 13, 2023

The most relatable characters are ones who mirror real people, meaning they are complex individuals with a blend of strengths, failings, attributes, and flaws. Of these four, flaws are often…

Fighting Attraction in Romance (Body Language Help)

February 2, 2023

Fighting Attraction in Romance (Body Language Help)

February 2, 2023

Emotion is the heart of any story, and there is no genre where this holds more true than romance. Readers look forward to a romantically tense roller coaster ride (how’s…

Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots

August 25, 2022

Use Conflict to Target a Character’s Soft Spots

August 25, 2022

Conflict is a key story ingredient, one we need a lot of, but this doesn’t mean quantity is better than quality. Fiction isn’t a video game; waves of bad guys…

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Religious Characters

June 16, 2022

Avoiding Stereotypes in Fiction: Religious Characters

June 16, 2022

Readers have spoken: they want more diversity in fiction. And writers are stepping up, but it can be hard to write about someone who’s different than you. Careful research is…

You Wrote a Killer Love Story…But Did You Romance the Reader?

April 28, 2022

You Wrote a Killer Love Story…But Did You Romance the Reader?

April 28, 2022

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…

Does Your Story Need More Conflict? Tap this Powerful Source

September 2, 2021

Does Your Story Need More Conflict? Tap this Powerful Source

September 2, 2021

Conflict is such a versatile storytelling element. Not only will obstacles, adversaries, and stressors keep tension high and readers focused, they also provide characters with valuable opportunities to prove themselves,…

3 Mistakes To Avoid with Your Side Characters

August 5, 2021

3 Mistakes To Avoid with Your Side Characters

August 5, 2021

Help me welcome Resident Writing Coach Alumni Sacha Black, who has just an excellent post on how to avoid creating story problems caused by mismanaged side characters. Here’s a bit…

What’s Your Character’s Love Language? (And Why Does it Matter?)

July 13, 2021

What’s Your Character’s Love Language? (And Why Does it Matter?)

July 13, 2021

Creating characters can be an exciting time for writers, but it can also cause headaches if we don’t understand what motivates them or how they should react to certain situations…