A character developing amnesia in the middle of the plot is a favorite trope in both television and literature alike. Almost every major drama has had an episode (or an entire season) centered around a character who forgets major things about their life, such as who they are, where they …
Unreliable narrators allow you to get more creative with how you tell your story, which can make it more complex and interesting to read. However, writing an unreliable narrator is no easy feat, since there are many things you need to do well throughout the entire narrative in order to …
What is an Unreliable Narrator? (And How to Write One!) Read More »
Utopian stories are undeservedly far less popular than the closely related genre, dystopia. After all, most people assume that if there are no corrupt politicians, zombies, or mass environmental destruction in your speculative fiction, it just won’t be interesting. However, just because utopian stories don’t rely on cheap thrills and …
Whether you need a fictional disease to write your next post-apocalyptic heartbreak thriller, or you want to create a story that centers around an alien parasite, carefully crafting that fictional illness is essential. Characters can get sick in any genre, but sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, fantasy, and dystopian stories often utilize diseases …
How to Create a Fictional Illness for Your Story Read More »
When it comes to writing a story, there are few things quite as challenging as giving it a proper title. A story’s title needs to be short, compelling, memorable, and appropriate to the genre and plot of the story. Not to mention, there’s a lot of pressure to pick a …
Ghosts and the paranormal provide a bottomless source of inspiration for writers. Ghost stories have existed since the dawn of humanity in some form or another, and are still a favorite for modern storytellers. If you want to write about ghosts but you’re running low on ideas, checking out some …
So, you want to write an Autistic character. That’s great! Unfortunately, most writers fall short of portraying Autistic characters well. If you want to avoid offensive stereotypes and make your Autistic characters accurate, doing the proper research is essential. There’s a lot of misinformation about autism in mainstream media, so …
As with any skill, writing requires practice if you want to get any better at it. However, unique ideas can be hard to come up with on your own. If you want to warm up and get some ideas flowing, or you need some prompts for practicing a new technique, …
Fear is a complicated emotion that involves pronounced emotional, physiological, and behavioral elements. To write fear well means you’re going to need to address each of those elements, while also taking into consideration the character’s personal history and why their fears developed. Like any of the major emotions, fear has …
Dialogue plays a huge role when it comes to writing a story, so it can be a bit daunting to include a character who doesn’t (or can’t) speak. Many writers make mistakes when writing a nonspeaking character, or they end up relying on old stereotypes and tropes that frankly everyone …
