Conflict is the heart of your story, no matter what genre you’re writing in. It is an essential part of creating a story that will resonate with readers and keep them engaged long after they turn that final page. Conflict is memorable, exciting, and should be the driving force behind all of your plot arcs.[…]
Category: Writing Advice
Romance 101: How to Write Characters Falling in Love
Any story can be enhanced with a good romantic subplot, but if romance isn’t your genre, you’re probably worried about how you’d pull it off. You want it to be emotional and meaningful, but not sappy and cliché. Sooner or later, it’s a genre you’ll end up having to explore at least briefly in order[…]
Losing Sleep Over How to Write a Character with Insomnia?
Giving a character insomnia can be a great way of establishing their personality, and that can set the stage for future internal struggles later on in the story. As with almost anything, this is better to “show not tell,” but the difficulty here is doing so in a way that isn’t mind-numbingly boring to read.[…]
How to Write Good Villains in Fiction
Everybody loves a good villain, but every writer knows that creating a good villain is one of the more difficult things to do. Regardless of whether you want a sympathetic, lovable, or truly despicable villain in your story, you need to put a lot of work into their character to evoke the strongest emotions in[…]
How to Write a Drunk Character
Intoxication is a complex biological process, and it can affect people in a variety of different ways—making it a particularly difficult thing to write about. However, the acts of drinking, partying, and drowning sorrows in a bottle are prevalent themes in our world and in literature. Chances are, you’ll have to write a drunk character[…]
How to Write Minor Characters
Minor characters are an often grossly underutilized tool in storytelling. Any good story is going to be filled to the brim with extras, whether they’re neighbors, store owners, teachers, or even creepy gravediggers that tell the main characters the haunting history of their town. Minor characters are constantly appearing in stories to do one small[…]
Tips for Creating a Fictional Currency
Currency is an important part of any developed society, so it isn’t an aspect you should ignore if you’re creating a world for your story. Sure, you could use the standard bronze, silver, and gold pieces, but that doesn’t really add anything special to your story. You can use the currency in your world to[…]
A Guide to Writing Child Characters Authentically
Annoying children are unfortunately overly prevalent in literature and media. It’s not that writers deliberately create these characters to be annoying, but they end up that way when they aren’t given the same amount of backstory and personality as the adults in the story. Child characters deserve to have just as much care and development[…]
How to Write a Nervous Character
This is it—the big moment! Your characters are about to meet the enemy that has been ruining their lives, they just have to walk down a long, imposing hallway to get to his office. The scene is meticulously crafted and eerie, and you’ve thought out exactly how you want to build the suspense as your[…]
Creating a Fictional Religion for Your Story
If you’ve created a fictional society, species, or even an entire world, then you’re probably looking for ways to make it seem more authentic. One of the ways to add a little life to your fictional society is to add a religion and system of beliefs for them to subscribe to. Religion is, after all,[…]
