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Cliches

How to Improve Your Story By Strengthening Your Sentences

October 12, 2017

How to Improve Your Story By Strengthening Your Sentences

October 12, 2017

One of the fastest ways to improve your writing (and therefore your story) is to get jiggy with the nitty gritty, and by that, I mean honing your sentence level…

Your Character’s Appearance: Make Each Detail Count

February 2, 2017

Your Character’s Appearance: Make Each Detail Count

February 2, 2017

Describing a character’s physical appearance is a tough job. Most writers either get into it and share every dimple, curl, and laugh line, or they sprinkle in just a few…

Lesser-Known Story Character Archetypes

January 24, 2017

Lesser-Known Story Character Archetypes

January 24, 2017

Jonathan Vars is sharing some of the lesser-known character archetypes or tropes you could use to set it apart from other works. Read on! Every story contains certain character archetypes—custom molds,…

How to Write Vivid Character Descriptions: Be Invisible!

February 17, 2015

How to Write Vivid Character Descriptions: Be Invisible!

February 17, 2015

One of the most difficult areas of description is when it comes to showing the appearance of a protagonist, especially when writing in first person POV. We need readers to…

Writing Emotion: Does Your Hero Shrug, Smile & Frown Too Much?

March 8, 2014

Writing Emotion: Does Your Hero Shrug, Smile & Frown Too Much?

March 8, 2014

Crutch gestures can sometimes get in the way of good writing. They come in all shapes and sizes–maybe an eye roll, a clenched stomach, curled fists or shrugs–cues we writers…

The Writer’s Bane: Describing a Character’s Physical Appearance

April 26, 2010

The Writer’s Bane: Describing a Character’s Physical Appearance

April 26, 2010

I’m going to be totally honest here. There is little I detest more than trying to describe how my character looks. The reasons are numerous. I think it sounds boring.…

Seven Deadly Novel Writing Sins: Flat Wordsmithing

January 20, 2010

Seven Deadly Novel Writing Sins: Flat Wordsmithing

January 20, 2010

Sin # 5: Flat Wordsmithing We’ve all heard the phrase, ‘The writing is flat.’ The question is, what does that really mean? Flat writing is where the prose lies dead…

Seven Deadly Novel Writing Sins: Plot Problems

January 11, 2010

Seven Deadly Novel Writing Sins: Plot Problems

January 11, 2010

Sin# 4: Plot Problems Your plot is the meat and direction of the novel. Even the most compelling characters lie flat on the page without something to do. For some,…

Seven Deadly Sins of Novel Writing: Counterfeit Characters

December 21, 2009

Seven Deadly Sins of Novel Writing: Counterfeit Characters

December 21, 2009

The most brilliant plot is nothing without the right characters. The writer’s job is to create unique, emotionally charged characters that are strong enough to drive the story. The characters…

Clichés…The Poisoned Apple of Description

October 14, 2008

Clichés…The Poisoned Apple of Description

October 14, 2008

It’s been awhile since we talked about clichés, so I thought I’d look at the temptation aspect of using them and why writers are drawn to them when faced with…