Designing fictional plants is one of my favorite parts of worldbuilding. Plants are weird and wonderful things. They can be microscopic or hundreds of feet tall. Some can glow in the dark, some are carnivores, and some can explode. There are plants that smell like rotting meat, plants that bleed, …
Character motivations are the driving force behind all stories. Without motivation, no one would want to go off on an adventure, take risks, fall in love, or do any of the things that make a story worth reading. Motivation is necessary in order for a story to have any plot, …
Character Motivations: The Key to Crafting Believable Characters Read More »
Comas are inherently dramatic, and a popular trope for fiction of all mediums and genres. Despite this, many people who try to include a coma arc in their story end up getting a lot of things wrong. Comas are complicated medical situations with varied outcomes for each individual case. If …
It’s not uncommon for a character in a story to become concussed—in fact, when was the last time you read or watched someone get knocked unconscious after being bashed in the back of the skull? It was probably recent, wasn’t it? However, despite that being a popular tactic for writers …
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 …
