If a character gets into a fistfight, chances are, they’re going to end up with a few nasty bumps and bruises. Likewise, tripping on asphalt or accidentally grabbing a sharp object could also result in your character looking a little worse for wear. There are infinite ways for characters to …
Body language is an essential part of bringing your characters to life, and yet, many writers struggle to find a balance between drawing no attention to the characters’ body language and obsessing over the way their characters move. If you don’t describe how your characters move in a scene, you’re …
Writing Body Language: Bringing Your Characters to Life Read More »
Flashbacks are a common tool used by writers to give some context to the story they’re writing. It’s so common, in fact, that readers are accustomed to regularly getting glimpses of characters’ pasts, historical insights, and events that lead up to the beginning of the story. Not every story uses …
So, you’ve been hitting it off with a new potential roleplay partner, when one of you drops the dreaded question: “who is going to write the starter?” Writing a roleplay starter is not unlike writing the first page of a story. It needs to be interesting, concise, and cover a …
Researching traumatic injuries is not fun. Even if you can handle fictional characters in pain, reading up on real descriptions of gruesome injuries can be emotionally taxing. Because of this, many writers don’t do the appropriate research before writing an injury into their story, and the resulting scenes end up …
If you’ve moved on to editing the first draft of your story, you may have noticed the word “said” comes up a lot. Using the word “said” is the quickest and easiest way to indicate which character is speaking in a story, so many first drafts are simply riddled with …
If you’ve read a few of the other articles on this site, then you’ve probably seen me state “show, don’t tell” more than once. If that’s the first time you’ve heard that phrase, then you probably aren’t completely sure what it entails or how you’re supposed to apply that to …
Show, Don’t Tell: What It Is and How to Use It (With Examples) Read More »
No matter what genre you’re writing in, there’s a chance you may end up having to write a character’s death scene. Killing your characters is not an easy thing to do—you want to make sure the scene carries weight, is emotionally charged, and can really devastate your readers. If you’re …
If you’re starting a new roleplay (RP) or Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TTRPG), then one of the things you will be expected to provide is a character biography. If you aren’t familiar with writing character bios, then you might be a little stumped on what exactly needs to be included, and …
Prologues are at the center of a lot of debate in the writing world. Many people claim that prologues should never be used under any circumstances, while others are proponents for using prologues to create a unique opening to their story. It is one of the most divisive debates in …
