Category Archives: Villains
Sneek-A-Peek at The Occupation Thesaurus: FIREFIGHTER
About this book… Characters are as complex as people and revealing their inner layers without chunky blocks of pace-stopping description is a challenge. The Occupation Thesaurus can help you unlock one of the best tools in your show-don’t-tell writing kit: … Continue reading
3 Ways to Differentiate Your Characters
We’ve invited Resident Writing Coach Sacha Black to give us an extra dose of wisdom as she’s just released a new book that I think will help a lot of writers: Anatomy of Prose: 12 Steps to Sensational Sentences. This … Continue reading
How a Career Can Reveal Your Character’s Deeper Layers
Did you know that before Becca became an author and writing coach, she was a teacher? It’s true. And if you know her, you’re probably thinking, I can see that. It makes sense. Why? Because when you think of a … Continue reading
How to Build Powerful Character Relationships
Character relationships are, in many ways, the glue that holds a story together. Almost every tale has at least one relationship at the heart of it, often more. Rarely can a character sustain a story on their own; they need … Continue reading
Taking a Character from Good to GREAT
FACT: Characters are the heart of a story. The stronger one is, the more powerful your novel will be. In today’s competitive fiction market, there’s no room for okay-ish characters. This is why most writing courses, books, workshops, retreats, etc. … Continue reading
The Easiest Way to Plan Characters in a Series: Cloning (Yes, Really!)
This spring, Becca and I released two very important tools for writers… The Emotion Thesaurus 2nd edition (expanded by 55 entries) and a Character Builder Tool at One Stop for Writers. These two releases happened within days of each other, … Continue reading
Goal-Oriented Storytelling: Tension
This is the third post in my four-part series on ANTS, my framework for understanding what a story needs to keep readers engaged. Previously, I’ve covered attachment and novelty. Now it’s time to look at the big reason why stories … Continue reading
Saggy Middle? Use Conflict to Nip and Tuck It
When I get a new story idea, I fly into the start of it with as much gusto as a kid in a candy store. I’m filled with the buzz of ‘newness’ and the anticipation of where the story might … Continue reading
Story Structure in a Flash
Story structure can sometimes be difficult to wrap our minds around; there are so many different structures, all with different terminology and slightly different meanings. But today I’m going to hopefully simplify things by covering how I view story structure—in … Continue reading
5 Character Tools You Absolutely Need to Know
Angela here, happy to welcome Savannah Cordova from Reedsy back to the blog, who has done some sleuthing to find some interesting tools that might help you with your characters, everything from those that help you play around with ideas … Continue reading