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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…

How to Choose Settings that Have Emotional Impact

October 20, 2016

How to Choose Settings that Have Emotional Impact

October 20, 2016

Generic settings won’t cut it if you want readers to feel the story–instead, your locations need emotional impact as this immerses them better in the point-of-view character’s experience. Shared experiences…

Hunting Down Plot Holes & Inconsistencies In a Story

September 13, 2016

Hunting Down Plot Holes & Inconsistencies In a Story

September 13, 2016

Please welcome author David Stafford as he’s tackling something we all wrestle with: Plot Holes and Descriptive Inconsistencies. Plot holes are disastrous,as are inconsistencies around characters and setting. These gaps…

Creating Mood in a Scene Using Light and Shadow

August 22, 2016

Creating Mood in a Scene Using Light and Shadow

August 22, 2016

What’s one of the first things a person does to set the mood at home for a romantic evening? She turns down the lights. This simple adjustment is a big…

Level Up Your Setting (and Story) by Thinking Outside the Box

May 31, 2016

Level Up Your Setting (and Story) by Thinking Outside the Box

May 31, 2016

Want to level up your setting and instantly pull readers deeper into your scenes? Start by thinking outside the box about where each moment takes place. The right setting does…

How To Turn Your Setting Into a Conflict-Rich Obstacle Course

May 18, 2016

How To Turn Your Setting Into a Conflict-Rich Obstacle Course

May 18, 2016

Every story element should pull its weight—including the setting, which is a built-in source of conflict just waiting to be used. A simple first-date picnic in the park? Cue the…

How To Share Your Protagonist’s Deepest Feelings With Readers

April 26, 2016

How To Share Your Protagonist’s Deepest Feelings With Readers

April 26, 2016

Our job as writers is to make the reader FEEL, empathizing with our characters, feeling invested in the outcome of events, and immersed in the story’s world. When a reader’s…

Writing Memorable Characters, via Finding Nemo

February 9, 2016

Writing Memorable Characters, via Finding Nemo

February 9, 2016

Courtesy: Creative Commons Watching Finding Nemo for the dozenth time, I got to thinking about why I wasn’t bored, and it occurred to me: it’s the characters. They’re memorable, and…

One Stop For Writers’ Descriptive Thesaurus Database

October 9, 2015

One Stop For Writers’ Descriptive Thesaurus Database

October 9, 2015

A Closer Look at Our Show-Don’t-Tell Database As some of you know, the heart of One Stop For Writers is our signature Descriptive Thesaurus Database. Visitors to this blog (and…

Showing Character Emotion: Why Moving Beyond the Face

April 15, 2015

Showing Character Emotion: Why Moving Beyond the Face

April 15, 2015

The face is the first thing we notice in real life, and the focal point during any conversation. We connect to a person’s gaze, paying attention to how their eyes widen,…